Yesterday while I was at the gym I happened to overhear a personal trainer talking to one of her clients. The personal trainer was asking her client what she had done in the last couple of weeks. Was she exercising and following the plan? Why wasn’t she pushing herself? Was her family being supportive and helping make sure she had some time to dedicate to herself? And then she asked a profound question, “How important is this to you?”. The client quickly said it was important, but immediately started listing off excuses as to why she wasn’t dedicating herself. The personal trainer stopped her and asked again “How important is this to you?”.
Maybe to you this doesn’t seem like that profound of a question, but to me in that moment it was a revelation. So often through my life I have struggled to stay motivated and meet the challenges and goals I make for myself. But how important were those goals to me really? If the goal of not eating junk food for a month was so important then why when I had my first craving did I give in? Is my goal less important to me than being able to eat whatever I want whenever I want? Is having that shiny new electronic or new shirt more important than my goal of sticking to my budget and saving for the eminent rainy day?
When I ask myself this, the obvious answer is “No”. Of course saving money or eating healthier is more important. But my actions show my real answer. Yes that junk food, at that moment, was more important to me that feeling good about myself and eating healthy. Yes that new shirt was more important than having another $30 saved for when I really need it to buy food or pay the bills. Actions in this case not only speak louder than words, they drown the words out completely. So how do I change so that my stated priorities are my real priorities? Honestly I don’t know. For now though I will just try and ask myself when I am torn between doing the thing I know I should do and the thing I want to do. “How important is it?” Maybe forcing myself to acknowledge my priorities or change them will put me on the right path. I’ll never know until I try.
