I wrote at the beginning of last year about motivation.

If you are motivated to make a change, you are more likely to make the change.

So, it helps to understand what is important to you. Not what someone else is telling you is important.

Because you will tend to be more motivated to do things that are in line with what is important to you.

If your motivation to improve your posture reflects what is important to you you’re at a better starting place, than if you are trying to improve your posture for reasons that someone else has told you are important.

But motivation is not enough.

You also must be willing to change.

And that involves knowing what you are willing to do differently than you are currently doing.

You cannot do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

That was Einstein’s definition of insanity.

A couple of years ago I realized that my upper body strength was not what I wanted or needed it to be. I was getting tired of being really sore after a lot of heavy yard work, which I enjoyed doing. So, my main motivation to improve my strength was based on wanting to feel better doing heavy hard work.

But I was not willing to do strength training. That much I knew. And it could have all ended there.

But instead, I looked around and found another option that I was willing to do.

What I found were Exerstrider nordic walking poles.

Imagine walking with your legs and cross-country skiing with your arms and you’ll get the idea.

I like being outside and already do a lot of walking so it was a natural fit for me.

I also had to be willing to be different, since not a lot of people walk with poles in the city.

And I had to be willing to deal with occasional snarky comments from passersby that I was skiing in the wrong season.

I have been very happy with the results.

I have heard coaches talk about being willing to sacrifice something to get the change you want.

I prefer not to use the word sacrifice. It is very negative.

I choose instead to approach it as just realizing I have a choice about ways of doing things and being willing to make one choice over another.

My chronic pain that lasted throughout my late teens and 20s was focused in my neck, shoulders, and upper back.

I no longer have large stylish handbags that I carry in one hand or big, fun slouchy hobo bags that I sling over one shoulder. Because they affect how I carry myself and hold tension and ultimately how I feel.

Not good.

So nowadays I only purchase stylish, fun, and lightweight purses that I can carry across my body.

My body and my posture thank me every day for it!

Am I sacrificing having the large stylish handbag or the big, fun slouchy hobo bag?

You could choose to look at it that way. I don’t. Instead, I realize I have a choice and I am willing to make the choice that allows for a change in me. The change that I want and that is important to me.

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily.
The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

-John C. Maxwell

So, what do you really want to change?

And what are you willing to do differently to get it?