One of the things I love doing when I meet a potential client is to ask them how they envision their life will be after they achieve their weight goal. Are they looking forward to wearing a bikini on the beach? Is there a particular item of clothing they are excited to wear? Are they anticipating a new level of freedom, excitement, and desire as they consider the changes that will occur in their bodies.

Interestingly, when I think back to when I lost my weight, there wasn’t one particular thing I was looking forward to. I just remember tentatively allowing myself to consider the possibility I could do it. And then I remember how it blew my mind when I actually reached goal weight.  I started to consider what other possibilities were available to me in other areas of my life.

It is a powerful thing to create vivid pictures in our mind of our future selves. Imagine seeing yourself as the man or woman who has already reached his/her goals?

What is she wearing? How does he carry himself?  With whom are they speaking? Where is her focus? Is she surrounded by adoring fans or her children? Is she completely engrossed in whatever she is working on? 

As you think about this future you, ask yourself a few questions. Does this future you still care about or obsess about the missed opportunities or dare I say “failures” of the previous week, month, or year? Is she still bumming around about that extra cookie or piece of pie she ate at the Christmas party? No. You know why? Because in her mind those missed opportunities only served to inspire her to work harder, move further, and do more. And they got her where she is now.

It is so common for us to beat ourselves up about perceived failures of the past or to not even want to set goals for ourselves, because not meeting them is too painful. We know that we will beat ourselves up later. In order to avoid that, we fail ahead of time. We never even try. But if we can catch a vision of our future self who has already made and fulfilled her dreams, we can see that her thoughts are not focused on the past year, she is focused on next year and the year after.

So as you continue to strive and prepare to reach your goals, look at them from the perspective of your future self. Don’t allow past failure to stop you. Learn from it and keep on going. Become the future you who honors and trusts herself and her decisions. 

Continue to focus on where you want to go in 2019, what you need to do, and what you want to have. And remember to cultivate gratitude for the person you currently are and the one you are becoming. Then see what good things begin showing up in your life.