Finally like what you see in the mirror.
Learn to embrace who you are, as you are while building your forever active lifestyle. Start here.
Learn to embrace who you are, as you are while building your forever active lifestyle. Start here.
The key to being successful with your goals AND maintaining the results is building your approach to achievement from the ground up. There’s a good chance you have never been taught how to do this. That’s okay, The the Your Level Framework can help. It was created for anyone working on living inside/out, on a fitness or weight loss journey but can also be adapted for anything else you’re working on.
The first decision to make is choosing the mindset you’re going to have. Choosing to genuinely believe in yourself and your capabilities from the beginning allows you to adopt a calm, deliberate approach to the actions your about to take. You then will use the actions you’re taking as reinforcement of the belief you’ve decided on.
Most people do the opposite. They hope that by taking action that eventually they will believe in themselves and their capabilities. This is how we fall into the impostor syndrome trap, where we never feel like we can do enough to be THAT person…we’ve ALL been there by the way.
Deciding you’re the type of person that is taking this type of action, right before you take the action lays the mental foundation that will take you further than you’ve been, down the path you truly want to go down. Now let’s talk about taking action and putting a system around it that gets results.
MDA's take what you think you're capable of doing now and scale it back to something that seems so embarrassingly easy, you'd feel sheepish telling someone you couldn't go beyond it. In practice, these daily actions would look something like this:
Exercise for at least 15 minutes, when you usually feel willing and able to do 30.
Journal for 5 minutes a day when you can normally fit in 10.
If these look too easy for you - that's the idea :) If not? scale them back further. Make your actions so specific you can look at them and answer how you're doing with them with a "yes" or "no". Remember: In order to get you on the path of becoming comfortable in your own skin and starting to live an inside/out life these MDA’s are the recommended starting point for anyone new to The YLF Philosophy.
Once you have the actions down, it's time to tie them to weekly goals.
Even though MDA's are setup to be easy to exceed, there's still going to be times where you can't hit them. That's why setting weekly goals with enough wiggle room is so important. Just commit to hitting each MDA goal at least a certain number of times per week.
Four is a great number, it gives plenty of slack and you'll start thinking of yourself as the fitness dynamo you are after exceeding your weekly goals every week for a couple months. What happens if you're not exceeding your goals? That's right! Scale them back a bit. Let’s talk about planning, executing and adjusting from week-to-week.
Weekly Look Ahead: Every Sunday you have a chance to look at how you’ve been executing, along with what you have coming up in the new week and set action focused goals for what you’re working on.
Midweek Adjustments: Wednesday is the perfect time to make any adjustments necessary to your follow through or goal setting based on how the week has gone so far, what’s coming up and what you know you’re willing to commit to to exceed each goal. Think of this as your halftime period that is giving you the opportunity to adjust and finish strong for the week. Ideally, you’ll get so in-tune with yourself, your goals and your execution that most weeks you won’t have to adjust anything.
Weekly Look Back: On Saturday it’s time to observe and note how your week as a whole went. It’s important to just observe your performance with as little emotion as possible. For anything you fall short on, these observations will show you where you can adjust the goal or your follow through plan tomorrow when you plan for the next week. For anything you exceeded, it’s equally important to celebrate in your head for at least five minutes what you were able to accomplish this week…nice job!!
It’s so easy to get caught up with concepts and content in the development space that you’re distracted from actually working on anything. That’s why I dedicate both daily podcasts “The Your Level Fitness Podcast & The Daryl Perry Podcast”, along with The Daily Email to this planning structure on the days mentioned above each week. Make sure you subscribe to both pods and sign up for the email.
It’s important to also have a systematic approach to regularly check-in with yourself and collect data points so that you can see the progress your making. Remember: the amount of change between one progress update to the next isn’t nearly as important as how things are trending over the course of months and years. Since the framework has fitness roots let’s talk about those updates first…
Every two or four weeks "you decide which" take a waist measurement, progress photos and get on the scale. Do all three so that one isn't being seen as more important than the others. Here's the "why" for each:
Waist Measurement: This is where most people carry their extra weight. If yours is elsewhere, measure that area instead.
Progress Photos: Take a front, side and back view picture, in your workout clothes.
Get on the Scale: I'd prefer you not use the scale to determine progress, but this would be the time to do it if you are. :)
Jot down and keep this info. After 3-4 progress sessions you should have enough information to tell how well you're doing on your program. Evaluate those results and adjust where necessary.
If you’re working on connecting with, appreciating and loving yourself from and at every stage of life “aka living an inside/out life”, you’re going to have to journal. How you record your thoughts is up to you. I personally use the Day One app. I’m not sponsored or affiliated with them, just love that I can voice memo, voice-to-text or write out entrees then easily organize them with hashtags.
A monthly check-in with how you’re feeling about yourself in all areas, then tagging it as #monthlycheckin in your journal is a great way to document your mindset in the moment, then see how things have been trending over the months and years. Anywhere between a couple of sentences and a couple paragraphs is plenty.
Personally, I check-in with myself often about a number of things when journaling but I find a monthly, overall check-in beneficial.
Most other self-development plans have their own progress updates structure. If the one you’re working on doesn’t, I’d journal about how things are going weekly, then writee a little longer update monthly.
Try this framework with any fitness goal, following any plan you wish. Keep trying your best and focusing on what's within your control. Your results will take care of themselves.
Hey there. For most of my life, I took advice from anyone who gave it. If someone looked confident, spoke loudly, or carried themselves like they had the answers, I assumed they knew better than I did. Over time I learned the hard truth. Not all advice is good advice, and not every opinion deserves space in my head.
Hey there. For a long time I thought that taking ownership of my situation meant criticizing myself for everything I wasn’t doing well. That kind of thinking never helped me move forward. What I’ve learned is that ownership isn’t about tearing yourself down, it’s about stepping back and honestly observing where you are right now. Once you see it clearly, you can start moving in the direction that is best for you.
Hey there. One of the hardest things about building momentum is that in the moment it rarely feels like you are making progress. When you choose water in addition to soda, when you walk for ten minutes instead of sitting, when you stop eating after one serving instead of going back for more, it can feel like those things don’t matter much. But the truth is the victory is there.
Hey there. There are moments when I walk into a room and immediately start wondering if I really belong there. Maybe you’ve felt that too. You see the people around you who seem polished, confident, and in complete control, and you start questioning yourself. But here’s the truth that I’ve learned over time. The person with the perfect outfit, the big job title, or the impressive resume is often fighting the same feelings of insecurity you are.
Hey there. For a long time I thought positive thinking was the key to changing my life. I told myself that if I could just keep my mindset upbeat, everything else would fall into place. And while positivity does help, I’ve learned that real change comes from going beyond positive thinking. It’s about seeing challenges clearly, recognizing opportunities, looking for solutions, and then taking practical action.
Hey there. I used to spend so much time worrying about what other people thought of me. Every choice I made felt like it had to pass through the filter of someone else’s approval. But what I’ve realized is that when people disapprove of your life, it usually says a lot more about them than it does about you. Sometimes their disapproval has nothing to do with your choices at all. It may be that they don’t like their own life.
Hey there. I’ve heard the phrase “everything happens for a reason” more times than I can count. And while I understand the comfort that idea can bring, I don’t fully believe it. Life does teach us lessons, but not everything that happens has some grand reason behind it. Many times, it simply comes down to a choice. A choice we made, or a choice someone else made, that set things in motion.
Hey there. For much of my life I thought fitness was the destination. I believed that if I could just get to a certain weight, or build a certain level of strength, I would finally feel like the person I was supposed to be. What I’ve learned is that fitness is a great place to start the process of becoming who you choose to be, but it’s not the place to stay.
Hey there. There was a time when I thought strength was about pushing through, keeping walls up, and proving to the world that I could handle anything. What I’ve come to realize is that true strength is found in something much simpler and much harder at the same time. It’s choosing to lead with kindness and compassion regardless of what you’ve been through. That choice is not weakness, it’s courage.
