Have you ever felt like you lost track of who you were, what you wanted, and where you wanted to go in life? This might sound a little crazy, but this is actually a common problem that a lot of people struggle with. What I find particularly interesting is the fact that many of us (and dare I even say myself), struggle with embracing positive changes in our lives. There’s a psychological component to this, and it’s worth some serious attention. Today’s post isn’t about eating smart or training hard, it’s about what’s going on inside your head, and why breaking up with your old habits is vital for your success when it comes to your health.
First, a personal reflection.
They say that success is stressful, and I TOTALLY understand why that is the case now. My dream lifestyle of being a certified kettlebell instructor, professional athlete and business owner became a reality, but it came at a price early on. I hate to admit it, but I don’t think I was truly “ready” to handle the demands of what I was taking under my wing when I started this big career shift of mine. I lost track of who I was for a while, and I allowed what my coach from Precision Nutrition calls “My Old Self” to rear her head. I wasn’t treating myself well at all, and I had to hire help in order to relearn how to be the athlete that I am at heart. Over the past six months, I’ve dug very deep into my internal state and realized a number of things: I was over worked, went through a number of personal hardships, and felt so overwhelmed by all of that that I lost my ability to focus on my own healthy habits.
There. I said it.
Last week our coaches from Precision Nutrition gave us an assignment. We had to write a break-up letter to our “Old Selves” and post it to our online forum. It was a sort of therapeutic assignment that helped us put all our old bad habits in context, while simultaneously leaving them behind. BRILLIANT! When I wrote my, I got to thinking about the assignment and felt called to share it publicly. There are a lot of you out there that are struggling with positive change, and that’s ok. That’s actually normal and you are so worth all that positive change. I suspect you may be overworked, going through a number of personal hardships, or things of the sort. Guess what? YOU’RE HUMAN! And the sooner you realize that you have the RIGHT to live the life you deserve, the world will open up.
I have some homework for you all. Take some time when you can this week and write a break up letter to your old self. Trust me! This works! Think of all those areas in your life that are holding you back, and write out just how strong you are and will continue to be! Let yourself go and know that you are strong, empowered, and you deserve love, self love, and a vibrant healthy life! Should you need more help identifying the areas in your life that you need to work on to become as healthy as you need to be, feel free to reach out to us here at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh! Heck, feel free to email us your letters at info@primalfitnesspittsburgh.com! We’d love to see you break the chains of hte past and move forward into a world full of awesome!
Here’s my break-up letter to my old self. I hope you find this inspiring!
Dear Old Self,
You most certainly were tempting me this past year and a half. In fact, there were times when I would listen to you and give into all those old habits of mine that resurfaced in the middle of a crazy storm called “Business”. I somehow lost sight of who I was, what I wanted, and where I wanted to go in my life. Then one day came when I realized that if I didn’t reach out for help, I would be headed back to a dark place. It was a dark place that I haven’t visited for nearly 4 years, and I wasn’t willing to allow that to happen again.
That dark place is an evil place. It’s Hell. Hell will swallow you alive.
So many people have pulled me aside and told me that I radiate a sort of addictive positive energy. It blows my mind how many lives I’ve touched so far with that energy. I’m the kind of person who smiles often, if not all the time. My three favorite words are “Boom!” “Sweet!” and “Awesome!” I truly believe that God has placed me on this earth to shine a light of hope and love on all those dark places that try to swallow people alive too. But Old Self, you truly tried to kill my energy by pushing me to work too hard for too long. And it was that. . . that all too driven person who was yearning for love. . .THAT was what was destroying me all this time.
90 hour work weeks are hard. They are even harder when you don’t see your friends, stop seeing your family, and stop going to Church because of busyness. I knew starting up my dream life would be a challenge, but I was not truly mature enough to handle that challenge at the time that I took on this workload. Old Self, there you were. You pushed me to do more stuff all the time and sacrifice everything that I had all in the name of my own self glory. By the time I realized that my dream had come true, I was tired, burnt out, frustrated, and unable to just freaking RREEELLLAAAXXXX. I stopped being good to my body, I did a lot of stupid things, and I started to listen to your manipulative words.
“You’re not successful enough.”
“You’ll never get to the top.”
“You’ll never reach your goals.”
Then came that day where my friend pulled me aside and said ”I love you but you seriously look like shit.You need to hire help.” That was a wake up call to me. I was being called out for my behavior and something had to change. I had to learn how to maintain my own well deserved health in the middle of all this success. They say that success is stressful, and I truly understand WHY that is the case now. I made a commitment to myself to hire help, and then I got my own help to finally end this battle of bad habits once and for all.
Old Self, I have something to tell you. I am a strong woman. Very. Fucking. Strong. I am the woman who can double press two 28kg kettlebells and pistol squat a 32kg kettlebell all while making it look easy. I’m the woman who started a company with no funding. I am the woman who reversed an autoimmune condition and have survived several other traumatic events in my life by the grace of God. I’ve ended addictions, achieved incredible feats of strength, and gained a public following because of all the aforementioned things above. I have been blessed enough now that the people I once looked up to, THE CELEBRITIES, are inviting me out to epic brunches just to hang out with me. Old Self, my life is a miracle story, and I’m sorry to say that you no longer have a place in my miraculous life story.
Old Self, we can’t hang out anymore. I have to say “Good-bye!”. But before I leave you today, I wanted to thank you. Thank you for revealing just how strong I am. Had we not suffered together for that moment in time, I wouldn’t be who I am today. My dearest friend said it the best. “Janelle Pica is a brand.” I AM successful.I AM at the top. And I WILL reach all of my goals. Watch me! I know who I am. I’m one of the strongest people on this earth. I know what I want. I want to shed a light of hope and love for the masses to see, because that’s what God has called me to do. And I know where I want to go. I’m going to the BIG TIME real soon (I know that because that’s what my publisher keeps telling me).
Good-bye Old Self! I’m breaking up with you!
Farewell,
Janelle
Until next time. . .
Master your instincts!
