Hello everyone! I’m Kati Whitledge, the founder of Be Inspired Salon. We may or may not have met, but I want you to know I am grateful you are here! I’m beginning an initiative to share inspiration and at times, motivation, because we are all heavily distracted so what’s one more thing to pay attention to? LOL. But, for real, we have many negative distractions and I wanted to have a proactive hand in something positive to lean into, share, and think about. Do you ever just take time to think?
I’m sure we’ve all had plenty of thinking time in the last year, haven’t we? I don’t know about you, but I tend to get paralysis by analysis. I found myself so overwhelmed that I didn’t know what to do or where to start. I lived a reactionary lifestyle and as a result I found myself aged and worn down. But this is not a victim’s blog. This is a blog to rebound ourselves and find the victory we either once had or need to take hold of now.
To live victoriously, we have to choose taking ownership over excuses. Responsibility over denial. And accountability over shifting blame. Only then will we reap abundantly the positive things we sow. Or to put it plainly, we will get what we want in life!
Back to the Basics
I recently met with a friend to catch up and share how things have been going this new year. I’m grateful to share that this year is off to a fabulous start. It hasn’t been without bumps or bruises, but it’s new, it’s refreshing, and it has the potential to be whatever I believe it can be. What do you believe is possible this year?
Meeting for coffee seems so subtle and yet what an impact it is to have face-to-face human connection, especially with someone who knows you—like the real you—and still loves you. When you are with someone who genuinely cares for you and wants to see you win at life, you’re able to gain perspective that you may not otherwise see. Think of it as a thirty-foot view of your life. How often are you taking time to look from that vantage point?
The beauty of our friendship is, we do this for one another. We share our hopes, fears, and challenges with one another and then give each other feedback—never dressed up or down—always raw and honest. My friend has seen me at my best and my worst. Who’s the friend in your life like this?
To give you a backdrop here, there was once upon a time when I had shed over 95lbs of weight. I was a fitness machine and working machine. I was growing Be Inspired Salon while simultaneously starting a software-as-a-service company, and an industry business podcast. I felt unstoppable. That was, until we got pregnant. That was a curveball I hadn’t prepared for. What I mean is, I wasn’t prepared for pregnancy to be a trigger for food. Lots and lots of food. We were thankful to start a family, but I was not ready to respond to the temptation of hiding behind a belly bump. Long story short, I’ve not bounced back from the baby weight and my baby starts 4k next year—so that’s embarrassing.
Fast forward to 2019 and I had trimmed up a bit. I was definitely more active and starting to feel pretty darn good about myself again. But then—Covid. Another debilitating trigger that caused me to spiral down like a kid on twisting park slide. Down and down I went. Or should I say, up and up the scale went.
So here I am at coffee with my friend, not living my best life, and ashamed of the defeat against myself. I shared with her that with all the struggles that presented themselves in the last year, what I’m most upset about is, my self-sabotaging behaviors. And deep down I desperately want to get back to the real me that’s somewhere inside this oversized shell. Do you have behaviors you’d like to eradicate this year?
In such a simple way, as it often is, my friend asked me, “what did you do the first time you changed your life in a significant way?” Boom! This is what we refer to as a blinding flash of the obvious. Just because we are living in a new season of life doesn’t mean that there’s some new magic process to achieving goals you’ve achieved in the past. Or new goals for that matter! The lightbulb went off.
I shared with her that what I did before was I started reading The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy. I started writing down everything I ate, every workout I did, and I joined a support group. She listened and lovingly said, “it sounds like you just need to go back to the basics.” And she was right.
I hurried home and opened my Audible app, downloaded The Compound Effect, and started listening. I got out an unused notebook and marked off pages with dates to track food and workouts. I started a little competition with my brother-in-law that if I miss my goal of five workouts per week, I will pay him five dollars per day that I miss. He’s doing the same for his goal of waking up at 5am every day. There was no significant meaning of the number five here, just happens to be a similar trend.
When I started listening to this book again it was a divine reminder of all the most important things I had forgotten about. And having new experiences and years under my belt, it was also like hearing it for the first time. Isn’t it funny how perfectly timed things can be? It has all reinforced my mission. Timing matters. And the time is now.
Is it time for you to go back to the basics? What one or two positive habits would you love to see compounded over the next twenty-four months? Who can you reach out to that will genuinely support you and hold you accountable? And again, what do you believe is possible for your life?
Let’s do it!
Until next time,
Stay strong.