​I was doing some research this week on why we may know what to do, but still don't do it.

Everything kept bringing me back to the same idea, so I thought I'd share.

From Don Miguel Ruiz: Be Impeccable With Your Word
"Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love."

How does that translate into my health and fitness?

What happens is we make a small promise to ourselves. I'm going to lift. I'm going to walk. I'm going to eat vegetables.

We are, in a way, giving ourselves our word. We are making a promise to take care of ourselves. To honor the body we've been given.

We mean it at the time. Our intentions are good. Then, life happens.

What is the first thing we do? Break our word. Break the promise of self care we made to ourselves.

It's a small violation, but a violation nonetheless.

I have found that one every now and then doesn't hurt too much, but the act of violating my own promises, over and over, is devastating to my soul. I stop believing in myself. I stop trusting myself.

I start saying things like, "I don't have any willpower." "I'm lazy." "I lack self discipline."

It's rarely the lack of a workout, or a couple sugar cookies that are the problem. It's the violation, the broken promise and the slippery slope of worn-away self trust.

That's why the workout itself, or the small change to something healthier for a snack, is so much less about the workout or the snack.

It's about the promise. It's about keeping my word.

I spent years violating my own promises. The consequence of that was very low self esteem, and a complete lack of trust in my own ability to follow through. Especially in health and fitness.

The way I turned that around was by learning to only say I was going to do something, if I was absolutely committed to doing it. I had to learn to keep my promise, especially to myself. Once I started to become more impeccable with my word, my self-trust began to grow. I started to believe the things I said.

Most of us are committed to keeping a promise when we make it to someone else. We need to practice that same level of integrity with ourselves. The experience of actually trusting in our own word is life-changing.

It is then, when we know what to do, we gently and confidently do it. And just like that, the battle is won.

​Building a business, creating art, writing a book, raising a family, getting healthy and fit, saving for retirement. All these things require one thing. Perseverance.

When I hear that word, my mind often takes me to mile 25 of a marathon, when everything hurts and I'm shuffling slowly towards the finish line praying for it to end. Perseverance is suffering, right?

But what if perseverance is also the only way to grow? What if it is the WAY OUT of old patterns and frustrating behaviors, and into new life?

I love the message I heard today. It said when we find JOY as we face our battles, this is the result of supernatural intervention from the Spirit. Joy in spite of pain. Joy in the MIDST.

I love that. Have you ever experienced this?

I am experiencing it right now in my entrepreneur life. It's been a weird year, and nothing went as I had originally hoped. But the JOY I've found is incredible, and I know it has come from turning to God in faith, over and over. With the little things and the big stuff.

The more I trust that everything that happens can be scooped up with a big shovel, dumped into a spiritual recycling machine, and turned into a miracle, the more I grow. The more peace I experience. The more JOY!

Friends, I know many of you are fighting battles right now. They may be for your health and fitness, your peace, or even your worth and identity. I get it. I've been there, then I had a radical experience. I was changed.

Here's what I know. It probably would not have happened if I had quit trying, and I know it would not have happened if I had continued to rely solely on the mind (mine) that had created the problems in the first place.

So this week, I would like to encourage you to be brave. Quit quitting, stop relying solely on your own strength, and do something different. Reach out for help, get connected, share your struggle with someone, let yourself be seen. As you open your heart to the possibility that this battle can be won, it gets a lot easier to pick up your sword and start fighting for it.

Fight for your health.
Fight for your fitness.
Fight for your peace.
Fight for your worth and authentic self.

Do the work that's in front of you, and trust God to handle the rest. God's weapons are way better than ours, anyway. Weapons of the Spirit bring truth to confusion. They bring miracles from the rubble. And they bring joy in the midst.