Do the best that you can

One thing I read on the Discovery Channel health and fitness tips was to make a contract with yourself. Immediately I was turned off…HELLO I don’t do good things for myself (see post Self Sabotage) a contract? Are you kidding? What? So now I have it in writing in front of me everyday that I can’t keep a commitment to myself?

Being the “do as your told” personality that I am I was compelled to read on. This “contract” was different. All the “expert” suggested was making a contract that stated that you will do the best that you can on this plan for the next (insert weeks here) and hang it someplace that you will see it everyday, like in front of your desk or on your dresser, wherever made sense to you. That’s it. It did NOT suggest writing down a weight loss goal or promising to exercise daily or eat more spinach.

“Do the best that you can.” I thought about that long and hard. I tried every way I could to punch a hole in that simplicity. In the end I had to admit that it made me feel good just reading those words without even doing anything else—do the best that you can. It has nothing to do with anyone else, their expectations or their judgments, their opinions or how they are doing things the same as or differently. I’m the only one who can determine if I’ve done the best that I can. Armed with such a simple statement and some concrete goals I’m feeling hopeful I can stick to this plan—at least for a few months. Every night before I go to sleep I’ll be asking myself “did I do the best that I could today?” And if not, well do the best that you can tomorrow.

So just to be clear, for anyone who’s interested, I’ll be starting “formally” on this program on Sunday. This week I’ve been surfing though the online program and checking out the plan 9good plan, the website is difficult to navigate and full of broken links) I thought I’d try some of the workouts they suggest. On first view I thought the suggested exercises would be WAY too easy. I tried them out and to my dismay they are deceptively simple. They kicked my ass. I’m no athlete but I thought my fitness level was average. LOL! I’ll provide some periodic updates…just another incentive in case “Do the best you can” proves less than motivating.