Hey there. One of the best things you can do for your progress is to be honest with yourself. I know that sounds simple, but we all have a tendency to BS ourselves more than anyone else ever could. We justify our choices. We convince ourselves we're doing better than we are. Or we set sky-high expectations and then beat ourselves up when we don’t hit them.
Sunday mornings are a great time to check in. You don’t need to make a big announcement about it. You just need to get clear with yourself. I go through this same process regularly, especially when I’m working on something like my fitness or weight loss goals.
Here’s what I do. I take a look at the areas I’m focusing on—eating habits, workouts, mindset—and I rate myself on a scale from 1 to 10. But the rating only matters if I first define what I expect of myself. What does success look like to me right now? What’s reasonable for my life, schedule, and energy level?
Once I have those expectations clearly defined, I can honestly assess where I’m at. I might say, “Okay, I’m doing about a 6 out of 10 when it comes to workouts this week” and then ask myself, “Why is that? Are my expectations too high? Or am I just not following through?”
This isn’t about being good or bad. It’s about getting specific and using that information to adjust. Because if you can identify where you’re not aligned with your own expectations, you can shift and move forward.
The most important part? You don’t need to share any of this publicly. This is about you being on the same page with you. That’s it. When you’re honest with yourself and stay grounded in realistic expectations, progress becomes a lot more doable.
If you go through this process and realize some of your expectations are totally unreasonable, I’d love to hear about that too. Sometimes the pressure we put on ourselves is the thing that holds us back most.
If you want to build this kind of awareness into your routine and approach your goals with more clarity and less pressure, join The YLF Experience. We’ll work on all of this together.