Your Best is Good Enough

1. There are no good foods and bad foods. There are only good choices and bad choices. Every day and in every choice focus on making the best choice for that moment. Sometimes that choice will be chicken breast and white rice. Other times the best choice is bourbon with your family. Do your best and that will be good enough.

2. Your best is only your best and you should never compare your best to someone else’s. Your journey is your own and your struggles are as well. There is no one else who has experienced what you have experienced and if you’ll only use your story to your advantage you’ll be be able to do anything. Take the fact that you were heavy, this has it’s benefits. When you’re heavy you’re likely also strong even if only under the layers of fat. Your appetite is a blessing that many of the very lean people at the gym wish that they had. It’s much easier to eat less when you’re still hungry than to eat more when you’re not hungry. Being smaller than you wish you were is in many ways a worse fate than being bigger.

3. Stop beating yourself up for making mistakes. Today you had 4 servings of gummy bears but 5 years ago you’d have had 10. You’re doing better and better in the grand scheme of things and as long as you keep on the path you cannot fail.

4. You cannot fail if you never give up.

5. Comparison is a thief of joy. Enjoy the gym. Enjoy your physique, loose skin and all because someday you’ll be grateful for the before pictures and the evidence of the progress you’ve made already.

6. You are entitled to spend time with quality people. If you aren’t spending time with people you want to emulate than stop this behavior at once. If it is charity you’re after then donate more meaningfully but do not allow anyone to suck your attention at the expense of your goals. Do not be ashamed if today your best does not include charity.

7. Practice gratefulness and positive affirmations that you are doing your best. Whether this works in a scientific way or something more spiritual, it seems to have a very positive impact.

8. You have never regretted trying your best.

9. Others even those people with significantly more skill than you, are unlikely to try very hard at all, if you try your hardest you’re logically more likely to succeed outside your skill level.