I have learned over the last year or so that I need to include my wife in my side business. Even if it’s just telling her “Im going to earn X amount this month to pay off debt”, that will help me stay accountable and on track.

(Well, I guess you could call it a “concerted effort” if you’re trying in more than one way to achieve a single goal, like balancing your budget by cutting spending and earning more money at the same time. But 99% of the time, when someone says “I made a concerted effort,” they’re misusing the term.)

Let’s keep it that way! :)

This reminds me of people in business who base outcomes on best case scenario. Actual mistakes, not just opportunity for mistakes, have to be factored into an any endeavor, and learned from. Coming up with ways to avoid mistakes is great, but self-flagellation over it is negative reinforcement. That alone is a turn off to continue.

And ditto Gretchen on integrity. It is used in marketing and business to mean “purity of process”, but I find that usage cheapens the word. It’s like teens today use the word “sexy” to mean anything slick, glamorous or appealing.

True integrity does not flinch if you eat too much cake. It is not a synonym for consistency. However, people with integrity are consistently honest with themselves and others, and act according to their beliefs. Applying it here is a stretch, and downgrades the word. Goals do not have integrity, people do. Good goals have incentives, contingency re-tracking plans, and a success rate. Motivational hyperbole is to ra-ra for me.

Let’s not use up our most powerful and meaningful verbiage on things like breaking a fitness regime. I sound like an old biddy, but words become cheaper everyday. My husband has integrity, and when I say that- I want it to mean all that it should, and the word to have the impact of the sterling character that goes with it.

I think there are two reasons why this worked well for me: (1) I can schedule my time with pretty much only myself to please (no kids, for example), and (2) playing the guitar was enjoyable for me pretty much from the beginning. I wasn’t thinking “if only I can push myself through this unpleasantness, eventually this will be fun” – it was fun from the very beginning, almost. (I suspect, however, that if I’d tried to force myself to practice for an hour every day, it would have quickly become a lot less fun.)

Not consistancy.

It can also help you get started. If you find yourself faced with saying “From now on, I will never (eat meat, visit the coffee shop, whatever) again” it’s so easy to add “…starting tomorrow!”

I think the key is to have a slip up plan. Well, I ate an entire cake. Next time I won’t buy a whole cake.
I’ll eat a single slice then take a brisk 30 minute walk.

Instead, I set an intention. I intend to play the piano daily. Somehow, if I miss, I don’t feel like I “blew” it….

I have also lost almost 50 pounds this way (I follow the new Atkins plan). I have no “goal”–I just follow the plan as best I can (which is pretty easy because I’m not terribly hungry and I eat foods I like). Whatever weight comes off, comes off. I hope to lose another 20, or even 40, but since I am now three sizes smaller, I’m happy.