As you may know, I have switched to a biweekly cadence for publishing new blogs. On my “off” weeks, I will continue sharing some Best Of Operation Melt posts from the past (with a little sprucing up). My blog has a ton of spectacular content you might never have seen before, and it is just as relevant today.
Enjoy this Best Of Operation Melt blog, and stay tuned for a new post next week.
Are you ready for a dad joke?
I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. My dad joke may be groan-worthy, but it's worth every penny you paid for it, right?
What'd the pirate say on his 80th birthday? Aye Matey!
Best of Operation Melt: Consume With Care
Is what you’re consuming fueling your progress or holding you back?
If there’s one thing I learned throughout my fitness journey, it is that what I consume matters.
The amount of calories I consume leads to gaining, losing or maintaining my weight. That means it is essential to be aware and keep track (actively or passively in my head) of what I am consuming. As I have said over and over again, auto-pilot is the enemy of our success with any of our goals.
When we talk about consumption, quantity is only one small part of the story.
What I eat matters way more than how much I eat.
I recently went for a long morning run after eating a terribly unhealthy late-night snack, and my run felt terrible. On the other hand, if I properly consume the right balance of protein, fiber, sodium, carbs, and other nutrients, a run or a workout can feel great!
The right amount of calories can move you towards your weight goals in a healthy way. The right composition of those calories can lead to peak performance or a crappy performance.
We really are what we eat!
Or, I should say, what we consume. It’s not just food that can fuel forward progression or hold us back from our goals.
What Are You Feeding Your Brain?
What we allow in our brains is as important as the foods we consume. For example, my running speed improves when listening to music versus running with nothing in my ears. Similarly, when listening to motivational speeches or podcasts – things that require thought – I run more relaxed than when I listen to music.
Like how our bodies process the foods we allow into them, our brains process the content we allow into them. As I said, we are what we consume; when your consumption doesn’t align with your goals, you risk failure.
- If you want to start your day with gratitude and reflection, checking your email or social media may not set you up for success.
- If you block time to be productive and cross things off your list, getting sucked into social media may result in that productivity evaporating before your very eyes.
- If you want to be informed and aware of current events, your favorite news source may actually be influencing and enraging you instead.
- If you want to expand your mind by reading and you turn on the television for some background noise, you risk getting sucked into some bottomless, binge-worthy show.
- Don’t even get me started on the ways your alcohol-related decisions can impact your ability to achieve your goals!
Finally – this one’s a biggie – if you want to be at peace and have faith in humanity (particularly during this time of year), you will want to avoid reading the comments section on social media posts.
There are far too many opportunities for goal failures, big or small, all hinging on what we consume or allow into our brains. Luckily, you have control of this and can make a different decision. You just have to consume with care.
Consume With Care
Like many other areas of life, the secret to consuming with care is not consuming mindlessly. Never trust your life to autopilot. Be aware, be deliberate and be successful.
Before you consume, press pause and think about what you want to accomplish in this moment. How do you want to feel?
Do you want to feel inspired?
Do you want to feel accomplished?
Do you want to laugh?
Do you just want to unwind?
Once you know what you want to accomplish, choose what you consume accordingly.
Don’t forget that quantity matters. Stay disciplined about your consumption, and never over-consume anything. Set some limits or budgets to ensure you are living a balanced life.
- Give yourself permission to have that cookie, but don’t eat the whole package.
- Limit yourself to 15 minutes of social media.
- Stop at just two episodes of your favorite streaming show.
Making deliberate, informed decisions about our consumption allows us to create an environment where our goals can flourish, and our dreams can come true. Alternatively, mindlessly consuming garbage means setting ourselves up for failure.
Are you ready to review your consumption and figure out which things are helping and hurting your goals? Do you know you want to change what you’re consuming but aren’t sure where to start? I have helped lots of people match their consumption to their goals and would be honored to do the same for you. Let’s chat about coaching.
I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you!
Meet Coach Tony
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
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