3627: How to Transform Your Life Without A Fairy Godmother by Angela with Break The Twitch

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[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00] It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily. How to transform your life without a fairy godmother. By Angela with BreakTheTwitch.com and I'm Justin Malek. Happy Monday and welcome back to Optimal Living Daily or the OLD podcast where I read to you from some of the best blogs I can find and get permission from. Mostly covering personal development and minimalism on this show. We cover a bunch of other topics in the Optimal Living Daily podcast network, which includes other shows. Definitely subscribe to those if you like this one.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00] You can search for Optimal Living Daily to find them. For now, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. How to transform your life without a fairy godmother by Angela with BreakTheTwitch.com Everyone loves a good story, especially when it involves a massive transformation.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00] I'm a sucker for those movie sequences where the main character transforms in front of your eyes and changes from down and out to downright prosperous. Cinderella. Pretty woman. And I'm dating myself here. If we're honest with ourselves, we would love for some fairy godmother to come and wave a magic wand to transform some part of our lives. We desperately want a healthier body, a decluttered home, and loving relationships.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00] We look at where we are today and where we want to be, and the path looks way beyond what we can do on our own. We feel hopeless and continue living life the way we've always lived it. What I didn't know several years ago is that we all have a magic wand inside of ourselves to create the change we so desperately desire. My transformation journey. The first step. In 2012, I was working part-time. My two oldest sons were in school.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00] My youngest son was home with me on my two days off. I felt lethargic and overwhelmed. I really wanted to start exercising regularly, so I joined the YMCA. If I'm completely honest, the fact that they offered childcare was a huge motivating factor in that decision. I loved being able to spend time with my three-year-old, but the days felt long with him, and I didn't know how to prioritize my own needs with his.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00] Joining the YMCA and planning out my exercise classes for my days off and the weekends gave me a schedule I needed in order to make exercise a part of my daily routine. I learned through trial and error that the best time to go to the gym was right after I dropped off my older children from school. We were all in the car and already in motion. If we waited until later in the day, it often didn't happen. Exercise became part of my schedule. It was a given. It became a habit that had a reward wrapped up with the activity.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00] A couple of hours by myself to break a sweat trying something new. The rush of endorphins, feel-good chemicals that your body produces when you exercise, made me feel great. And the loving childcare that was offered relieved me from mommy duties for a couple of hours. It made me a more focused and loving mommy for the other 12 hours of the day. Quote, We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle. Decluttering negative self-talk.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00] I was 42 years old when I joined the YMCA. It was the first habit that I developed and stuck with as an adult. In October 2013, I ran my first 5K. And then in May 2015, I ran my first 10-mile run called the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. Starting to run as part of my movement plan was a big step in decluttering negative thoughts. Whenever I heard people say they were runners, I would always reply, Oh, I'm not a runner. I feel like I'm dying when I run. I also used to say to myself and others,

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00] Oh, I'm a night owl, not a morning person. I'm not a disciplined person. I can't keep a regular quiet time in the morning. I don't do fill-in-the-blank. One of the first steps in our own transformation journeys is to stop putting ourselves in a box. Just because we haven't done something in the past does not mean we can't do it in the future. Instead of limiting yourself, approach opportunities and your abilities with curiosity and experimentation.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00] When I joined the YMCA, I tried Zumba, Pilates, Paloxing, Kickboxing, Yoga, Strength Training, High Intensity Interval Training, Spinning, and Running on a Treadmill. Most of these things I had never tried before. Today, I'm not a member of the YMCA, but I'm grateful for that time because it offered me the opportunity to try new things in a welcoming environment. It helped me discover that I love yoga and running, which I continue to do every week.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00] Habit Begets Habit Today, I have a habit of decluttering, a morning routine habit, and a gratitude habit. It all started with my first step of exercising. When I publish my monthly intentions on my blog, some readers comment how organized I am and productive. I'm always amazed at those comments when I think back to 2012 and how scattered and overwhelmed I felt. Making the shift to develop one habit will lead to other life-changing habits. I started with exercise. Then I added a five-minute morning routine.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00] After that, I started decluttering our home. All it takes is deciding to take action. It doesn't have to be large. In fact, it shouldn't. Pick one area that you want to change and commit to one small step. You don't have to join a gym to start moving. Just take a daily five-minute walk. Get rid of one thing from your house. Write one thing you're grateful for. Do that one step every day. When you miss a day, just start again the next day.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00] My motto has been and always will be progress, not perfection. Quote, To get through the longest journey, we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. Chinese proverb. No magic wand needed. It turns out we don't need a fairy godmother to transform our own lives. What we need instead is a desire for change, a mindset of curiosity, and the decision to take small, achievable steps daily.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00] We have everything we need inside of our very own minds and bodies. No fairy dust required. You just listened to the post titled, How to Transform Your Life Without a Fairy Godmother, by Angela with BreakTheTwitch.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify.

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[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00] Go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first order with code OLD at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code OLD at liquidiv.com. I think it's Angela. She's a guest author on Break the Twitch. She has her own site, settingmyintention.com, where she writes about simplifying life in small, manageable steps and creating healthy habits. She has inspiration, practical tips and more. Again, that's settingmyintention.com.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00] And I fully agree with her closing thoughts. Doing that one step every day goes a long way. Ooh, that rhymed. Anyway, it also reminds me of a post I narrated from Anthony of Break the Twitch a little while ago, where he had the idea of doing one push-up a day for a whole week. That sounds pretty ridiculous at first, but when you start to up it to two a day for the second week and three a day for the third week, doing 25 a day after 25 weeks, that's awesome. And you can definitely do it if you started with those small steps.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00] All it takes is building the habit. That's key. But I'll leave it there for today. Hope your week is off to a great start. Thank you for being here and listening to me and for subscribing to the show. And I'll be back tomorrow reading to you where your optimal life awaits.