Are you tired?

I woke up exhausted Wednesday morning. My youngest has been waking up with coughing fits during the night and I got up around 11:30 pm to care for him and then couldn't get back to sleep so I got up, had some midnight cereal (Reese's Puff, duh!), took some benadryl, and read a book until I went back to sleep around 1 am.

My son woke me up at 7 am and the first thought I had when I opened my eyes was I'M EXHAUSTED.

But there was my 9 year old waking me up to ask me to open up the mason jar of syrup. I was so tired I told him to bring it to me, which he promptly did. I didn't even open my eyes and popped the metal seal with my fingernails and BAM  syrup was suddenly all over my bed.

Yeah, that really happened.

I dragged myself out of bed, stripped the sheets and threw them into the wash just knowing that the day was going to be awful.

While simultaneously making breakfast and thinking about my Instagram post for the day (yes, I think about you a lot!) my mind drifted to something I heard before that goes like this:

Being tired is a story we tell ourselves.

That's right. We tell ourselves all sorts of stories through the day. They are called “stories” because they are not the truth and they can be rewritten because you get to be the author of your life. 

What's your favorite selt-sabotaging stories? We all have them. What do you hear repeated in your mind over and over again that you have chosen to believe?

It might be:

“I can never stick to my goals” or
“I am always going to be fat” or
“I suck at eating healthy” or
“I never know what to do at the gym” or
“I'm too busy to meal prep” or
“I could never ever squat more than 150 lbs”

Here's a truth bomb: What you focus on becomes your reality.

That means if you are constantly telling yourself, “I'm too busy to exercise” guess what happens? You are too busy to exercise.

So what I did about my story of being tired? I re-wrote it in my brain. I consciously stopped telling myself I was tired. I repeated the mantra, “I am awake and I have all the energy I need for my day.”

AND IT WORKED

I had more energy, I didn't drag through my day, and I accomplished everything I needed to.

It's time to re-write those stories my friend. What are you telling yourself about yourself that isn't serving you? If you want to change your body, your life, or your circumstances start with replacing the negative stories with positive truths like:

“I am powerful and in control of my life” or
“I love feeling strong, healthy and in shape” or
“I choose food that fuels my body” or
“I love my exercise and I am confident at the gym” or
“I am a meal-prepping titan” or
“I am strong and I can squat 200 lbs”

It's going to feel like you are telling yourself a lie for awhile. Your brain is going to say “Uhhhhh, but you can't squat 200 lbs yet.” Or “Babe, you are 50 lbs overweight, you can't fool yourself into thinking you are healthy and in shape.”

That's the point. You are letting go of a story that's not serving you and is keeping you stagnant and replacing it with one that will change the way you think, feel, and act.

If you continue to repeat to yourself “I am strong and I can squat 200 lbs” guess who is going to have a 200 lb squat in the future?

If you repeat “I love feeling strong, healthy, and in shape” guess who is going to lose weight?

That's right – you are.

Come up with one story you tell yourself about fitness. How you can change that to a positive affirmation that you can start to repeat to yourself until you accomplish it? Hold onto that mantra. Repeat it to yourself morning and night. It will feel funny at first because it's not reality, but keep doing it.

Because remember, what you focus on becomes your reality, not the other way around.