Why "NOT" me!

I have been doing a bunch of personal development lately and one I did recently really struck a cord with me and I wanted to share my reflections. As I listened to Craig Holiday’s “Why NOT you” I began to realize that my attitude was the difference in the areas of my life where I have been successful and those areas I am still struggling with and make excuses.

Maybe it is my optimistic Popular Sanguine personality or growing up in the Harry Potter generation where the trials you encounter in your life make you stronger. But I never realized until watching this video that I have always thought why NOT me regarding the trials I have faced in my life, and that is why I have been successful. Most people would look at my socioeconomic status and wonder how did she become a (future) dentist? And now I finally know. I always believed that I didn’t have a choice, I had to become successful. And all of the things I had to work for myself that were just handed out to others would only make me a stronger person. That is the key, I didn’t think “why me”, I thought “why NOT me” and moved on from there.

The same thing happened when I got cancer at the age of 23. Did I have moments of “why me”? Of course! (especially when I saw people my age smoking. UGH).  But still I honestly thought if there is some sort of balance in this world and my having cancer prevented some child from having cancer then this will all have been worth it. I just knew I would be stronger for having gone through this. So I just tried to be optimistic and use my situation to make jokes. People were amazed at how positive I was that some of them actually thought it was easy. I got comments like, "I'm really glad it wasn't that bad for you." And I just wanted to grab them by the shoulders, shake them and say "are you freaking kidding me?!" I lost my hair, passed out every night at 7 pm, gained weight, and had to have toxins pumped into my blood on a weekly basis. And I had to worry about passing my graduate classes at the same time. Just because I was positive doesn't mean it was easy.  But still, I think my attitude is why I was able to stay in school while going through chemotherapy. Now I can look back and say, if I can do that I can do anything.

My attitude made a huge difference with my success doing p90x. How do I know this? Because I tried p90x once with the “why me” attitude and stopped after three weeks! The first time I tried p90x I thought “I’m out of shape because I did chemo”. The next time I got the support and accountability I needed from Beachbody and I was much more successful because I changed my attitude. I stopped thinking “why me” about my physical condition and how chemotherapy negatively impacted that. So, even though chemotherapy made my asthma worse, probably damaged my heart and made me chubby I focused on the positive. I realized that if I did this and truly committed to it I could be in better shape than I was before I started chemotherapy. Despite all of the negative impacts it had on my body. In fact that is what drove me to do this. I just took the “why NOT me” attitude and realized that I would have to work harder due to the limitations chemotherapy put on my body. But that was just a fact and not something that would stop me from achieving my goals.

So, during my second round of p90x did I whine about doing my workouts? Of course! Just ask my boyfriend (I believe the term “whambulance” was used). But I changed my attitude from making excuses for myself as to why I wouldn’t succeed to just realizing that I will have challenges but I had no choice in that matter. I was going to see this program to the very end. No matter how much I whined about it, it didn’t make a difference: I was going to do my workout that day.

I finally realized that this is what I have been struggling with when it comes to motivating certain people. They tell me they want to change but they give me a huge list of excuses. I struggle with this, because I truly believe in them and what they can achieve, but it is tough for me when they don’t believe it themselves. I don’t know your “why me’s” so I only see you as you are, with all of your potential. When I tell you I believe in you, I promise you that it is sincere. Feel free to email me at ulyssesfitness@gmail.com or add my Facebook page.

Helping people achieve their goals is so rewarding to me, so I'd love to help you! I want to help you write your own success story and give you the support and accountability that Beachbody provides!