Pay It Forward Fitness and Health: Your Success is in Your Cards

Friday, December 26, 2014

Your Success is in Your Cards



Perhaps you’ve already started to think about your New Year’s Resolutions. Most people have fitness and health goals on their list, such as losing weight or running a race. Do you want to beat the odds and stick to your resolutions? Here’s a sure fire way to help keep you on track with all your resolutions by letting your subconscious know that you’re not a quitter. This method involves going back in time – looking in your rear view mirror.

Get 100 blank 3 x 5-inch index cards and divide them into two packs of 50 cards each. On the unlined side of each card write a past success from any time in your life. I hope you’ll find, like I did, that you have a string of impressive successes to use for this exercise. Include your accomplishments in school, in your career, in a sport, with a hobby, as a volunteer, or a family member, for example. 

My two cards decks filled up fast. My past successes include such things as learning to swim and traveling to Cabo San Lucas. Just enter a few words on each card to jog your memory and allow the positive emotions related to each success to flood over you. 



For example, when the card labeled, “Learned to Swim” flashes by, I see myself hopping on my bicycle at age eight and pedaling to the outside pool in Lakewood Park in Lakewood, OH, for early morning swimming lessons. The air is cold and water is freezing, but I’m determined to advance from Dolphin to Fish to Flying Fish and show my whole family how I can dive off the high diving board. I was persistent, enthusiastic, driven, focused, coachable, athletic, and independent during those brisk summer mornings. Do you think those qualities helped me later in life? You bet!


Many years later, when I traveled to Cabo San Lucas from North Carolina, I went alone to meet my brother and his family. Due to an unexpected traffic jam, I missed my flight and had to spend the night in Raleigh, North Carolina, rebook my flights, and go the following day. I persevered and went on an amazing adventure by myself. I had a lot of fun with my relatives and enjoyed the rest and relaxation at the beach.

Once you complete the entries on your 100 cards, put the 2 decks in different locations where you can grab them for a few minutes during the day, flip through them, shuffle, them, and replace them for the next review. I keep mine in the kitchen and at my bedside; one of the last things I think about at night is my life filled with successes.

This simple exercise will bolster your self-confidence to stick to your resolutions because you’re continually feeding your mind the message that you complete things and travel the road of success.

Happy New Year!