Letter to Me

BubblyPenguin

Recovering Foodaholic
Mike Scott's newsletter 3/10 had a great activity suggested: Letter to Me (can't link it yet as it's not linked on his website.) Here's what the activity instructed.

...pick a time in the future, this may be a special event you have planned, or it may just be 1,2 or even 5 years from now.

Get a sheet of paper and write the date in the future at the top.

Imagine that the period of time has passed between now and this date, you are sitting there in the future on that date having got to your goal, you are truly happy in your life, doing what you want to do and being the real you.

Write 'Dear Me'

And then start to write to yourself, tell yourself how the journey has been, what you did that worked really well, what techniques and ideas you found to 'cope' with certain issues and what good things you have achieved.

Explain to yourself what you had to drop along the way and the benefits in doing that.

Try and keep the letter bright, breezy and fun, you are so excited at having your goals that you want to tell yourself just how amazing the journey was.

Go into minute detail of what you did, what you learnt, who you used for advice and what little hints and tips you can give yourself now.

Don't worry if it seems far fetched or unlikely, just go with the flow and really put yourself in the mindset of the successful goal getter.

Then when you have finished the letter leave it for a few days, then read it back to yourself, bring yourself back to now and read the advice as you will know it is all excellent advice and very relevant to you as you wrote it!

I wrote a letter to me as directed by the activity dated for my birthday in July next year and it has been a fantastic tool to help me refocus and get back on track, remembering why I started this journey in the first place... Hope it helps others, as much as it's helped me xx


Letter to myself; dated 14th July 2010 (my 31st birthday)

Dear Me,

I'm writing this to say: 'Well done!'
You have reached your goal and are now successfully maintaining; doesn't it feel wonderful to have embraced a new way of life?

It's not been easy, has it? You've had to work hard- those times you wanted so badly to stick your head in the fridge to satisfy an emotional feeling, not a hungry one; trying to keep drinking water, although unmotivated to drink another drop!

You've learned that however hard it might seem, it's worth it because to quote another 'nothing tastes as good as being slim and HEALTHY feels.'

It's not just the attitude towards food, you do things now; household chores aren't put off, you go out, socialise, attend clubs and do things for 'you'. You feel confident about yourself and no longer seek solace in food, your 'friend'. You've learnt that it will not make you happy, it will not solve your problems, rather mask them and create further ones, it will not fill that empty void- only YOU can do that by getting off your behind and making every minute count.


What tips have you learnt to get to you here?
  • Remind yourself EVERYDAY of your goal and how much closer you are to achieving it, remember it's a journey and everyday is a step closer to that destination.
  • Visualise yourself being happy and confident.
  • Tackle problems head on- do not postpone them until they become too big to manage alone.
  • ASK for help when you need it but do not expect other people to do the work for you.
  • When you glass is empty, go and fill it back up!
  • Do not use food as a reward and only reward yourself when you have done something to earn it; this doesn't mean deprive yourself, but make sure you do something worthwhile as the reward feels so much better when you've worked for it!
  • Accept compliments- you HAVE achieved so much, acknowledge your hard work and efforts and do not brush it aside. You have shown great strength and determination to get where you are today, you have it in you to be whoever and whatever you want to be and achieve all your dreams.
You are special, you are worthy and I love being you.

Me x
 
what a wonderful letter claire
very inspiring, we just need to be kinder to ourselves and congraulate ourselves, on sucess and also not to be so hard on ourselves when things dont go quite to plan
 
Wow! Thats a good assignment, i'm going to keep that idea in the back of my head for when i am in trouble on my way to getting there. Or maybe i'll expand the idea and put it in some diff. form :)

I love the letter you wrote :D and you got a nice slogan in there :D
"when your glass is empty, go and fill it back up!" You can take that in many diff ways, besides the obvious one that you have to drink enough :).

Now whenever your down, you can read this letter again to get you back up!
 
That is a really useful post . I have mikes newsletters but am lazy and don't always read them , but i am going to do that .
Thanks for sharing
 
I think its a great idea, thank-you BubblyPenguin for sharing.

I had to do this as part of a course that I did at work (an assertiveness/self-development training) - it was so strange but very touching to receive a card from myself months later, which the trainers posted to our work addresses.

Think I will try this, anything that helps to motivate is a good idea for me x
 
Great post... think that you (& Mike) have inspired us all...

xxx
 
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