Have You Reached a Decision?

Don't waste your time any longer by wishing, hoping, or heaping on the guilt. If you are ever going to achieve any level of success, it must start with a conscious decision. I'm not talking about a fly-by-night whim. I'm talking about a true-blue decision, one of those moments when you close all other doors except the one you are walking through. When I was sobbing on the floor of my bedroom, physically, financially, and emotionally impoverished, I made a conscious decision to improve my life. There were no other options.

Moods will come and go, but a true decision sticks with you no matter what. It's a "for better" or "for worse" commitment. It's easy to make a decision to lose fifteen pounds when you just finished off a bowl of ice cream dripping in hot fudge. But when everyone around you is munching on nachos and you haven't eaten anything except some rice cakes and a bowl of minestrone soup, it gets pretty difficult to stick to your guns. A real decision has the power to stick with you - even through the nachos.

Commit yourself to this makeover by telling someone about it, such as a close friend or relative. Make sure she is tough enough to hold you responsible for your commitment and motivate you along the way. By sharing your decision, you have taken an action to fulfill it, and this is a huge step.

TOTAL MOM TIP: Sharethe News!

Sometimes a decision is easy to make because you see no other alternative. Or perhaps you do see that alternative and it scares your pants off. I saw what I was becoming, that day on the floor, and the decision to improve was an easy one. Take a look at the path ahead of you. Does it lead to success or cycle back through dissatisfaction and personal failure? If you are headed for success, then I hope this program is just more steam in your engine. If you are not headed in that direction, then you are standing at a crossroads. You need to be the one to make the decision that you deserve more. Today can be the day to take a different path.

Go For It!

True decisions have power behind them. They are not idle wishes or weak hopes. They are commitments that are set in stone. Forget about saying "I wish I had a nicer home" or "I would like to be healthier." These are little wisps of yearnings that evaporate into thin air. A true decision comes with a launchpad underneath. "I will create a nicer home." "I will take steps to become healthier." These use action verbs - massive action verbs! A true decision leads you down a determined path, with no option of turning back. It pushes you beyond your current point into an entirely new reality.

Life truly can change in an instant. Today you can make a decision that will affect your entire outcome. You can begin right now to create your new reality. Envision the life that you want to live, leave everything behind, and go after it. If you know deep inside that there has got to be more to life, then you are right on track. Use your dissatisfaction to propel you to new levels of achievement. This makeover will give you the strategies you need to live the life you deserve, so make that decision - now!

Week One, Day One: Daily Exercises

1. Leave the past where it belongs. This is a new day, with a fresh start. In your Total Mom Makeover journal, date the first page and write "Week One, Day One." You will label each day of this makeover in the same way, with the appropriate week and day. Now think about all of those shoulds that you have been carrying around with you - everything that bugs you about your home, health, family, and life - and write them down. These can be anything from "I should spend more time playing with the kids" to "I should keep a cleaner house." Whatever it is that's bugging you, this is the time to get it out of your head and onto paper. Take as long as you like and empty out all of the burdens you have been carrying around. Don't worry about doing anything about them now. That will come later.

2. Are you ready to embark on this six-week journey? Make a firm decision that you want more out of life, that you want to be the best mother, wife, homemaker, and woman that you could ever be. Now set this decision in stone by writing it down in your journal. Begin with "I have decided . . . " and finish the sentence according to what you desire for your home, your health, your family, and your life. It can be just a few sentences, or it can take up an entire page. After you finish, you may want to log on to TotalMom.com and join the Total Mom Makeover Club. You'll be glad you did.

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Copyright © 2007 by Hannah Keeley

Tags: Motherhood

About the Author

Hannah Keeley, author of Hannah's Art of Home, holds a degree in psychology from Furman University and lives in Virginia. More