when people tell me to "make it a lifestyle"🙄

Published: Thu, 02/02/17

Hey ,

They say that if you want to be interesting, you have to be interested.

I like that, and I believe it’s true. The most interesting people, in my mind, are the ones who are asking the most questions, exposing themselves to the most experiences and saying yes, even when its scary.

Curious AF: it’s a lifestyle.

But it’s not always a safe or secure one. Over the last 2 years, my life has done a 180. I packed up all my stuff, left North Carolina, drove across country by myself and started a new life in SoCal. I traveled all over the world solo and with my girlfriends. I took salsa lessons, bought a standup paddle board, went surfing for the first time, got a puppy (shout-out, Pip!), wrote an 82k-word novel and invested tens of thousands into business education and mentorship.

Sounds fun—and it has been, mostly, minus the split from my husband, but even that was … educational, ha—but also risky. Also scary. Also out of my comfort zone, and if I am 100% honest, lonely at times.

One thing that Jade always said was, “Be a seeker, not a settler.” And the life of curiosity and risk and vulnerability and facing fears might not be for everyone. I don’t think it has to be, but it has certainly become my value system over the last few years, somewhat forced but mostly by choice.

Because I believe that we don’t grow until we put ourselves in the line of fire.

We can sit at home reading books and blogs and watching people on the internet do stuff. Or we can engage, ourselves. We can tune into reality shows on television, where we watch other people live their lives, or … we can go out and create the life we want.

So, how?

Where does one begin?

Any time we want to make a big change in our lives—whether it’s in the realm of health, physique, relationships, professionally, personally, etc.—we have to figure out a way to not only do the thing, but actually become the thing.

It needs to be incorporated into our lifestyle, not just as something we’re trying on for now with the secret-back-of-our-mind thought that at some point it’s not going to work. But for real. As part of us.

Admittedly I feel that the advice, “make it a lifestyle” has been repeated so much and with such little explanation of how-to that the message feels super watered down. I hear it and I’m like, okay but how tho??

So today’s message is about giving you context around it and sharing what “making it a lifestyle” actually looks like and feels like on a daily basis, because it is the right advice, but just sometimes hard to actualize, you know? So I am hoping today’s message has some legs for you:

When you want to make a big change in your life, you have to find a way to incorporate that new way of being just ... into your lifestyle.

People ask me, "Jill, do I have to work on my business every single day?" The answer is yes. But not in the huge, inconveniencing ways you're thinking. In the small ways that show you have fully integrated your business into your lifestyle

It's not "what you do," it's "who you are.”

It’s work-life integration. Building a personal brand online is a lifestyle. Changing your body needs to become a lifestyle. People who get and stay lean don't treat their gym time like something they're going to be done with at some point. They go every day because it's their anchor, it's their identity.

Personal development pursuits need to be part of your lifestyle. The most successful people read daily, they invest in their ongoing education purely as a value system, and they surround themselves with people who are also interested in leveling up.

You just do these things because it's who you are. And because you've found a way to love it. It's actually fun, not miserable.

And we don't do stuff in leaps and bounds. We don't set aside huge chunks of time on Sundays to do them and then not think about them the rest of the week. We don't make a huge deal out of doing one thing.

We do little things every single day, as just ... part of the day. A few minutes here and there. We find time for the things we say are our priorities and we realize that done will always beat perfect.

And likewise, if we miss something or have an off day, we don't make a big deal out of that either, we literally just get up the next day and do a single thing in the area we're trying to build - right back in our power.

Ask yourself, are you still treating the change you're trying to make as something that will be over at some point?

Are you still treating it as a hobby? If you are, then chances are it will remain one👌🏼

**************

I am wishing you a fabulous rest of the week!

Xo,

Jill

P.S. A few things for your radar in JillFit-land:

I opened up the #FastPhysique waitlist this week (launches on April 4^th), and I will be sending out free weekly beta workouts for you to try out every Monday. This is a brand spankin’ new program that is exactly what it sounds like: getting you the best physique results possible in 60 days, all 40-minute workouts. You can add yourself here (it’s free).

Also, I finally opened up a private Facebook page for all those who have purchased #treadLIFT. If you have #treadLIFT, you can Request to Join the group right here. I won’t be coaching in there, but it’s a community group for you to connect with like-minded women with the same goals, keep one another accountable and discuss #moderation365 and more.

Finally, speaking of being curious. For those asking, here’s what I’m currently reading, below. I am a huge fan of learning laterally, meaning using multiple different disciplines to influence my thinking and by extension my creativity. My writing/content becomes more interesting and articulate with different types of inputs, not just reading on fitness and nutrition all the time ;) What are you reading? Reply and let me know! I'm always open for recos.