Setting Myself Up for Success

I do a lot of traveling with my profession as an author, and this is my busiest season. I spent a lot of time praying about even applying to become one of Rob’s Big Losers because I knew I would be gone much of February and March. But I felt God’s clear call and so I left the decision as to whether or not I could do this in His hands.

Obviously He thinks I can.

But one thing I’ve learned in these three short weeks is that I’m either my biggest ally or my biggest enemy. As I get ready to head out this weekend for a conference, I decided to make certain I set myself up for success instead of failure.

Here’s what I’ve done:

1. Made sure I’m prayed up. Ultimately my strength comes from God. So the foundation of my success rests on my relationship and connection to Him.
2. Built in accountability. Doing this weight-loss thing here already carries a lot of accountability, but I’ve gone even further. I’ve let people who are going to be with me this weekend know what my goal is and what I have to do to stay on track.
3. Rearranged my schedule. I don’t have a lot of flexibility with my time when I’m speaking at a conference, but I do have some. I can determine when I get up and when I go to bed. So I’ve found time to exercise and I’ve marked it on my notes.
4. Invited some comrades. In addition to telling those around me what I’m doing, I’ve asked several to participate in exercise with me while I’m away.
5. Enlisted a prayer team. In addition to praying myself, I’ve asked several others to be praying for me while I’m away. I’ve given them specific things to pray about:
   • the ability to resist temptation
   • the discipline to exercise even when I don’t feel like it
   • the blessing of good sleep

As I said above, I have the ability to act as a friend or foe on this weight loss journey. Today I’m making the deliberate choice to work for me and not against me.