How I Tricked Myself Into Enjoying Healthier Foods and Exercise

Most of us would like to think that when we reach a certain age or point in our careers that we automatically evolve past the point of worrying about our appearance. Body image and self-confidence, or our lack of confidence, is something that we never really talk about for fear of drawing attention to our insecurities.

But the truth is that our body image issues affect us more than we’d like to admit. Over the last eight years I’ve worked hard to grow my business. My main focus has been my work — writing books, creating products, launching products, growing my team — and I’ve dedicated long hours to my company’s success. My diligence has definitely paid off and my business is thriving, but all of that hustling has come at a personal cost. I’ve spent long hours at the computer and little time exercising or eating right. I tried to ignore it and I told myself that no one noticed, but my weight steadily creeped up.

As a result, my confidence slowly decreased and I retreated from the activities — both personal and professional — that I loved. I stopped going out with friends, stopped sharing photos of myself on social media and avoided media interviews. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that the underlying problem was that I just didn’t feel good about myself. I had to make a change. I started by getting clear about my goals, which included getting into the best shape of my life, changing the way I ate and running a 10K on my 40th birthday. But more importantly, I got honest with myself about why those goals were so important and then I asked the people that I trust the most to hold me accountable. From there, I had to make the daily decision to follow through.

It wasn’t easy. In fact, there were many moments that were downright painful. But I’m succeeding, and in this week’s Do It Scared podcast, I’ll discuss the four main changes that I implemented in order to help me lead a healthier lifestyle.