Dear Community,

Thank you for your patience while we are going through a redevelopment. I know everyone is accustomed to receiving daily Inspirations. Currently we are retooling the Tools To Life website. Your Inspirations will restart after Labor Day with all the coaches you have grown to enjoy. In addition,  many new coaches that will be joining the ranks. Until then you will continue to receive the Monday Inspirations and several new Podcasts.

Thank you for your patronage,   and we look forward to sharing in your growth and ours.

Here is an Inspiration to get you started.

With much appreciation,

Devlyn Steele

Eleven Steps To Get On Track

-Devlyn Steele

Rather than viewing a brief relapse back to inactivity as a failure,

treat it as a challenge and try to get back on track as soon as possible.

-Jimmy Connors

You get up one morning and in your groggy state, and  while you are in the bathroom you step on the scale.

You look down,  and when you see the weight you ask yourself, "How did that happen? I was doing so well." 

As you're opening the mail you go through your credit card bill you can't believe what you owe and ask yourself, "How did that happen? I was doing so well."

On the way to class your heart is beating, the paper is due today and you are hoping for an extension. You think back to the start of the semester and how on top of your work you were and you ask yourself, "How did that happen? I was doing so well."

Time and time again we have all been there. We have all set a goal for ourselves and started out so well, and then we fell off track. Weather it is weight, money, career, school, exercise or other we all do it. Even in love we get off track. How can you get off track in love? You realize that you have been drifting apart, and together you make a conscious effort to spend more time together and set up date night. It's going so well and then all of a sudden you find that you stopped. Yes, you can get off track in any part of your life, it happens.

So the question is not do we fall off track, we know we do. The question is, "how do we get back on track?

Here are Eleven Steps to Get Back On Track:

Forgive yourself

The very first thing you have to do when you fall off track is forgive yourself. When we get angry, upset, or disappointed with ourselves it de-motivates from getting back on track. We feel powerless and actually even revert to the very behavior that keeps us off track.

Stop Looking Back

When we experience that moment of, "How did that happen? I was doing so well."  We start to look back at where we were or how we were doing. As we look back we start to think where we could be today if we had done this or that. The more we look back, the more we do not feel like getting started today.

Clear The Slate

Once you have forgiven yourself and stopped looking back, you need to clear the slate. Take today as day one,  and assess where you are today and what you need to accomplish.

Own It

Now that you know where you are, own it. Don't give your power away by creating excuses or reasons why it's not your fault. When the cause for you getting off track lies outside of you, an outside event has to change for you to get back on track. When you are responsible, then the only thing that has to change for you to get back on track is you, and you have one hundred percent control over you. Own it and become powerful!

Make a Commitment

Make a commitment to the change you want to create. The reason why we do not follow through with so many of the goals we want to achieve is that we never really were committed. Make that commitment today.

Reduce Commitment

Reduce your commitment to what you can achieve in the next 30 days. The human spirit needs to feel a sense of progress and accomplishment, without it we lose our desire and belief. When we have big goals we never feel like we are getting close to accomplishing them,  so we say to ourselves, "If I don't follow through today, it won't make a difference." When you reduce the goal, you will feel like you are making progress, and a sense of accomplishment which will keep you on track.

Decide on an Action Plan

A goal without a plan is like getting in the car knowing where you want to go, but not having a clue on the directions. How will you ever get there?  Make a plan to achieve your commitment.

Get into action

Start today. Today is the first day of your new commitment. It doesn't matter where you have been or what you could have done, it is about today. Once you start, guess what?  You are on track.  That's right, you are on track the second you start. Once the train leaves the station it is on the track to get to the next station. So you want to be back on track?  Start today and you are.

Congratulate yourself

Now that you are on track, congratulate yourself. Smile and feel good. Congratulations is fuel for the train to keep going.

Believe

Remember you forgave yourself, and you're not looking back.  Your slate is clear, so believe you can now keep going. Without belief you will fall off track with, What's the point?  So, Believe!

Rinse lather Repeat

Repeat the action plan everyday and then reset your commitment every 30 days. You will not only be on track, you will be moving down that track arriving at  the station you desire.