Bill Phillip's | Transformation

Ooops! I forgot to answer how i'm gonna transform the weakness to strength! To me that is readily apparent. The mere fact that i am craving something is a trigger, or a red flag to me that I'm nearing the edge of the road. like the "wakey bumps" or "rumble strip" on the side of the highway that vibrates your car into oblivion if you drift over to far to the side. WARNING! WARNING!! YOU'RE ABOUT TO CRASH IN TO THE WOODS!!!! WAKE UP!!! So my brain recognizes that weakness and turns it to determination to reach my goal! Jake~>out..... again

Right now I'm feeling so strong. I am so determined to do this and never turn back. It feels as if nothing is holding back my transformation at all. However, I do know myself well enough to know what has the potential to hold back my transformation if I let it get out of control. I suffer from lack of organization and procrastination. If I let it, my house will become completely disorganized, my fridge will become empty, my workouts will cease, my negativity will come back with a vengeance and I will give up- returning to the old me. I see the need to keep things under control and make sure I am orgainized. I have to be sure to plan all our meals, to look at the positive side of things, etc. So to sum up, I have a seemingly inborn tendency towards disorganization and negativity. I will continue to do all I can to keep it under control, and I feel it getting easier by the day already. I will remain completely aware of these lower habits in order to keep them at bay. This, in turn will transform them into strengths as I become empowered with the knowledge and awareness that I am stronger than these habits.

I'd have to say that the thing that holds me back is this: I have always indulged my own whims.... ALWAYS. I f i want to do it I just DO IT! So to deny me the things that I crave is the thing that would hold me back. Having said that, i am fully dedicated to see myself through to reaching my goal come what may, I WILL not deviate from the course I have chosen! That is something I confronted before I joined up. Jake~>out

Wow, this is a good exercise. I have seen a ton of mentions of procrastination, not prioritizing, time management... I guess I am in this bunch. Too often I delay the uncomfortable yet high producing tasks/resonsibilities in favor of the comfortable/less meaningful activities in life...all the while knowing which will make me and others around me happier. I think to address this and overcome it I will simply need to plan even more intensely the night before, in greater detail, so I am totally committed to carrying these things out the following day. Much more I could say on this - if anyone wants to discuss please do contact me - would love to compare notes!

My lowest habit (and I have dozens) right now - ie. the one(s) I want to work on, are never finishing anything and procrastination. I know it's about FEAR - a fear of being good enough (what if I do the BEST I can and it's not good enough?) So my new plan is to finish and know that it's good enough if I give it my best. Procrastination is what I do so I won't finish things. So, when I feel like procrastinating, I'll remind myself I'm good enough - even great!

My lowest level habit, it is just plain lazy. I have the I don't want to syndrome. The fix is to continue to surf Tcom and read the blogs, explore and view all the wonderful people who have joined, listen and read the inspriration story's. Feed my mind with the information and continue to keep in touch with T buddies.

I know that I am a good person...kind, loving, dedicated, honest...and all that....My issue is feeling WORTHY, feeling GOOD ENOUGH...In the past couple of years I have have often doubted myself...I let negative self talk overtake me and convince me that I am selfish, or wrong, or ugly, or fat, I feel guilty for impacting the lives of other people...that I cannot even BE enough for myself...how can I possibly be enough for anyone else...... In the past few weeks...my self doubt has changed IMMENSELY...I am feeling stronger and more confident than I have in a long time...I can feel myself winning...feel the self doubt melting...I have gained this huge amount of self awareness....I feel so full of life...so full of positive energy and love...I want that energy to transfer...not so that people will praise me or be grateful...so that maybe...just maybe... a little bit of goodness can offer someone else a bit of light...a bit of hope...I feel like I have stepped into the light...like the world is so full of possibilities just waiting for me......

My lowest level habit is EGO, and the need to be right. I have had this under control, and when I take my eye off of it, it will rear its ugly head again. I am focused on giving up the fight and allowing myself to be human and learn. I am learning to seek input and to learn from and truly appreciate the difference of opinion and ideas from others. Ultimately what lies beneath ego is fear. Fear which is fear of being inadequate or the fear of being wrong. The transformation process is helping me to grow beyond the need to be right, and to experience life more fully being loving and receptive.

I have not been paying due dilligence to my job. This needs to change today. I will make a deliberate effort to improve my work performance.

Mine is lack of moderation. I have been working on this for a while, so I hope I can achieve some balance. I seem to have trouble focusing on several good things at once. I can put alot of energy in to one thing, but several things is a challenge. Now my focus is here and I hope I can learn Bill's lessons and become a better person.

I have a hard time prioritizing.. I feel like I don't get as much done during the day, cause checking my email once can turn into 2 hours or something! Starting to clean one little space, I end up cleaning the whole room, clipping my toenails can turn into a pedicure.. etc. Then, before I know it, my whole day is gone! I didn't get anything I should've gotten done, done, and then the next day feels crazier because I have twice as much to do! I should do better at writing a list the night before, or in the morning of what things absolutely have to get done, then what I'd like to get done, and then the "if I have time" I can do the rest of the things.

For me it would have to be laziness and procrastination. I have been working on this even before I did this assignment. Even little things of having the kids get me something since they're already "up" so that I don't have to get off the couch. I have been literally doing more around the house just so that I'm not sitting all the time. Procrastination is the bigger problem now. I have so many "things" around here that need to be done and I have just put them off because of shere laziness. My goal to fix this is to take one thing a day (project) and work on it till it is complete. Some things are just things for the kids that they would like me to do with them. The more I do each day the more I am moving and getting away from being lazy and I'll be setting a good example for them. No more hypocrisy in this house!!! :)

my lowest level habit and limiting belief is that i dont believe in MYSELF. I dont have any self-confidence. For some reason, my whole life, i have always wanted to be bigger, stronger and not some skinny guy who get the sand kicked in his face at the beach! This outter shell has always played mind tricks on me. I got picked on in high school. I was afraid to talk to attractive women. ( until i met my wife, who is very attractive) That weak image in my head haunted me, slowed me down and still does! in my practice i have had time where i have seen more oatients then i could deal with and then my practice drops down. i feel like i dont deserve to have that dream life. i mean come on i am just that scrawny kid who had the jock strap put on his head in gym class. I have tried motivaton tapes, positive self talk, writting goals, but it all fades away.....but now its different!! I am getting healthy( mind and Body) I see some abs ( which i didnt have in high school) i am going to walk around with my shirt off after these 18 weeks and be proud. i am seven weeks into this and already doing it at home. something i dont normally do. and my patients may not know it but i am feeling better about myself. I am changing the outside to heal the inside. my practice is going to grow and life is getting better. i feel it. I may not get huge but i am going to look good!!!

My lowest level habit in complaining about my job and people I work with. (my boss). I've been working on this, with not much success recently. I think that I can change this by changing the way I view my job and boss and be grateful, I have a job and forgive him for the things I feel he has done that make me disrespect him, and then I complain. Then I need to keep doing that, everytime it happens and don't dwell on his faults. Tracy

My lowest level habit in complaining about my job and people I work with. (my boss). I've been working on this, with not much success recently. I think that I can change this by changing the way I view my job and boss and be grateful, I have a job and forgive him for the things I feel he has done that make me disrespect him, and then I complain. Then I need to keep doing that, everytime it happens and don't dwell on his faults. Tracy

I'd say my lowest level habit is procrastination. I procrastinate on things that make me uncomfortable. Often, when I have issues in my life, such as financial or legal issues, I put off addressing them. Even though intellectually I know that putting things off often makes them worse, I still don't take action. They weigh on me, and it affects me deep down. I'm going to commit to ending that. I will resolve to prioritize the issues in my life, and take action on the things most weighing me down. Also, I'll be more proactive on the things that I know will help me reach my goals faster.

Not acting on my initial hunch which is almost always correct. I can see around the corner but still took baby steps. Now I'm running.

My lowest level habit is FEAR. Every negative thought or habit that I have is ultimately FEAR based. I have always heard and try to apply the principle FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. This is so true and evry FEAR based habit that I have comes from the egoic mind like Bill talks about. Procrastination, helpplessness, hopelessness, doubt worroy, insecurity...all of them are fear based and come from the ego not the heart! I have learned through this process that if you come from purpose and love - FEAR drifts away.

My lowest level habit is fear of failure which then leads to anger towards myself and people that I have close to me. It all leads back to wanting it all to be easy and expecting success to just come to me. I am changing that as of today. Today I realize that being a positive, happy, successful person isn't defined by what you do but what you aspire to do and what you can give of yourself to help others even if that is just your love and support and understanding. Going after a dream shouldn't be riddled with fear but have more excitement and wonder at the unknown. Today I trade my fear and anger for excitement and wonder in touching people in positive ways working towards my goals. Thank you Bill for offering me the opportunity to examine this issue further than I have ever done before.

My lowest level habit I'm working on is not supporting my church. Politics in our synod have caused hurt feeling in my family & I just quit giving. It didn't help fix the problem. It hurt our church & they didn't have a hand in what happened, but they support our synod & I didn't want my $$'s going there. OK, now as I type this all out it looks like I have another lowest level habit I need to work on....forgiveness. If it was for myself I think I could but when it comes to someone wronging my children I have a problem. I'll be praying about this one. Forgiveness....

My lowest level habit is apathy. I believe all my other low level habits stem from this. There are many things that I know I need to quit doing and many things I know I need to do which will advance me toward deep authentic transformation. The thing I plan to do to fix this problem is ask myself a simple question: "Is what you are about to do selfish or selfless?" If I answer that question truthfully and act upon it I will know what to do. The things that I could wait to change tomorrow will no longer be able to wait. When it comes to being the change I need to start being a shepherd and not a sheep. I need to honor self promises and listen to my heart. At the same time I need to be open and always learning moment by moment. The world is my classroom.

Overall I have been struggling with faith; faith in myself and getting where and how I want to be. I can feel that I'm putting everything into my transformation, but find myself getting caught up with negatives. The negative self-talk is inhibiting me because I'm not making this as good a journey as it should be. I have improved with this, but will continue moving forward.

My lowest level habit is trying to do 10 things at the same time. From cleaning one room to taking the dogs out to checking my online sales, to reading the baby a book, to writing a letter, to emptying the dishwasher. I guess this can sum up to unorganization. I reflected on this with assignment 7 as well. My husband purchased a dry erase board for me months ago to help with me with my unorganization. I've finally started using it and it's truely taking a load off of my shoulders. What I can do to help myself even more so is to schedule my day better so that I can do all that is important to me to have a successful, love filled day. Thanks for this assignment Bill. Came at a great time. I'm currently a single mom until husband returns from Iraq. I am trying to be the best self and mommy and wife I can be and to do this, I need extra help in the organization department. Only I can make the change and it starts with me right now.

I am about to create a new word in the English dictionary if possible- how about comfortability as a low level habit. I love my new lifestyle and being healthy. The thing is that is has become such a regular part of my routine that I often find myself trying to justify "slips" because I work out regularly. The thing is I can work out all day and all night but if I eat the wrong foods I will not have the results I want for myself. No more justifying poor behavior or poor choices with food. i do great when I a at home and I plan but when I go out to eat I try to justify eating something that is not a good choice because I am out so it is special or I a working out later. Tonight in completing this assignment I want to make a self promise to me that I will work hard to no longer do that. Reality is I am only cheating myself when I make the poor choice. I choose to recite that when I am making choices. I am amazed at the learning and growing that continues to happen here when I really work the assignments.

I have read many of the posts here and a lot of them sound as they are speaking about me! My lowest level habit is procrastination! And it’s just like another poster said, it’s as if I don’t do things perfectly right, than I have failed! I put things off, overbook myself with things to do and then I find myself overwhelmed and this is where the problem begins. I have not been planning my meals and workouts in advance. When I don’t plan, I am just not focused. I get home and I am so tired from work that I plop myself in front of the TV (to relax??) instead of sitting down and planning my meals or exercises. How will I overcome this? I am making a commitment to plan better and cut out some TV time. I also intend to prioritize and only plan for the things that are most important to me. I will not let distractions put me off

The fear of change holds me back. I am so set in my ways and so comfortable in this "fat suit" that it scares me to actually be something better and different. In order to change, I need to let go of the fear of success, and embrace the positive changes that are coming my way.

One of my lowest level habits is negative self talk. I wake up now and look in the mirror and give myself positive affirmations. When I start thinking negative about myself or situation I don't beat myself up about it I recognize it, and say "Oh there comes that negative voice trying to discourage me" In the recognition I can then start to exam why I am having that negative moment and usually it can be attributed to tiredness, not eating properly, alcohol consumption or negative television programs or negative past reflections....i recognize now that I do not have to dwell or entertain these negative thoughts and I am the one in control of my responses and actions when they arise. It is all very empowereing

My lowest level habit is definitely procrastination. I dont like putting things off but some how I always manage to talk myself into waiting until tommorrow. Thats also why my transformation is taking so long. I am deciding not to wait anymore just start today!

Like I had mentioned last assignment, I have been struggling with my nightly consumption of wine. I did well giving it up during the week, but then I seem to make up for it on the weekend. In addition, Monday and Tuesday became an extension of the weekend. I am doing well with portion size, food choices, and getting myself to the gym, but the extra wine calories are just enough to keep me from dropping the body fat as quickly as I would like. My lowest level habit is definitely this - consuming too much wine too often through out the week. I have decided for the remainder of the competition, I will not allow myself a single glass of wine not even on my cheat day. How I am going to do this? My habit consists of coming home, sitting out on the patio with my husband, and sipping my wine while he sips a beer. I find it very comforting and it is our time to just sit, relax and catch up on the days events. It will be hard to break this habit, but I can do it. I first asked my husband if he would pledge with me no wine or beer for the remainder of my competition. He agreed (he wants to lose a little too ;-). We will sip on an organic spice iced tea instead.

I have many low-level habits that hold me back: beating myself up, procrastinating, complaining, criticizing, blaming, anticipating the worst, not honoring self-promises,etc. But I believe that all of these can be summed up in one simple habit - not honoring myself. And I mean this distinct from not honoring self-promises, which is a completely different thing. Every one of the aforementioned habits can be transformed by choosing to honor myself. Every single one of them! When I am engaged in any of them, I know that I'm not being true to myself. I used to be able to fool myself, but I can't any more. Sometimes I can pretend for a short while, but not for long. And I'm happy about that actually. Because who really truly wants to live life lying to herself? I don't. As for how to transform this? Well, there is not much to "do" other than listen to the voice within and follow its lead. It is more of a "being" than a "doing" thing. I know that when I am in a state of honoring, the "right" actions occur naturally. All the other low-level habits simply fall away, effortlessly. Be present comes to mind. I can only strive to stay present or bring my awareness back to the present when I notice it isn't, which is quite often truth-be-told. It is a work in progress, but I know that the more present I am, the more I "hear" and the more I honor myself and the less the low-level habits have control. Simple yet difficult, or so I tell myself...ah, sounds like an excuse!

My lowest level habit is lack of planning/organization. Funny enough, I'm completely organized at work, but fail to carry through at home. This affects me in both my transformation and daily activities. I fail to prepare myself and family for the week. I don't plan all my meals and workouts far enough in advance. I don't finish projects when I plan to. I overbook myself and miss workouts. You get the picture. Thanks so much for making finally figure this out. How do I fix this? Use many of tools I'm fully aware of but fail to utilize. I will dedicate myself starting now to overcome this obstacle.!

I did this one last week but I forgot to write it down. So I think that my lowest habit is nicotine and caffeine addiction. So I made an appointment with my Dr. to see about getting the patch or gum or something.Also I'm switching from coffee in the morning to green tea. There are different theories on coffee and I don't know if it is bad or not but I start my morning with 3 cups of the stuff and it really gets moving . Then I crash and thats when I reach for unauthorized foods

My lowest level habit is procrastination without a doubt and lacking consistency in many things I do. My plan for procrastination is doing these assignments I need to tackle them as I realize them. I am staying true to my word and I am DOCUMENTING what I need to do. This has helped tremendously! Another habit is inconsistency in eating, though it's much improved, in exercise (not an issue since I started this transformation. Off to document my A8 lowest habits in detail. :)

Self-criticism is my lowest level habit. This has been with me a long while but now I am consciously aware of it so it will soon pass away naturally. Simply watching it and not judging myself as wrong for being self-critical is essential I feel otherwise the problem is perpetuated. Rather saying "I choose to be self-critical and I love myself anyway" seems to take the power out of it. thanks for this important assignment. This is pure wonderment.

My lowest level habits are tied together -- procrastination and feeling overwhelmed. I get overwhelmed with all believe that I must do and then I decide to put it off, particularly the most difficult things at work. I spend too much time on-line and watching tv and then have not accomplished what I want. I will overcome this by limiting my on-line time and tv time, making a priority plan with only five things to accomplish in day, and not letting perfectionism get in the way of "getting it done." Sometimes a good job is good enough and we need to just move on to the next thing!!!!

I have been reflecting on this topic for some time and have feared to post here because I fear what people might think of me.. But I feel that I am ready to now to post this because my true desire at this point in my life is to deepen my spiritual transformation since I have already worked on my physical. I have a very long list of low level habits. I am quite embarrassed but I feel the need to do this in order to continue on my spiritual path. Anger, irritability, jealousy, worry, procrastination, control.....which all point to fear. I have been living in fear all my life. I feared going to Denver because I feared about speaking in a public setting, feared asking my bosses....etc. I have been realizing that fear has been holding me back from living my true potential. These past few weeks, when a low habit has happened I will reflect on what I have done and try to fix it after. But now I am also trying to be mindful of my thoughts before I react to anything. Thank you Bill for helping me emerge from my cocoon. Love you - Val :)

My lowest level habit is... control. I like to be in control of everything. Thus even when I know I shouldn't eat something or I know I should exercise, etc.. I say, I don't have to. I had to do it yesterday, so today I will give myself a break. Or it is only one dessert. Wow, I am writing this down. I don't have a lot of control right now in my life due to lack of work, etc, so I utilize the control I have and don't always make the healthy choices I need to for myself, my family and all around me. I am going to begin RIGHT NOW, to make choices for the long term instead of for the moment. I think that will help me take a step back and analyze why I am making the choice. Years ago someone told me to ask myself with every decision "What is your motivation?" I know I can do it for the right reasons, and what is a better time then now to start! Thanks Bill.

I would have to say my lowest habit is... well i have two, First is constantly comparing myself to others. And second being really critical and harsh to myself. Logically I know that i am over exaggerating when I nit pick at things, but I still do it. I would like by the end of this transformation not look at someone and say Oh I want her Butt!

My lowest habit is control. I went back and looked at my blogs and my own written journals and it's jumping out at me. The worst part is that the control leads to anger. If I can't control someone or a situation, I get mad. At them/the situation, then at myself for being mad. Then I either overeat or I hold grudges. I'm not proud of this but until I admit it, there won't be a solution. I'm not a nice person to be around when things don't go my way. How this can be a stength? I always tell my kids, "You can't control anything but yourself. How you act and how you treat others." DUH! I need to listen to myself! By focusing inward, I can gain control of myself and allow others and other situation to unfold at will. I try to control others so that I don't have to control myself. When others don't do as I want them to or things don't go the way I want them to, I use this as an excuse to eat. Sort of a "Look what you made me do!" kind of angry response. Well, nobody made me do anything. I need to let go of the outwardly controlling feelings and be more in control and at peace with myself. If I am to do this, more planning, spiritual reading and thinking, and just plain getting up earlier to get it all in are in order.

I would say that my lowest level habit is in that i haven't fully been using the resources available through t-com. I haven't been keeping up to date with my home page. i've been reluctant to respond to emails from others that are offering help in this journey. I guess that in whole, i've been neglecting my participation within the t-com family. While I have continued to follow the assignments, I have to admit that I haven't been 100% in line with each challenge. In recognizing this, I feel that I can still reach my goals with a renewed focus and energy. My hope is that by making my weakness into a strength, I will gain that necessary strength. I do sincerely want to Transform, fully. I have made many great strides in my life-long journey for which i am very grateful. My cardio workouts are allowing me to accomplish things i haven't been able to do since high school. My spiritual growth has made a complete turnaround, mostly through the life challenges my family has endured in the last two months. But considering where I was two years ago, I now truly believe that J.C. died on the cross for us all. An unbelievable sacrifice that will not be forgotten in my day to day life. My eating habits can be better. I enjoy cooking from the Eating for Life book, I just need to do it more often. All of these things are attainable, all of these things will be achieved. I have the intentions, now all i need is the accountability. I'm going to begin by trying to figure out how to make this entry my first blog on my home page. And then progress by writing those individuals that first introduced themselves to me. I owe them that much... bring on challenge 9!!!

My lowest level habit is sacrificing my authenticity in order to please others. Early on in life, I learned that if I said what others wanted to hear, I would get positive results, so I did this over and over and over until the habit was ingrained. I avoided conflict or anything resembling it at all costs, because I thought it was rejection. What I didn't learn until much later is that by over-editing my words, I lost the truth of myself and my thoughts and even principals. Every spoken untruth just put another brick between me and the person I was interacting with. Most people never knew the real me. Sure, it was a means of protection, but more so, isolation. No wonder I've reached the age of 45 and even while I was married, I felt ALONE! Well, no more. I'm working diligently to speak my true words, with compassion and love, but without losing their original content. Will I get everyone to agree with me? No way, but disagreements are opportunities for real discussion and real listening and real connections with others. That's what I'm finally learning in my transformation journey. Diane

My lowest habit is allowing using food as a crutch, a pick me up, something to make me feel better. But it doesn't for long because when I allow myself to do this, than my behavior controls me rather than the other way around. And then I feel bad about it, it is a failure to me I think, and so the cycle goes. I feel so much better when I am disaplined when it comes to food.

My lowest level habit is living like everything I want to do has equal importance and I am a failure if I don't accomplish all of my daily goals. What am I going to do about it? I will list highest goals and only hold myself to those things that are crucial to meeting my highest goals- basically I am going to take the pressure of imagined perfection off myself!

Okay, once again, Bill I read this assignment and did it last round but TODAY is different. I get it today!! I love when you say...Positive words creates positive energy. I'm keeping that one out where I can see it!! Okay, my lowest level habit at this time in my life is kind weird...but it is definately holding me back. I had major surgery 4 years ago. Before that I was fit, ran 2 marathons and finished a sprint triatlon. I was on top of the world. Then I had this surgery and I gained weight, quit running and began to believe due to the kind of surgery it was I'd never get my fugure back even if I tried. So while I was out on my walk/jog the other day I realized (as I saw a hill on the horizon) I don't believe I can run up that hill anymore becasue of my surgery. I don't believe I'll ever become a runner again because of my surgery. I don't believe I'll ever a fit, lean stomach again becasue of my surgery and my age (I'm only 42). I've been blaming my weight gain, my lack of fitness and running on my surgery!!!! WOW! I finally get that. Okay, now that I've got it...I plan on finding some stories on women who have had success with their bodies regardless of their age, hormones and all that junk!! I'm also going to work on my walk/jog plan until I can run a full mile again without walking!!! This is a real breakthrough for me today!! Les

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? I believe one habit I still have trouble with is the early morning workouts. Although I am up and off to the gym every morning at 5:30 am it is still an ongoing battle for me to get out of bed. I have not arrived at that magical point yet where I really love getting up and heading to the gym. Right after my first round transformation ended I decided to take off a week to just rest and relax. I figured if I was lazy for 7 days it wouldn't set me back too far and i would be able to pick back up where I left off. Well, 7 days turned into 12 and I knew I was in trouble if I didn't force myself to return to the normal routine. It was tough for the first few days but I was soon back in the groove. My wife and I had a discussion about this very thing several nights ago. She asked me how I was doing with the early morning workouts. I simply said " I'm hanging in there". That's simply not an acceptable answer for a co-champion to be making, but it is really how I feel. Around 4 am each morning I wake up like clockwork and lay there making every excuse I can not to get out of bed. You wouldn't believe the lame excuses I manage to come up with. I will literally lay there for an hour trying to talk myself out of getting up. Luckily, I do manage to get those feet on the floor and make my way to the kitchen for Bill's big glass of water. That and the bright lights usually do the trick. Now let me explain that my attitude is totally the opposite on my way home from the gym. I absolutely love how I feel once my workouts are done and love my drive home. I pass all these folks heading off to work and it makes me feel great to know I have already done something good for myself and it's all behind me for the day. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I have recently decided that this lowest level habit of forcing myself to get out of the bed has got to go, especially if I plan on making this a life style change. This morning was the first morning that I forced myself to think positive thoughts when I woke up. I concentrated on how I would feel once it was over. I would shoot for the good feeling so to speak! It actually worked, but will need some polishing over time. I know this habit will be hard to overcome but I am determined to fight it all the way. This is how I see it. Whether I like it or not I am still going to get up each morning anyway. It's my choice to either make it easy or hard on myself. It only makes sense to enjoy the process which can only make it easier to overcome.

my low habit is not spending enough time on this website... this website, for me, is an amazing tool of value, motivation, and inspiration...i need to use as many tools as possible in order to achieve maximum results..esp. for what i wrote for my goals...i also need to study my online courses more often to pass my real estate class and get my license...i plan to achieve both of these by doing the things i am least likely to do, first thing in the morning...i will also wake up 15 to 30 minutes earlier and use that time to accomplish my goals and eliminate this low level habit

When I started this “new transformation”, it was started because I failed to succeed in completing my transformation that was started in July of last year. I started and got to week 8, and then something happened and I didn’t complete it. I went through all the assignments up to that time and I have used them as a springboard to this transformation but this time, the program is so different to me. Within one week of starting anew, I rid myself of my lowest level habit that I have had since I was 16. I smoked for 38 years and now I can say that I haven’t smoked in over 7 weeks now. That is a big step, but that is only part of why I didn’t complete the 18 weeks the first time. Over the last two years I have been dealing with Vertigo and now I am 100 % healthy and am attacking this transformation as hard as I can. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse for me completing this 18 week transformation. The question is, RIGHT NOW, WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK? I read this assignment yesterday and have thought about it for a while now. Last time I didn’t complete the 18 weeks and thinking about this, I ask myself why. I also pull from other experiences in my life and ask why. What is occurring in my life that has held me back? There is a recurring theme, action way of being. My problem is I do not follow through to the end. I am always starting things but never completing most things or goals. Yes there are a couple achievements I have had in my life. But there are more things I started never to finish them. I get really charged up about a new business venture, a new project, a new goal only to let it lapse in the forgotten world of being incomplete. Then, I start something new again and get really excited about that. Do I ever finish, most times not. I am like the designated batter in baseball. Yeah, I could hit a homerun every 20th time up, but I strike out a lot and my batting average is really low. I am not the everyday hitter that is consistent and always there day after day after day. I did complete the 12 BFL in 1999 and then I didn’t follow through. I had bad eating habits, I ate foods that I just found out have been very toxic to me. I ended up in the worst shape of my life. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? Now I have everything going right for me so that I will complete the 18 weeks and still be very active to help others here at t-com. I have no physical injuries, I am healthier now than I have been in over a decade. I know what I can and can’t eat, I know how and when to workout. My work schedule that I have now is the best it has ever been for me to succeed with this 18 week program. I know to use my accountability groups to help me stay focused. I will not let anything stand in the way of me not completing the 18 week program. I am so focused on this goal and completing my 18 week transformation. 8 weeks are completed and I feel great and am ready for the last 10 weeks. A BINDING CONTRACT I, Martin Z, will complete the 18 week Transformation Program. I, Martin Z, will be active with accountability group and as many people in this community as I can. I, Martin Z, will stay injury free and I stay in the best health I have been in over the last decade. I, Martin Z, will eat properly, at the right time, in the right amounts, with the right foods. I, Martin Z, will exercise 6 days a week first thing in the morning following BFL principles. I, Martin Z, will do all my assignments and post all my pictures. I, Martin Z , will run the Denver Marathon and help others in any way possible. I, Martin Z will sing again joyfully at my Church and Elderly Home Communities, giving my gift back to the elderly and my church community. Lastly, I, Martin Z will hand in my complete 18 week program package knowing I gave this nothing less than my all. Martin Z

My lowest level habit used to be wasting time on FB, now I've cut that out entirely for the rest of my challenge because of not hitting my 6 week major goals. I have another lowest habit that I need to work on now; it is sleeping too much and not going to bed early enough to write in my journal and then not getting up early enough to do my necessary hours of meditation to build my mindpower every morning. Sleepy self must change before the coming of winter because that's when my energy levels start to get really low with the reduction in sunlight.

Physically my lowest level habit is not always sticking to 6 small meals per day..I sometimes get skip the meal in the mid-morning and then I hit the gym at lunch time....upon my return I eat more than I should. I have been good terms of what I eat...it is all good quality, clean food but the portion size can get away from me. From a spiritual perspective I have been learning to create space and time before responding. Traditionally I have been quick to react if I percieve that some-one is out of order or I have taken offence. I found since starting on this journey that by simply taking some extra time ....my responses have been more gentle and moderate...it is also apparent that by n ot reacting immeidately others often have time to reflect on what they havesaid and make amends of their own accord...simply becuase I have created the space to do so. Thanks Bill for this assignment...it has been great to reflect on a wet Sunday afternoon about the journey and how far I have come and more importantly how wonderful the future seems. Kindest wishes Stuart

The lowest level habit that is negatively affecting my transformation is holding the negative belief system of the toxic person(s) who had a major influence in my life. This, by the way, has stifled the emergence of my True Self. Also, I unintentionally transferred their traits onto other people and the Creator of the Universe or True Self. Subsequently, I brought the toxic beliefs into my relationships, finances, spirituality, health creativity and career. Finally, I sabotaged my own life and created a "victim mindset". Every time I tried to make an improvement in some area of my life, I have not been able to see it through to the end because I did not change my mind set. The self sabotaging thoughts stifled my success. I have been very fortunate to have come in contact with some great teachers along the way who gave me great tools. However, I have been very resistant to change and did not use the tools to full capacity. I still struggle with this resistance. This is what I intend to do about it: Get quiet and listen for the destructive sentences that are causing me trouble. Turn them into powerful, strengthening ones. Affirm them daily until the negative sentences are gone.

My lowest level habit right now is checking the physical progress of my second Transformation...sometimes on a daily basis! I am ashamed to admit that, but it is honest. I am so afraid of not making physical progress during my second transformation that I have resorted to "watching the pot boil". As I am writing this I realize that the watched pot never boils, and I know I have made this association before but my insanity keeps me "here". So instead of hanging out in my head, keeping the measuring tape out and trying on my skinny jeans all the time, I am going to check in and take measurements at predetermined checkpoints along the way. This will also make room for more spiritual progress. Wheeeewww...that feels better.

Okay I thought about this for quite awhile before I posted my low level habits. I have a few low level habits that I want to get a handle on..1.) I am a judgmental person and I always have negative thoughts in my mind and this negative spills over into aspects of my life. 2.) I abandon my healthy eating lifestyle to easy on days that are not my free days and I make excuses for not working out. Anyway I am glad I had taken time to think about these things. ~ Chac

Thinking about Assignement #8 And my lowest habit. I have to say it is change and fear combined. I have made the change to lose weight. But still have fears to change other things. One of the biggest fears I am having right now is changing my food a little bit. I have counted calories and followed the body for life so long that a change is hard and I feel it might be holding me back a little to getting my goal. So I am going to modify it a little and and only have bread potaotes and rice once per week and have fruits and more veggies the rest of the time. I think this is a better choice for me right now. And I am not counting calories anymore. I think that is holding me back. I know BFl no calorie counting but I started it and got hooked. It makes me tend not to eat enough to fuel my body. I am tired of worring about how many calories I am eating and now knowing what is the right amount. I know when to stop and what is right or wrong but as people we still have the fears of am I doing what is right to give my body what it needs. These are two things I am having to learn about in my process and also will give me the knowledge I need to carry on to my clients when I become a trainer. Everyone has different bodies and everyone needs different things and different things work for there life styles. BFL does for me. I crave the food every couple of hours and I like my free day because it gives me something to look forward to. Also I have gotten bad on my free day. i am eating to much instead of just moderatly enjoying the things I enjoy. So Once again Pizza is not even a free day item but once every couple months. It is better for me to get the calories from Chilies in steak shrimp chic all buttered up to have great taste. Pizza i feel is waisted calories.So right now I am going to get past the fear of changing my food to see if something will work better the others. My second low level my gosh is the fear to climb that rope with no legs. I am so close to doing it and I look up and keep telling myself 3 weeks I will do it 3 weeks. Well Not anymore it has to be the positive energy of I can do it and it will get me all the way to the top. i am only half way there with the confidence on the rope. It needs to be where I am at with my lose weight and fitness goals. So I am now confidenent in anything i Ido and l won't let fear and change stand in my way. i will jump that hurdle. This is a hard one bill we all have so many low habits and finding the right ones to correct so it works for you is a real thought process. i know I will find more and the best true low habit will come out and that is when i will go wow I have been doing this for so long. and what will happen after that will just be another whole chapter to my life. This is what change is all about. Finding the things that will complete you inner transformation.

After reading Bill’s blog about Assignment #8, I realized I had addressed some of it in my Assignment # 7. However, I feel there is a lot I still need to address and this is the perfect assignment and time to address them again. What is the low level habit I need to overcome? Unfortunately, I have three that are holding my transformation back. The first is procrastination. I am absolutely horrible with my time management. I get lazy and put of things that need to be done now. I let this low level habit creep in daily since my first challenge at about week 12. If I’m tired, I can work out tomorrow. I don’t need to plan tonight, I can put something together in the morning. These are the thoughts I keep letting win. Now, into Week 7 on Challenge 2, I have made little progress physically. Everything I’ve gained I have managed to hang on to, but I am certainly not moving forward. This is an enormous struggle for me. I am resolved to beat this low level habit buy being aware of how it is impacting my progress and to start planning my week on Sundays (or at least plan my following day the night before). To start using my lunch breaks to maintain my journal. And also begin doing more workouts in the morning to allow my self for time in the evening to spend planning and enjoy more time with my family. My second low level habit is just plain old laziness. No excuses…just lazy. I am resolved to change the way I think about what I need to accomplish. If I take more time reviewing my goals daily and re-reading my assignments, I believe this will help keep me focused on the task at hand and encourage myself to overcome my laziness to achieve my goals. I don’t know what you would call the third so I will do my best to describe it. I have to do things in order. I have a very hard time “switching gears” so to speak. Like if there is a break in my routine or daily habit, I have a hard time skipping to the next step and moving on to get things accomplished then going back to finish. Does this make sense? I’ve watched some shows on OCD and I can almost recognize this with a type of OCD. It is nothing that impacts my life so much I can not function throughout my day, but it does make is more difficult when my course of action changes during the day to still get all my goals accomplished.. Sorry if I’m unclear, it’s hard to explain. But I have the mentality of if I can’t do Step 1, I have a hard time moving to Step 2, so nothing gets done. Ugh! This is a tough one for me. I have made great strides in changing the way I interact with others. I still have moments of complaining, criticizing or blaming but they are few and far between. And when I do, I usually catch myself and stop immediately. And because I have changed this low level habit, I feel more confident in myself and find the people around me or more positive as well. Once I started believing in myself, I find by encouraging others, I feed their confidence also. It is so true about what Bill said in his Assignment # 8 blog, “…negative words draw in negative energy which holds our transformation back.” For the first time in my life, I am actually enjoying my “shortcomings”. I addressed this in my Assignment #7. I feel so empowered now that my “shortcomings” are just a part of who I am. A lot of times, I laugh at myself when previously I always felt I had to strive for perfection. It feels so free just being ME!! I have also confronted so many fears between accepting the first challenge and today. I relied a lot on my Husband to get things done in our daily lives because I never thought I was strong enough, smart enough, or whatever my excuse was. Now I realize it was all just excuses or being afraid I would not be perfect in another’s eyes. Well, that’s gone out the window. I don’t wait around for anyone. I get up and do it myself. I now just realized it was my excuse to be lazy and live in fear of trying new things for the fear of failure. I love the person I am becoming and enjoying the challenges of my transformation. Even if I get frustrated at times, I know it won’t last forever.

My biggest problem has been I always say I am so tired because I only get about 5-6 hours per night. Even if I got to bed earlier, I never get more. That's my excuse for not getting up early enough to exercise. Another excuse is just plain laziness. I really struggle with a clean diet since there is always bad stuff in my house for my kids. I have gotta learn to say no to all of that garbage. I am recommitting myself to this challenge right now.

What is my lowest level habit that is showing up in my daily life now which is holding my transformation back? 1) eating foods that are not on my meal plan and overexercising to compensate for it. (being compulsive) This has slowly developed in to a habit in the past month. I've been working 12+ hour days, and I've been eating out and grabbing food on the go more often that is not always the healthiest (like processed subway foods and chex mix). But then I just tell myself I'll workout a little longer, which is easy to do, because I work at the gym. All of my coworkers workout alot, so we train each other and then I'll usually do cardio too. Too much physical exercise has been taking away from some of my spiritual exercise, and exercising more to compensate for eating "unclean" is not healthy for me, especially since I used to have an eating disorder. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I will turn this into a strength by digging deeper in to my spiritual growth. When I start getting too caught up in physical concerns, like food and exercise, it means I am lacking on my spiritual growth. So today I went and bought The Power of Now, and I'm starting a new journal (I just filled up the one I've been using). I am going to be sure to read AT LEAST 15+ minutes per day and write at least 10+ minutes every day. I am turning my compulsion to do so much physical exercise into a compulsion to do more spiritual exercise and delve into more spiritual studies. This habit stinks, and I haven't felt great about letting it develop, so I am breaking it now before it gets too bad!!

my worst thing is allowing myself to skip the small things which in turn add up to big things! i eat one small thing i really shouldnt and then i know all day long i could have went without it. Or i skip an hour and realize i should have ate when it was time, i also have noticed when i dont have a good week i have thsi mental block about being able to move past it. i tell others not to do that but i do it and i try so hard not too. i dont know how to stop thinking about it when ive had a bad week, but thats how i have messed up in the past nad gained weight back. the past 3 weeks have been a struggle, one week i was really sick, last week i did not prepare and the first week i just slacked off and there was no good reason i just did it. ive decided today as these things have been on my mind to write a list of all the things i did in the past that DID NOT help me. The things that made my weight loss harder and made me feel worse. i need to identify it because i dont want to make all these mistakes again! i am happy to say though i have my kitchen ready for this week today is my first day on week 9, see im behind on assignments...and i have done very well!

Round 2~ lowest level habit? I would say that I am a bit Hard onmyself when I do mess up on my eating at times. I am learning to give myself grace and remember its PROGRESSION not perfection we are looking for ...however when you have a food addict like me I have to be FIRM with my choices and surround myself with GOOD FOODS and not unhealthy ones because believe me if there was m and ms in the house I would feel the PULL toward them. I am learing to focus on NOURISHING my body well and the JOY that THAT FEELS instead of the instant gratification of having a handful of m and ms. I do better if I make that 100 % commitment of THIS IS MY WAY OF eating and this is my way of life NO Excuses Shari. Thats just me. Hugs, Shari

Assignment Eight This assignment is the type of thing that in the past would result in my quitting and just giving up rather than think it through. I could think of so many low level habits I’m guilty of – laziness, negative self-talk, self-centeredness, low expectations as well as unrealistically high ones to name but a few. I think I’ve been working up to dealing with this for quite a while now. The transformation process is forcing me to stand and face thoughts and feelings that for years I have numbed with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and food. To get to the point, I believe my lowest level habit is an inability to trust – inability to trust myself – to commit to something and follow through and actually do something worthwhile, to be the person I think I should be, to love myself and others; inability to trust others – to love and accept the real me and not betray or intentionally hurt me; but mostly inability to trust God – to love me and forgive me and save me from myself. I feel that if I could just trust God like I know I should all the other things will fall into place. But how do I make that happen? Can I make this happen? All my life I’ve heard reference to “praying through” – where a person doesn’t stop praying about a situation until they feel the peace or resolution they needed from God. While I pray daily, my prayers have never reached that level of intensity. I always lose focus and my mind starts wandering before I reach a resolution or closure. I was thinking of this the other day and realized I’m afraid to ask God specifically for anything really important because I’m afraid, afraid that if I don’t get the response I desire I will begin to doubt God and if I doubt God, what happens then? It’s like I don’t want to give God the opportunity to let me down, but in “protecting” myself this way am I also denying God the opportunity to bless me in the ways He truly wants to? It all goes back to trust – do I really believe what God says in Jeremiah 29:11 – For surely I know the plans I have for you says the Lord … to give you a future with hope. For so many years I had no hope, I fully expected to be dead by now from a drug overdose. But I’m still here – WHY??? I can’t believe God kept me from death just to live a mediocre life. I feel like he saved me to use me, but I just don’t see how. I’m doing a Bible study right now and one of the points is that God doesn’t just expect us to do work for Him all on our own – it is God that actually does all the work, but He does it through us. I have asked God in the past to take control of my life and asked Him to make me useable by Him, but have I really turned everything over to Him? Am I still trying to maintain control of my life myself (like I’ve done such a great job controlling my life so far – NOT!)? Do I believe I can truly let go and let God work in me and through me? I just don’t know what to do to fix this and allow the trust to grow inside me. I wish I had a mentor or someone to give me guidance and support. But then I start thinking that asking for help would just be a way of trying to get attention and possible take away help from someone who really deserves it. I also wonder if it is a sign of weakness to need someone’s help in this, like this is something I should just be able to do between me and God. I’m afraid to reach out for help, afraid of not receiving help, then feeling rejected, worthless, and unloved. It is much easier to numb my feelings with food and other addictions than to take the chance of getting hurt further. But the way I’ve been living is hurting me, keeping me from living life the way God intends for me to – with love, joy, and peace. If I am honest, it is also hurting others, not only my husband and family, but also all the people God could help through me if I was where I should be with Him. So the question remains, what do I do now? Do I just set this aside, try to forget about it and not move on, just keep living the same old way? Or do I take a chance, let myself be vulnerable and trust God? I don’t want to stay the way I am, I CAN’T stay the way I am, so I guess it is time to take a chance, so here goes – I, Teresa Wilson, commit to posting this assignment, I commit to showing this assignment to my husband and to my pastor and asking for their feedback, I commit to finally talking to my pastor about starting a mentor program in our church, and I commit to picking a day in the next week to fast and pray for God to build my ability to trust, I commit to accepting the results of these actions, to trust God to lead me to the mentor or other guide He has for me, to trust Him to love me no matter how unloveable I’m feeling at the moment, I commit to doing whatever work He leads me to and to let go and leave the results up to Him.

Oh, wow. Balancing this work with the "progress, not perfection" work should be fun! ;) (I am reading the assignments as they come, rather than looking ahead. Opening each one is like a Christmas gift! Thank you.) I will post more later...gotta do some thinking.

My lowest level habit shows up often. Although my mind does try to deny and rationalize it and sometimes I have more control over it than other times…..it is always there lurking in the shadows of my life. My lowest level habit is drinking wine. I believe that there is a fine line between an addiction and a habit. But I really believe that my affection for wine belongs more in the category of a habit. I associate wine with fun. Before I started this 18 week transformation I was pretty much drinking wine on a daily basis….some days more than others. Because I was so unhappy, I would motivate myself to get through the day by visualizing myself having a glass of wine while preparing dinner. Most days that one glass of wine would lead to two and sometimes three. Although I believed that it was something to look forward to….it was really a vicious cycle that would lead to not feeling well the next day and depression which started the whole pattern all over again.During weeks one through four of the transformation I gave up wine. I started the challenge on June 1st and made a commitment not to drink wine until July 3rd. I felt fabulous during those 32 days. Then I made a new commitment to only drink wine on my free day which was okay except I would tend to overindulge on that day knowing that I could not have any again for a week. This led to feeling bad the next day and possibly blowing off my exercise. Slowly but surely I let the wine habit creep back in to Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then occasionally during the week. Wine is definitely a big part of my social life. But I am really becoming aware of the fact that it is keeping me from being the best that I can be in so many ways.This week started the beginning of my second half of my transformation. I am making a new commitment to visualize myself enjoying a nice relaxing sober evening drinking sparkling water with a twist of lime and a splash of pomegranate juice while preparing dinner. And then going to bed early with a good book so that I can wake up early feeling awesome have my prayer time and then head out for some amazing exercise before I start my work day.

Assignment #8 Procrastination! I am the best project manager in the world! I plan my menus, workouts and cook my food. As I run out the door for work, I forget my packed food and eat fast food all day. I get home , sit down and think about my workout, as I waiti longer and longer , it is too late for the gym, and I convince myself I will start again the next day! I have to stop this! It is holding me back!

My lowest level habit is the negative way I see myself I am so angry at myself. I will change this by watching the words that come out of my mouth and make them encouraging words. Every time a thought about how I am not good enough comes up I will replace it with my future vision and were I am going

Bad habits - even the words make me cringe now. I have had so many and not just bad eating habits either. But in just these few weeks since the middle of June (Day 1 of T1) I have been able to kick away so many. I have even amazed myself. God has answered my pleas for help. Good habits are now replacing bad. Regular sleep, healthy eating, daily exercise, positive media input, journaling, daily affirmations. What a difference! In consulatation with my #1 supporter (my darling wife) she wisely suggested I transform my negative speech patterns into positive. WOW. For years I have kind of been the "dark side of the moon" and I'm not always a offering positive comments. I often speak before I think. It's a lowly habit. I have something good to work on and it will make a difference in my life and everyone else around me. Soon they'll wonder who I am...and that's good.

my lowest habit is not eating all my meals I uselly eat dinner and thats all so this is been a real chalange for me Im going to start taking a snack bag were ever I go so I wont have an excuse any more

My lowest level habit is criticism, whether I am criticizing myself or those I love around, either way it is an awful habit I have found myself sinking more into with each day. My best line of defense for tackling this habit is to think before I say something. Most times I just say what comes to mind. But if I learn to retrain my thoughts I will stop criticizing and hopefully begin to give positive comments to both myself and those I love. Once this has become second nature to me I will empower myself and have better relationships with those closest to me.

Hey Bill: How did you become so SMART? I've had counseling, been in various programs here and there and been through a number of sessions in lots of places and I haven't seen or heard any wiser words that these. AND...one thing that is VERY important and special to me is the way you shine a spiritual light around it all. Thank you for that!. MY LOWEST LEVEL HABIT: I, like so many others, have a procrastination problem when it comes to my office. I also am a drama addict and it's easy to drop into my comfortable chair when I get back from my exercise at the gym and just phase away for much too long. WHAT WILL I DO ABOUT IT. With God's help, I am lightening up my TV time and determined to work on the procrastination. (You should have seen me procrastinate about actually putting my body upside down into the deep cold water in front of me when I finally took diving lessons the other day at 74 years of age after having done multiple belly flops all my younger years. ) I'm still working on it, and I "dread" Wednesday when we will work on the diving again. I'll never be an Esther Williams but this program has made me confront some of my fears and inabilitiies. Thank you. Jodi (joleneo)

My lowest level habit has to be procrastination and I see that I am not the only one with this problem! I always tell my daughter when it comes to her life and school work that she must always "do what she has to do first" and then she can "do what she wants to do". I need to follow my own advice! I have been finding out that the thing I am putting off doing takes almost no time to do when I actually get to it. What makes it seem worse is all the time I waste by not doing it in the first place! I am getting better at planning ahead for what I need to do and this seems to end the procrastination cycle.

I am a procrastinator for some things only. It seems that there are just too many little things I have to do every day; you know like having a schedule. i do not like schedules and I always have to be 5 minutes late to everything. I like spontaneity, and what I do to get on tract is make lists. I have so many lists of thiing I have to do. Then I condense my lists. This is crazyness. Well, I have a new plan in action. I am going to do the most important chores in the morning; least liked first to most liked last. By chores I mean doing my exercises, taking my vitamins, planning my meals for the day etc.

My lowest level habit is a lack of quality rest. It seems there is not enough hours in the day, but it is my responsibility to turn off the tv and get to bed. Until next time, God Bless!

My lowest level habit is most certainly procrastination. I believe I can overcome the procrastination be planning out my day in writing.

Round 2> Lower level habits for me this round are tackling the 'worries' of what tomorrow will bring. I am truly beginning to understand staying grounded and present in my DAY to DAY process rather than worrying about what tomorrow has in store for me. Living in the here and now makes a huge difference rather than wondering about tomorrow. This has been my number one lower level habit that has been the focus with this round - thirst for knowledge and how to transform this pattern of behavior has equipped me with so much than I could've imagine (Thanks Joe P!!) ~ Kelli

Mine would be that I keep myself so busy with life and friends ,that I dont plan ahead when it comes to my food plan. And tend to hve a hard time sayin no to friends whn i need time to myself to refocus on my time. Its hard to say no I love people but I know in order for me to reach my goals and this transformation I need to spend that alone time and plan my meals without distraction and relax refocus and enjoy my journey of this new life and transformation.

My lowest level habit is having a "deep commitment" to things. I can be productive at a surface level, but when it comes to really committing to something, I prefer being an observer. Thanks for creating a community that supports people's efforts to change.

After a couple of days pondering my lower level habits, this morning wound up being a perfect case study. My lowest level habit currently would have to be poor time management. As you may be aware, I am finally employed again. It isn't full time but it still challenges me to relearn how to manage my mornings on the days I work. I am learning that hitting the snooze button repeatedly is a setup for failure. I am learning that it can be a challenge to exercise first thing each day and still make my way through Atlanta traffic on time for a shift. In order to address this I'm taking a multi-pronged approach. I am trying to go to bed earlier so that I get up on time more consistently. I am also planning increased flexibility with exercise times for those cases where I may need to run in the evening. Overall, this increased flexibility will become one of my greatest strengths!

For me, this was probably the most important SPIRITUAL assignment to date - for lack of a better phrase. It's a REAL long story and I won't share it here - but I DID touch on it in my Assignment 8 post a few days ago in my ASSIGNMENT Blog. Funny - I was SURE it was gonna be the shortest, easiest assignment to do (on paper - or text), because I could soooooo quickly answer that question in one sentence! But, once I put fingertips to keys, it seems like the weight of this assignment warranted more background and context, so out came another e-book!! (:-0 ...but i's all good /:-) ....I AM sure it will benefit SOMEONE else at SOME point in the future! THAT's probably what the purpose was. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOTTOM LINE: My primary weakness had been "intentional disobedience" or NOT living everything I KNEW to live..... or, NOT using the knowledge and/or wisdom I had been given (by God thru all the ways that He gives it)... and so on. What this looked like in my life was a FAR LESS THAN 100% EFFORT in EVERYTHING. . . . . . . . My remedy involves my personal commitment and devotion to my most intimate Friend - HIM! (My Creator deserves the BEST from His creation.) ....since this assignment (Sunday/Monday), my Transformation experience has changed significantly.

As soon as I started reading this assignment I thought of my spirituality. I am working on this transformation and working towards what I want to gain, but I have not been working on my relationship with God. He needs to be a part of this journey with me and I've kinda put Him on the back burner. So, I am going to make sure I take time to read the scriptures, ponder and pray. I need His help, so I am going to do the things I need to to be worthy of that. :)

Well I thought about this for a few days. I talked with my husband and I'm not lazy, I'm not a procrastinator, I paced around suggesting different issues and then I said fear. ...thats it! I can get up early, I can work out and eat clean...though I have a fear of saying something wrong. I want to talk to everyone and so many of you write so well that I feel I'm not going to get my point/feelings across and I will offend or hurt someones feelings. I have always had a problem with expressing myself. My husband just told me that sometimes I act like I'm not sure of myself like I'm searching for the right words to say and it takes me a while to get a story out. I am definetly not good at telling jokes. : ) So The more I write and get my words out the better I will get.

Mine is negative "what if" thinking or fearing the worst. I've done it most of my life and it HAS to stop for me to truly transform into the person I want to become. My intentions on ridding myself of this nasty habit are to speak up when I start assuming the worst about my health, my relationships, my workouts, etc...talk to my friends and family about the way I am feeling only when necessary - not all the time calling them to complain about this or that. I've already cleared the air with my hubby on some matters that had me caught in the eye of a worry storm for weeks on end! I feel better about the situation now that we've talked it through.

Procrastination has not been a problem with my eating habits or exercise, but in other areas of my life it`s still a problem that I have been confronting. I can feel and see the changes there too as I take care of my family and home. Having more pride for the house we live in and not putting off the things needed to be done. I`m not there yet but working on it.

I can actually identify 2 main low-level habits that can trip me up ~ one of them is negative/limited thinking and as I mentioned last week, I've really been working on that by catching it sooner and sooner in my head and immediately replacing the thought with a more positive one. Its getting easier all the time. But the biggie for me is the tendency to do too much. I know that sounds strange, but especially now that I've got so much more energy, I have the habit of always trying to get one more thing done. It can be 7 at night and I'll think, now I can slow down and relax. Immediately then ~ almost as if I feel guilty for relaxing ~ I'll check email, correspond with friends, see a closet that needs cleaning out, the list is endless and pretty soon its 10:30 at night and I feel frazzled. We don't even have kids, how can life be this busy?!!! I've wrestled with this all week and what I've come up with is that LIFE DOESN"T HAVE TO BE THIS BUSY! MY LIFE CAN BE WHATEVER I WANT IT TO BE! When I let myself have too many of those kind of days in a row, I may still have energy physically, but mentally and spiritually I feel drained, depleted, empty. And you know what happens when we feel empty! Fill that hole! It is a pretty cool realization and as for a solution, I need to learn a new way of living where I'm productive and get things done, but where I'm also nurturing my spirit and mind. This tendency to always get so far ahead of myself is very detrimental so my idea is that each day I'll assign myself a cut-off time and after that time, no more work, projects or puttering ~ just time to relax, meditate, read something uplifting, etc. Does anyone else have this situation? What has helped?

Lowset level habit,biggest one has to be smoking,although i am a former smoker 12 days now,its still there day after day.Procrastination and i still need to work on the jogging thing. :)

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? 1.Smoking 2. Not bring the intensity to every work out. 3. Not concentrating on one thing at a time. 4.Thinking about things I shouldn't do like mindless wondering. 5.Staying committed to getting healthy and fit.

This assignment I found very hard as I know i have a history of failure in getting healthy yet I didnt know why. As I sat and pondered this question i think my worst low lying habit is I give in to my impulsive wants and needs (addicitions) without thinking about them. Well whats just one cookie.. one chocolate bar wont hurt... maybe just one burger in the drive through. Each impulsive choice really adds up! I am going to stop this behaviour by from now on recognizing this impulsive behaviour and the reason why I want something and not act on it with food, but rather trying to find other ways at satisfying my true "inner craving"....I think that if I can overcome this, i can make amazing progress in battling my addictions and achieving my total transformation.

My lowest level habit ...right now...is getting overwhelmed with something, work, a feeling, a thought or an interest...and they may be worthwhile, but I stop, I either turn away, bury myself in the interest, or find something totally off the wall to occupy my time. The way I am going to turn this around and in my favor, is to make daily lists and chunk my day down into smaller increments of things to do. That way I can visually be reminded of ways to make progress in smaller steps that don't overwhelm me. This way I can still get excited, still have a lot of things going on...but I can stay focused on what I need to do.

My lowest habit is always stopping when things are going good. I don't know why this happens, but it does. I remember being a member of a gym one time with a friend. It was a guys gym, mostly weight training and weight lifting. It was great for awhile. My friend and I were going at least 3 days a week. When the guys started commenting on how good I was looking, I stopped. You would think I would have rejoiced and kept going. I've done this a lot at different places in my life. Lose some weight, people say "You lost weight" and then it stops or I gain it back! I want this cycle to stop. My plan is to go to this website daily and focus on the great people that want to help me acheive my goal. I've slowed down on writing daily. I plan to regain that. I haven't written down my exercise plan daily. I plan to do that again too!

My two lowest level habits are: 1) poor sleep hygiene; and 2) a tendency to use food to comfort or reward myself and/or to relieve boredom. I am by nature a night owl. The peak of creativity and energy is usually between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. This type of sleep pattern does not translate very well in the real world and I have always had to battle arriving late for work or school in the mornings. What I have found during my challenge is that it’s necessary for me to eat breakfast by 9:00 a.m. in order to get all 6 meals in for the day. Therefore, I have been working hard to go to bed by 12 midnight and arise by 8:30 a.m. I set maintaining that sleep schedule as one of my goals in Coach Stoney’s accountability group, which helps me to stay focused on making the shift. I have also asked my husband to help me by reminding me to go to bed and helping me awake on weekend mornings. I also have signed up for water aerobics and yoga classes which begin at 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and that’s helping me to stay motivated to get up in the morning time. Another source of motivation in making this change is that the Denver marathon is at 7:00 a.m. That may very well be the toughest part of walking that ½ marathon for me. So I am also trying to walk at least three mornings. My relationship with food has puzzled me for a long time. This exercise has helped me to get a little more honest and clear about my eating habits. While I am not a binge eater, I do reach out for “comfort food” when I am sad or exhausted or bored. I also have a tendency to tell myself, “I’ve worked hard, I DESERVE some ice cream or a piece of pie.” In this challenge, the free day is working really well to reward myself and I can delay those impulses during the week until I reach my free day. With all of the goals I have set on my challenge, I don’t get bored…I usually don’t have enough hours in the day to get done everything that I want to do. So, eating for to resolve boredom is not an issue right now. There have been two occasions when I felt exhausted and just mentally could not muster staying on my eating plan for all meals. Coming back from my father-in-law’s funeral, I chose Alice Springs Chicken and fries at Outback for my dinner. We had been traveling and I was emotionally exhausted and I just regressed into an old habit form of eating. This week, I have been sick and my husband and I have developed a habit over the years of treating ourselves with a sweet food item when we feel sick to soothe are spirits. Today I opted for a chocolate chip cookie. While I was able to stop at just one cookie, it certainly was not part of my food plan. I just now have discovered my awareness about these eating habits. I plan to contact other T.com members and ask them how I might better cope with these types of scenarios in the future.

I don't even have to think about this. I know immediately. My lowest level habit that is holding me back is the clutter in my home. I am a packrat who has a hard time throwing anything away. During the last month i have gotten rid of a lot of stuff but I have a LONG way to go. This week I will sit down and write out my plan for clearing this house of clutter before the end of my 18 weeks. I will post it here.

So I've been pondering this question this week and here are my lowest level habits......negativity, fear of failure, and not completely following through on things I've started. I'll get excited about it for a few weeks then quit or get bored. They all pretty much work hand in hand. I'm fearful of failing the health journey again so I'm negative about it which feeds the them all even more. The negativity and fear of failure keeps me from completing things I've started. There that's it for me. The positive energy on this website does wonders! Thanks everyone!

My biggest low-level habit is inaction due to fear of success and fear of failure!! Sometimes it paralyzes me to the point that instead of moving forward, I stay right where I am, or even worse move backwards!! Sometimes I will ALMOST get what I am after, a little success, and I will sabotage myself,or shoot myself in the foot. One of my main priorities in this challenge is to "Finish the Job". Now, I certainly have goals for this challenge!! Difficult ones. The difference this time is that I am going to do the absolute best I can, accept what happens (the results) and continue to try to achieve any unmet goals, and set a new, HIGHER goal!

Transforming Your Lowest-Level Habit. My lowest level habit is - well, truthfully I have a few. I hold grudges and I have some O.C.D issues. I know it’s all a waste of time. Whether I’m checking a locked door three times I know I’ve locked or going over an argument I had with coworkers months ago, looking for that perfect come back to put them in their place. It’s a total waste of energy. So, what do I plan on doing about those habits? Whenever I find myself replaying an argument or checking a locked door more than once I stop dead in my tracks. It’s kinda like how I’ve dealt with my emotional eating. Instead of Nutritional awareness it’s Lowest-Level Habit awareness. I sit with my feelings, processing the stupidity of it all then move on. Bill’s right, admitting a weakness is strength

I have been thinking so much this week about my lowest-level habit. I think of this as the one trait I have that keeps me from Transforming every aspect of my life. I talked it over with my husband, Derek, and we both agreed that a lack of patience is my lowest-level habit. I want things right away - I want to see results physically right away without realizing that it took years to get to where I am, so it's going to take TIME to get back to where I should be. I have to have patience with myself, my children, my family, my life. I loved loved LOVED Bill's last Blog about trusting the process and letting go of my expectations. So... that's what I am going to do. I am going to do the absolute best I can do and trust in the process. I am going to give all I can spiritually and trust my Father in Heaven will bless my life as he sees fit. I am going to pray every day for strength and patience. I need both if I am going to do this right. I will eliminate my need for control over everything and trust that what will be will be!

Assignment 8 has really set me back on my heels for days on end. At first, I was just drawing up blank. Talk about denial! I printed the assignment out to carry around with me and pulled it out to re-read in every spare moment. It has been percolating in my psyche. This morning, my psyche gave me back my answer: Self doubt. Not a little self doubt - but huge self doubt, with a lot of false confidence to cover it up (or so I thought!). So I set with this a while and thought about self doubt, where does it come from and how can I take steps to gain confidence in my own moral character. Fears. Lots of fears are the foundation that is supporting all this self doubt: Fear of being wrong. Afraid that others will see that I am flawed. Afraid of others not liking me. What if they saw the REAL me. The shy me. The scared me. This is going to take me more time to sit with as it is not what I expected to find living inside. Already I have been working on this - even without acknowledging to myself that it existed. Each day I give myself some positive attribute about myself to focus on any time I find I am thinking negative/critical thoughts. It changes my energy to go from "what a dummy I am, I can't believe I made this kind of mistake, how stupid I must look" to "I am really great with design" or "I love the color of my eyes" It seemed sillly when I first started these, but it is making a real difference in how I feel at the end of the day to have turned around negative energy every time I recognized it was happening.

I've sat here for several days thinking about this and have come up with a couple main low level habits...( I have many) The main two are fear and laziness. The fact that I was afraid to start this challenge because I thought I would quit a few weeks in and Im still here is my effort on conquering my fear. Plus I'm trying to talk to people and make friends and that is breaking out of my comfort zone as well. The laziness, well that will be an ongoing process. I work full-time, am a single mother and when I do have free time at the end of my day, then I just want to do what I want...which is usually reading or watching t.v. I have been getting my workouts in though and have been consistent, and for me that is a huge positive change.

My lowest habbit is definitely procrastination, I wait until I am tierd and right before I go to bed to work out, this often result in a low level work out and not challenging myself like I should. I am going to fix this by scheduling a time in my day to work out instead of working out whenever I get to it. My work out time for this summer will be at 10:00 am every morning.

My lowest level habit that is holding me back is complacency. I need to start pushing myself out of my comfort zone several times each day. In my mindset list everyday, I'm going to write 3 things I can do to push me out of my comfort zone and ascend. I'm going to assign a reward and penalty to the success or setback of each one.

My lowest level habits are negativity, procrastination, and laziness. I have a tendency to get a negative attitude sometimes when things don't go my way and I'm working on that. I'm not procrastinating when it comes to my workouts, but I have been lazy with food. I've also been procrastinating with my college homework. I'm really sick of school and I end up putting off homework til the last minute, then I have to cram to get it done. My plan for negativity is to be positive even when I don't feel positive. To try to look for good in people when all I see is bad. I'm also going to do my homework the first moment of the day I can, so I don't sit around worrying about it.

PROCRASTINATION! so far as workout and eating i am doing good but when it comes to completing the assignments, i just couldn't get myself on the computer to encourage someone or help as i wish i could...i finally decided to just not let this be a reason to quit so i started writing down all my assignments on paper.

As I sit and ponder this without having come to a conclusion I must admit there are several lower habits blocking me, I blame my childhood all to often, and my injuries, I procrastate so much my mother gave me the nick name "last minute Susie". I recently discovered that I lie to myself, ok that's the one, that does the most harm. I especially will tell myself "I can't" I've come to see this since I started the challenge and day by day more layers appear. What am I going to do about it? Well the first thing is to pray about it, and to stay on the program and not be afraid to admit to myself things I don't want to look at. Oh man somebody hold me.

I'd say fear and anger. My fear of the unknowns of the future (especially whiles on Layoff) pops up every now and then. But for the most part I can keep it in Check and focus on the things I can control and do something about, and I can usually get out of that funk. But sometimes I think having that stress just below the surface helps to manifest my anger. Now, don't get me wrong, I've come a long way with my anger management. But every now and then, it comes back and I feel bad, and I waste a whole day feeling bad for getting mad. How can I change all this? I guess vent more before it explodes. Try to let stuff that would normally anger me bounce off like bullets hitting superman.

My lowest level habit: refusing to find or feel the joy all around me. There were days, before this transformation process, that I sincerely felt nothing. I was numb. . .merely going through the motions. I was choosing to be unhappy. My eyes were not open to the beautiful world around me. I was missing teaching moments with my kids. Now, I am finally "seeing" what has always been there. My awesome family & friends, my amazing church, clean air, beautiful trees & water, the sounds and smells all around me. It all has meaning now. I am so much more aware of my feelings and surroundings. It is like an awakening, and I am so grateful for this process. It is life changing!

Well, I am my own worst critic. I do not accept compliments well. Also, I am very impatient. The patience and the criticism of myself are getting better. I have been working on these for a while. Since I read BFL, I've been working hard at trying to be more positive with myself. Carmen

Negativity is definately my worst habit. Years of unhappiness at my situation have manifested in a negative mindset. I think as I progress, the negativaty will deminish . So hopefully my continutuing dedication will yield success and therefore a lower level of negativity ...

A couple of my low level habits are probably some negativity and procrastination. I think my procrastination is really a by-product of disorganization though. It's like a domino effect, I can't get this done, because I need to do this, or get to that first. I'm trying to get rid of some office clutter (my business takes most of my time at the moment) And there is always a time waster that I have sitting around. I'm definately not lazy, but disorganization can really be a time waster.

I can be negative at times on myself because I am not satisfied with who I am yet. Impatient also comes to mind. It seems natural, but I'm not pleased that I act this way at times. To keep from being negative I am going to stay focused on my progress, and keep my surroundings positive. What I read, people I associate with, etc. Map out a plan. ie, Lose 2lbs a week and in 12 weeks you will have lost 24 lbs...

I can identify with most of the examples of low –level habits. I am a big time procrastinator. I can be lazy at times. I find myself complaining, criticizing and blaming often. But the one thing that I can say may be holding my transformation back is complaining. Complaining about things not going as planned or hoped. I just need to learn what didn’t work and do it better next time. I need to have more positive thinking and more positive talk. Instead of complaining do something about it.

ouch, did i here laziness, procrastinatin and time wasting echo from my spirit? Yes, I think so. Time to grab the tiger by the tail and make up some accountabilty charts and do what I am suppose too. Pray for me people.

This is a tough one. I blew through the first 6 assignments relative quickly but this one stumps me. I have read a lot of commits as well as many great blogs on this. I really like what Stingraystripe wrote and Discodancers blog is almost me to the T. Procrastination is definably something that holds me back in a lot of areas of my life. But what is the reason for the procrastination? Is it because I'm lazy? No that is not it because I'm always on the go, usually doing something. No drive to complete what I'm doing, no because I can be motivated to complete some thing but others go by the wayside. I put off completing a project because the goal of completing the project is less than me doing something else. Truth be known, if I hit a snag in a project I’m very likely to just let it go uncompleted and not try to work through the problem. Most of the time I hit a snap is because I have not prepared sufficiently for the project and just went out there and tried to wing it. My lack of organization leads to the much greater change that I’ll hit a problem in a project and therefore not complete the project. I have quite a few unfinished projects at home and work. All die to my disorganization leading to procrastination. So my lowest habit is procrastination. The way I’m going to deal with it is through an organization of my life. I’m going to start with a list of unfinished projects at home and work. Then I will chose one of them, brain storm how I will get the project completed, calendar the project completion, complete the project then move on to the next one. Any new projects will go through the same process.

My low level habit is being critical and negative. When I am in a stressful situation or things are not going as planned, I turn to picking out flaws in others or my brain turns to things that have not worked out in the past or I start thinking about all of the ways someone has hurt me until I become passive aggressive towards them. I am going to change this starting now by taking a deep breath if I feel stressed. Also I am going to try implementing some meditation techniques in my daily life by telling the negative thoughts they are not needed and not welcome.

Mine is "Not going to church". I have lost touch with my spiritual being due to poor planning and laziness on Sunday morning! I will start back this Sunday!!!!! Thanks again for reminding me of what I'm missing in my life!!!! Much love : )

More thoughts... consciously incompetent... As I focus on finding the positive and being less critical, I am realizing just how critical I’ve become. Outwardly, I don’t know that I really show it. I’ve kind of somehow settled into the idea over the years that as long as I don’t vocalize it, it’s OK. Well, there’s a lot I don’t vocalize. My inner thoughts have really been quite negative and quite critical. That’s a lot of negative energy to pack around, and I can see now that it’s weighed me down spiritually over the years. This is a tough realization for me. And it leads me to my second sign of progress for the day… I am “consciously incompetent.” At work, from time to time, we teach this concept of conscious/competent. I don’t know who the originator of the concept is – it’s not me, but I find at times I really relate to the concept – especially now. Basically, it goes like this… We start out being “unconsciously incompetent”… i.e. we don’t know what we don’t know. We may have room for improvement, but we don’t realize it, succumbing to the lower self and the egoic nature that says, hey I’m good just the way I am. Then, gradually, with the right catalysts, we evolve into “consciously incompetent.” This means, OK, I’m aware I have room to grow here, room to improve. I realize the strides I need to make now. Eventually, if we work and we practice, this evolves into “consciously competent”… i.e. I’ve improved, I’m better, but I have to be very aware of it, and consistently work at it. Finally, if we’ve done all the work and created the right environments, etc, we may evolve into the “unconsciously competent”… this means we do the right thing and it’s second nature – we don’t even have to think about it. All of this focus this week on my lowest level habits has made me realize just how bad they are. I really didn’t realize it before. And while that’s hard to admit, and it’s humbling, and it feels like a really unwieldy weight to lift, I must take solace in the fact that I have made the first evolution in this area… going from “unconsciously incompetent” to “consciously incompetent”… I see where I need to improve. It will likely take me longer than these 18 weeks to transform this habit, but I’m confident that with the right focus, I’ll get there. Make it an extraordinary day! Unconsciously incompetent --> consciously incompetent --> consciously competent --> unconsciously competent

Lowest level habits... I've been fortunate in that I've been able to avoid drugs and alcohol my entire life. I've never done drugs, and while I do drink, it's only in moderation, 1-2 drinks in any given month. As I reflected and reflected some more, I do believe my lowest level habits relate to criticizing and "judging". I think I have a habit of seeing the negative in people right away. I distance myself from people because I perceive only their negative traits initially. Aside from this not being a very nice thing to do, I think it also affects my quality of life because my thoughts are occupied with more negativity than they need to be. The process of transforming this habit will not happen over night, I'm realizing, but I am resolved to work diligently at finding the most positive traits in everyone I interact with. I need to also make an effort to point these things out to others. This act will help to make me a better person, and in addition, my mental space will be happier and more uplifting. 2nd... the "judging"... I don't feel that I "judge" people in terms of thinking who's going to Heaven and who's going to hell, but I do make snap "judgments" about people whom I may not percieve as being worth spending time with. In being honest with myself, I think that is a form of judging, and I shouldn't do it. I will still protect my environment, but I will stop making those snap judgments. We all have value, and on our best day, we are all pretty extraordinary. We all have the capacity to be the most amazing people. Focusing on the best days and the best possibilities will help me with this. And I will continue to pray about it. In addition, I welcome any insights/thoughts from the t.com community. I have a photo at my profile asking for HELP with assingments 7&8 - feel free to comment! Thanks-

What is my lowest level habit? Negative thoughts when I see my reflection. Even though I have progressed, I catch myself saying awful, hurtful things to myself. How am I going to transfor that weakness into a strength? I will start thinking and speaking positive thoughts over myself. I will start encouraging others sot that the transformation is not all about me.

I had posted something here 15 days ago, but I wanted to revisit it. My lowest level is negative thoughts and negative speaking. I think and talk myself out of positive actions. So I am now aware of these patterns of actions in my life. So whenever I find myself thinking or speaking negatively I will stop and begin replacing these thoughts with positive ones. I will change my thoughts and speaking with awareness.

My lowest habit is stressing about things that are going on in my life, Thinking negative thoughts and worried about if I can stop putting bad stuff in my body. But after joing this site and seeing what the people here are accomplishing,I know that I can do it too. And so I am doing it by God's Grace. Amen

My lowest habit is stressing about things that are going on in my life, Thinking negative thoughts and worried about if I can stop putting bad stuff in my body. But after joing this site and seeing what the people here are accomplishing,I know that I can do it too. And so fat I am doing it by God's Grace. Amen

One theme that has been showing up for me is fear..fear of failure, fear of losing loved ones, fear of not being good enough, fear of being judged, fear of giving up control,fear of not being perfect, and from that I seem to expect perfection from others too, especially my oldest son. It seems that nothing can compare to what I percieve to be the right way to do things. I need to accept that I cannot control the thoughts or actions of others. I am in control of myself only. I need to be a guide to my children and not a dictator. I need to really look at that feeling of fear as it comes to me to see why it is there and if I can let it go and let it's grip on me fade away.

My lowest level habit: At first as I read this assignment I thought that there are so many areas I need to change....How can I just pick one? But digging a little deeper, I think for me, my fear of being criticized or reprimanded keeps me in the blaming game. So maybe it's fear of blame that causes me to choose to blame others for things very quickly? I'll have to keep thinking on this one. I will have more to write in my blog on this.......

Wrong vs. Right” environments. Can you identify an “environmental change" which you’ve made so far which has helped you with your progress? And can you identify another environmental change which you can make today which will further support your success? My physical environments were fairly simple, I stopped buying junk foods to keep for when the grandkids came over. If they were there I would eat them and the grandkids wouldn’t have anything when they visited. Now I take them out and let them have a treat. I also know that if my favorite alcohol is on the counter and has been opened, it’s a sure bet that I’ll make myself a drink. I make it a point not to have any opened bottles. The law in my environment is a bottle of wine or any alcohol can only be opened for a special occasion and even then I will limit my self to how much I drink. I had a very close friend that I spoke with just about everyday. She was extremely depressing and I found myself feeling down after seeing her or talking with her on the phone. Everything I did she seemed to have a negative comment about. I had to distance myself from her and now associate with friends that are on the same positive path that I am on. Here are a few environmental changes in progress: I have been attending a few neighborhood churches. I am still looking for one I can call home. I have been reading. I was never a reader but I bought a few self help books and I find they are helping me not only with making myself aware of my situations and opening many doors that were locked for years but it is also helping with my reading skills. I am adding more advanced certifications to further my fitness career If nothing else comes from this challenge, these are a few changes that will have made it worth wile.

What do I feel is a habit or pattern I need to overcome? I thought long and hard about this one because at first I thought it was lazyiness or procrastination. I kept digging. It took many twist and turns in my mind and everytime I examined why I was lazy it was because of fear. I didn't start something because I was afraid it wouldn't turn out perfect. I didn't start cleaning my house until I was sure I could do it all in one day and to my standard, perfect. I was afraid of what people thought of me if I wasn't perfectly put together with my clothes ironed and hair fixed and everyone with me the same way (husband and child). It sure was exhausting trying to be perfect. I was driven by different types of fear. Fear of people not liking me, fear of not being enough, doing enough, losing my husband, losing my child, getting so overweight I couldn't walk, not being dressed the correct way, saying the wrong thing(which I do all the time), lol can you say foot in the mouth disease, laughing wrong, dying at a young age, my child dying, husband dying, and the list could go on. The fear prevented me from starting to live my life and I ended up depressed and overweight. I blamed everyone else except myself. Rationilizing the fear by saying I didn't fail, but it bit me on the butt because success didn't occur either. What I am doing to overcome fear is to acknowledge it when fear comes, identify it, check to see if it is rational and if not let it go. I have more peace in my life and I know I am not in control, God is, if things happen I do my part and leave the rest up to Him. Another thing I have learned is serenity is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with. Love you guys, Mona

This has been hard for me to write about because I feel I have so many and I could not pull them out of me in an orderly fashion so listing them is helping. For me there are a lot of low level habits, plural. My low level habit(s) are self doubt, fear of failure, being way to judgemental on myself and on others, and a fear of succeeding and in there too is procrastination and trusting others. But what is holding me back in this transformation? I no longer feel I will fail myself with my transformation. I do not doubt myself because I want to succeed so badly. I crave change and guess what...I am changing. I want to find the true Holly and be happy in life and guess what.. I will because I am learning the steps and the tools to help me get there!!! And it all started by eatting clean and exercising!!! That still amazes me and that is what keeps me from sagotaging myself with food. I feel I have changed so much since I have started my transformation. I know each day I am giving 100% of my effort to eating clean and exercising and by doing those two so important things for me has allowed me to focus on other areas of my life...like finally having the courage and ability to look at the inner Holly. I do not doubt I will finish my transformation to my fullest. Compared to what I feel I need to change on the inside, eatting clean and exercise is the easy part!!

This is the first assignment I’ve really had much of a challenge with. Eight weeks into this BFL challenge I started before I even discovered T.com, I’ve battled a lot of my demons already. I was having a little trouble determining what is still left that needs attention. After a few days of sitting with this question and listening to the Radio show about addiction, I realize my lowest-level habit pertains to my life-long struggle with food. I suppose the thought has crossed my mind over the years, but listening to the radio show I become aware that I have an addiction problem when it comes to food. It’s freeing to be able to admit that. And, I realize that, though I’ve been working very diligently on it for the past eight weeks and having virtually no deviation form my BFL eating plan, my food addiction is an area that will require particular care and attention. This is the prime area that needs to be dealt with on a deep level before I can truly know that the bridge has been blown and I’ll never find my way back to the other side of the abyss again. So, now that I’ve been able to admit that to myself and to all of you who will read this, I need to answer the question, “How will I turn this weakness into a strength?” I realize this may take time to fully answer and that the answer may evolve over time, but for now I do have an initial thought. I believe my first hand experience in dealing with a food addiction will help me to be able to help others dealing with the same challenge. I recognize that a food addiction has a unique characteristic in that, unlike cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs, food is a necessity of life and can’t simply be avoided. So, assignment 8 is one that it looks like I’ll be coming back to and will need to remain open to as my transformation evolves.

My lowest level habit is "waiting" until the time is right. I have great will power, I do not procrastinate at work, I do tend to do a bit of procrastinating at home. But using the time of day or the weather or work as an excuse not to eat right and exercise is my biggest problem. I am however into my 13th week of Transformation and I have begun to change this bad habit

My lowest level habit is not being myself. Out of the fear of being criticized and not liked, I tend to either become a chameleon or try to be someone that I am not. Thus, my relationships with others are shallow, I detach myself from reality, I do not live life fully, and I am unfulfilled. I then try to numb these feelings with alcohol or food. My new approach is to from this day foward accept myself and find the beauty and value in life and to focus on the here and now.

Intresting assignment to say the lessee; I have to go with the fact that I am a very unforgiven person and I know that I cannot achive a full transformation without leanring how to forgive at lessee once in a while. Starting today I will put a lot more effort into the power of forgiveness.

I would have to name my current lowest level habit; "introversion". One definition of introvert includes "a person who is more concerned with his own thoughts and feelings than with other people or happenings outside him." Pasted from /www.thefreedictionary.com/introvert> In my case this means a tendency to sit alone and stew in my own thoughts rather than actively seeking opportunities to interact with others. I'm sick of hiding. I'm going to turn this into a strength by turning previous introversion into self awareness - using that self awareness in my interactions with others so that I can be an active part of the world - aware of myself and my actions - in order to inspire others to improve themselves.

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? Complaining,Procrastination,lack of focus How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? Complaining~ I told everyone around me that i was working on removing the habit of complaining. So if they caught me to please remind me. So every time I caught myself even thing in a depression way , I had to stop and look for the good. Look for the things that are making me stronger. man I had no clue how many negative thoughts I had until I started monitoring them. I am happy to report I am living more & more with a positive view. Procrastination~ I had to make a to do list, that has to be done. Lack of focus~ Making the lists helps with this one. I decided to make a dream list of things I would like to accomplish. Then I added the steps it would take to achieve these dreams.

Mine lower habbit is taking two free days instead of one. Going foward I will take my Free Day on Sundays instead of Saturdays.

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? I think that I have numerous low level habits, but for assignment purposes, I will focus on my lowest. It's my conscious decision to not do anything until my husband does it first. Let me give you some examples. I choose to stay in bed in the mornings until he gets up. I don't go to the basement until he goes down there. I don't plan our weight training. If we don't have time to work out together, then I don't try to fit it in later unless he does. There are too many examples to share here. The fact is that I wait for him to do anything that involves moving forward in my / our transformation goals. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I will purpose everyday to be more of a partner to Eric rather than someone that just follows his lead. I will purpose to take responsibility for myself and my irresponsible actions. I will make a conscious decision everyday to take a more active role in our transformation and daily lives and hold myself accountable. I will also pursue that accountability with Eric by asking him to remind me of this assignment when he sees me falling back into this pattern of behavior.

My lowest level habit is FEAR and SELF-DOUBT. That voice inside that questions my ability to succeed, to remove this weight, that underlying fear that maybe I have to settle for where I am right now. That gnawing desire to eat something to feel more settled. I really think it's fear; maybe even fear of succeeding; am I ready for that responsiblity and/or attention? Sometimes I think that's why I've sabotaged myself in the past. I am going to turn my fear and self doubt into a strength by having faith and trusting the process. Trusting that those who have come before me with success are all examples of "former disasters turned into masters." That God will protect me and deliver me from my fears if I trust in Him, that this community will lift me up when I'm down; that when I allow myself to be vulnerable, I can HEAL. Gwen

Food addiction and binge eating would be my progress breaker. I put a happy face on for the world but inside I have this terrible disgust for myself and my closet eating. When I walk in faith and put good information in, and exercise consistently I feel better. But I often get caught up in life and forget my goals. Then I'm back at the bottom again. So making the time to journal and come here for positive feedback would be important. Getting the mental nourishment to counter the physical failings. I guess I need to be declaring aloud to my mountains how much bigger my god is, and remembering there is a miracle in my mouth. The words that I choose to speak are self fulfilling so I need to be choosing positve, successful , thoughts that gve good direction to my life. Above all I need to believe.

My lowest level habit has got to be self-sabotage. I haven't weighed myself just yet, tomorrow marks my first complete week. In the past I have weighed myself daily, sometimes more, in an attempt to criticize myself whether it be good or bad. If it was bad I would beat myself up like no tomorrow and feel like a failure, and therefore just continue with my old bad habit of eating poorly. If it is a good number, one that I should be proud of, then I also self-sabotage by patting myself on the back, and heading straight to the kitchen to celebrate my victory. Which of course would have me back on the scale, and subsequently seeing a bad number, and you know the rest. So how do I transform this into strength? I suppose by being strong enough to resist the urge to get on the scale in the first place. If I plan my days in writting and follow them accordingly, there should be no need for me to check in on the scale. Right? Ha. I think I just figured it out.

Where do I start? There is a saying, "don't live your life looking in the rear view mirror" If you were to drive your car down the freeway looking in the rearview mirror, what would happen? You would crash. Same with your life. If you live in the past and don't look to the future you will crash. I want to heal the past and let it be the past. Glance back every once in awhile to remind myself what I don't want to repeat, I want to be excited about what lays ahead and not be afraid of Success. That's another one. The fear of Success. That I'm not good enough. The fear of someone being upset with me. Afraid to let you know how I truely feel. If I do, will you still love me? I've been working on this one the past two weeks and It has worked out great. My partner has been listening and has been reading my Journel (which I can't believe I let someone in to read my most inner thoughts) Instead of rejecting me, my biggest fear, he loves me more. I've been working on the positive thinking and refusing to go there with the negative. I refuse to gossip. If someone wants to talk about someone else if they are not present to defend themselves, I don't want to hear it. I monitor the news I watch on T.V. I get the latest, then I change channels. The news is so toxic. Writing it down, I can't believe I let someone read my jounal. I wouldn't journal in the past because what if I was to get in a accident and people read my stuff. No one knew my thoughts, they would die with me. Now It's on my computer, I'm writing a book and it will be out in the open. WOW! Who is this person?

After some very careful thought, my lowest level habit would be my lack of patience. I’ve always expected an immediate reward with any and every accomplishment that I have ever made. I’m learning through this process that there is more satisfaction with celebrating progress as it happens and not expecting change overnight. When I find myself being impatient, I try to refocus and be thankful for what progress I’ve made. I remind myself that as long as I stay persistent I will achieve my ultimate reward.

My lowest-level habit is twofold: Addiction and denial. I am a food addict, and I know I am healthy when I keep that knowledge front and center. When I remain aware of it and vigilant against it, I'm able to progress through each day in health. But when I start to get too self-congratulatory on my accomplishments thus far and start thinking in terms of "when this is over, I'll eat whatever I want again" or "When I'm running 6 miles a day I'll be able to eat whatever I want again," I'm right back on that slippery slope toward chaos, uncontrolled eating and poor health. Here's what I've done about it and what I will continue to do about it: I have written up a relapse prevention plan, and I read that every morning. It keeps me from becoming complacent, and it shines light on thoughts and behaviors I might be having that indicate I'm sliding back toward active addiction.

My lowest level habit is that I live haphazardly, never planning anything. I have NEVER been organized in my life. As we say in Texas, I shoot from the hip! Living haphazardly puts “road blocks” in my path. I can set goals all day long, but if I never plan and organize myself in line with those goals, I will never reach them. A great example is nutrition. I know what I need to do. I need to eat six times a day and drink a gallon of water, but if I don’t plan and prepare my food ahead of time, I will get caught in a situation where I have to eat poorly, because there is nothing else around. To help transform this habit, I will keep a journal to plan meals for the week and to plan workouts for the week. I will write in it every day to make sure I am staying on track. I will also blog everyday on t.com to make sure I am accountable with my group.

I did this assignment several weeks ago, but I wanted to come back to it. I've come to realize that I have another low-level habit that could be holding me back. I use foul language a lot. As I go through each day trying to remain filled with the Holy Spirit I realize that the number one sin I commit is with my tongue. I know I'm smarter than the words I choose to use, and it really is a bad habit. I've always blamed it on the fact that I was in the Marines...but it's really just because I never wanted to correct it...laziness! I find that the more I have to rebound from my sins, the less I want to sin. I know that with God on my side I can beat this. I think I need to think before I speak on a regular basis. I just want to go at least one day with out using foul language...if I can do it for a day, I know I can do it forever. I'm getting to the point that it offends me when I do it.

Lowest level habit #1: DOUBT. I have a hard time seeing results, especially instant results. This tends to discourage me and then I can find a reason to just put this little bite in my mouth, just once, or let's take a day off... I need to trust in the process (this also goes back to that "throw away the scale" challenge, too). So many people see results -- sometimes in 4 weeks, sometimes as long as 8 weeks -- I need to BELIEVE that the CHANGE WILL HAPPEN. Lowest level habit #2: Laziness. I am lazy. Not with working out at all, or even my eating, just lazy with regular stay-at-home-mom stuff. But this affects how I feel inside. When my kitchen is really clean I tend to cook better. When my hosue is clean I feel more peaceful. I really want my house to be organized and spic-and-span, I'm just too lazy to get it all done. Usually it happens right before we have company (I've considered hosting a weekly bible study in my house just to keep it clean!). Why doesn't it stay that way? WHAT I'M GOING TO DO?? I'm going to believe in myself and the process. When in doubt, I'm going to take a step back and evaluate why I'm thinking negatively and see what I can do to change that. I'm going to take my pictures to compare weeks and really look for changes and not be disappointed if I don't see them -- YET! I'm going to declutter/clean for at least 30 minutes a day (I'll schedule it in just like my "God Time"). I'm going to make a list of what needs to be done and cross them off as they go. I will enlist the help of my children and husband to help with maintenance. I will be happy with small steps and not perfection!

One of my lowest level habits would have to be thinking negative thoughts, then those thoughts spin me down into a cycle of depression that affects my whole life. Eating healthy, exercising, getting along with my family. If I could overcome these negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones, it would affect my life in a HUGE positive way. My goal is to stop a negative thought when it enters and replace it with a positive one.

1. What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? After careful consideration, one issue seems to keep popping up. I wasn't aware of it at all until a couple of weeks ago, but now that I am aware it just seems to be everywhere in my life. In a word, unforgiveness is holding me back in more areas of my life than I can say. I need to forgive my father, I need to forgive my brother, I need to forgive my ex-wife... the list goes on and on. Most of all, I need to forgive myself. In a discussion with my ex this past weekend the topic came up. Her observation was simple, direct, to the point, and correct in all respects. "I've never seen a person hold a grudge like you." Wow. Yeah, I need to deal with this. 2. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I'm working to learn to forgive. I'm praying for God's help daily. I'm discussing it with my priest. I'm discussing it with family and friends. Of all the low level habits I listed while working on this assignment, this is the one that tied into the most areas of my life. Once I learn to forgive others as well as myself I'll be better equipped to carry on the rest of my transformation in every area of my life. The ability to forgive may just become the greatest strength in my life!

My lowest level habit has been procrastination. I have "put off" uncomfortable tasks that I really did not want to do for one reason or another. My new way of handling this is to do the things that are really necessary and important and forget the rest. I am now putting a deadline on tasks and sticking to it. I have found this to be a very liberating experience.

I have a food addiction,and Im way too critical of myself. I beleive these to be contributers to my past failures. Now I control my food,not the other way around.Now I beleive in myself and know I can accomplish what I set my mind to with hard work and commitment. Always...Angela...Keep Smilin...

My lowest level habit that is holding me back is being too critical, of myself and others. To be my best I need to remember to be open and positive, to really look for the best in people. I truly do believe that you see what it is you're looking for. If I want to be a better person I need to adjust my attitude, be patient with others and recognize that I don't know the path they're on, and to accept them for who they are right now and not pass judgment. Likewise, I need to not pass judgment on myself, to accept that I've made mistakes, and will continue to do so, and move on. By being so critical I hold myself back from achieving my goals. I'm a perfectionist, and if something isn't "right" or "good enough" I give up. If it's not perfect why bother. Yes, I recognize that this is an incredibly stupid belief. So I 'm ready to change. I'm ready to risk failure. And I hope by doing so, I find success.

Gosh, where to start. I've thought this one over and over and over. Like others have stated, I've read what others have posted and I see myself in many of them. 1. Selfishness ~ not doing my share, not truly listening, not truly being there.... 2. Being engrossed in things that don't help me with what I say is important ~ being on the computer when I should be doing other things, using it an excuse and a retreat from life 3. Being sidetracked - It's very hard for me to stay on task, I go to tackle a big project and then get sidetracked with a little precise task. 4. Not planning or organizing ~ letting things pull me off task, not taking time to make a schedule and stick to it. 5. Perfection/all or nothing ~ a part of me is sooooo afraid of failing, I could never do anything right as a child, it may have been good but there was always something wrong. I think I've carried this and let it put a filter on my life. I need to shatter that filter so the truth comes in and I can come out from that paralizing shadow. Plan of action ~ To post these where I will see them. Be accountable and continue to work on them. I want these to be the opposite of who I become. My husband is always saying I'm the one who wants dessert first, the one who will finish anyones dessert, etc.... I no longer want to be that person and it's up to me to change who I am and how others perceive me. I need to fight to find out who I am and what is important to me instead of retreating and hiding behind my weight and computer. Even though this is painful and hurts I need to work through it. There are so many things buried that need to work there way out into the light so I can go forward in my life.

Posting my before was difficult, but I’m one to meet the challenge. I find my bigger weakness is that of my insecurities “not being enough” (based on very old wounds). So posting my before was hard, but now I’m accountable to being the best I can be. Right now my lowest level habit is not getting the cardio done. I start fresh tomorrow. The weight training is working for me but for some reason the cardio I procrastinate on. I’m making it a divine appointment and will look forward to the rewards much like I’ve received through the weight training and diet portion of the program. I’m making a conscious effort to focus on this area. Jump rope was working till I forgot about it (conveniently). I was up to 20 minutes which was a major challenge for me. I’m recommitting!! Yeah!!

lowest habits are waking up in the morning going to work out before i go to work and when i do that later in the afternoon making my self to go to the gym. the changes i am making are going to bed earlier and trying to catch up with my work out later in the day. quit guilt tripping my self because the resolts of my transformation is me with way i look and feel

I blogged about assignment 7 and 8. Let me see if I can just post the link http://www.transformation.com/sauchagirl/blog/Assignments/Assignments-7-and-8/33954

PROCRASTINATION is the "hub" from which everything in my life radiates. If an idea or a good intention doesn't make-it past my procrastination "prison" (which is well guarded by doubts and fears)- then it simply doesn't get done. So far, the only thing that's been able to get past the "guards"- is this transformation. Clearly, it is time for a jail-break!!

My lowest level habit is letting myfrustration over a situation throw me off track. What am I going to do about it?? Realize that when I'm frustrated, I need to take a deep breath, rationalize the situation and have more self-discipline to address the problem, resolve it (and if I can't, surrender control) and move on....let it go. Life is too short to be derailed by the little things!

Assignment 8: Lowest Level Habit: I would have to say after careful thought is that my lowest level habit is looking at the negative side of the economy right now. Day in and Day out I have made comments about losing my job due to lack of work. I need to trust in God and he will provide for our needs. I need to quit complaining about the situation and grab hold of a positive attitude and make the best of the situation. Each day begin in Prayer, and make the committment that no matter what does or does not take place make the best of the situation. There is another low level habit that I have been working on is the "Laziness" habit. Sitting in a recliner and doing nothing to help pick up around the house. I am making a committment to get up out of the chair and off my tail and help out with keeping the house clean. I call the second of these two habit changing events "Get up and Move". Orignial Huh!

It has taken me a very very long time to finally see this truth about myself. My biggest fear is failure. Not a cliché, but this basic truth has driven so much of how I have acted. Afraid to achieve my ideal body, I sabotage my programmes. Afraid to confront personal issues when necessary, I hid behind an ever growing fat suit. Afraid to be the real me, I twisted and turned myself in to someone I was not. Afraid not to ‘be the best’ at work, I achieved mastery of two careers in separate countries (also a convenient place to hide from personal issues, relationships and ties). You know it is actually okay to fail on occasion, that is how we learn… I have started to challenge my former patterns of behavior with this realization (that I am afraid of failing) and it has been truly liberating to see myself through these new eyes… I find that I can achieve more personally, love more, allow myself to be loved, and I have a growing inner peace and contentment – even when things are tough- that I could only have dreamed of previously….. One phrase I say to my self every day, several times a day… ‘I WILL SUCCEED and I AM WORTH THE EFFORT’. I always remember the famous quote: “The mark of a champion is not how many times he was knock down, but how many times he gets up”….

ASSIGNMENT 8--Lowest Level Habit. I have thought a lot about this the past week, and I think I have been working on Assignment 8 for a little while already...just by the design of this Transformation it seems to be a logical step to identify a weakness that has held you back from living your potential. Negative, Defeating Self-Talk is what holds me back from physical victory all the time. I am great at setting out to do something else in the self-development department, but somehow I always fall down at the physical development. I am almost fearful of setting out to conquer a goal and not being able to achieve it, so sooner or later I don't try anymore, or I settle for the results at hand and leave the goal alone. I really want to break through this and find the other side. I will turn this into a strength by acknowledging when I hear my inner voice beat me down and answer it with "Why Not?"

Since beginning this challenge, I have worked hard to eliminate several lower level habits that have haunted me for decades (staying up late, watching TV, falling asleep on the couch). I have even been working on my family communication volume. Coming from an Italian background, everyone spoke very loudly. When Dan joined our family, he came into a conversation and asked my mother, sister and me to stop fighting. In unison, we turned toward him and said, “We’re not fighting, we’re discussing”. It’s been that way ever since. When the kids don’t do something or I have to repeat myself, it’s usually at a higher decibel than the previous “request”. I thought I had changed this behavior since I don’t feel the tightness in my chest that I used to feel when someone ignored my order. Apparently this still needs plenty of work. I’m working to decouple the financial and food connection. Every time we took on another liability, I took on another pants size. I’m still working on separating the two – it’s better, but I still stress over finances. I have become very conscious of my volume and how I’m feeling before I say something. I also try to phrase my “requests” politely and not as an order.

My lowest level habit is lettign myself get side tracked. I will start something and then something else will come up that seems to demand my attention more than the first thing. I don't really see this as a strength unless you consider some serious multitasking a strength. lol The best thing I can think of to change this habit, is scheduling, I am learning to schedule everything. even my workouts. I still get sidetracked once in a while but not nearly as much and I am getting a whole lot more done. ;) This will help me stay consistant and on track. I am going to elaborate on this one and add that sometimes, getting sidetracked, can really lead to procrastination!!! My office is drenched in it. I have papers everywhere that need to be filed and Doctors bills/ EOB's that need to be sorted throuigh and claims that need to be followed through on. Well, since I am home for now, you would think I woul dhave tons of time for that. The problem is incredibly out of hand because I have waited so lng to take care of it. Have you ever gotten your house nice and neat and in order, only to have it messed up hours later? Well more hours go by and you didn't keep up the house work, now three days go by. Still got too busy to clean up or pick up. Now you are starting all over again. with tons of time needing to devote to it. Hmmm, how can this relate to your workouts or taking too many free days? I now see how it all ties in.

This assignment has been a hard one for me. I guess because I have been denying it, rationalizing it & avoiding it, just like youl say our mind does working with our lower self. “It’s essential that we know that we are not our bad habits. Negative patterns are just things we do.” This statement really hit me. I beat myself up so much over the stupid mistakes I make & it just seems like I’m on a merry-go round & can’t get off . What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? My lowest level habit is not caring, loving, and encouraging myself. I will go to the end of the earth to help others but feel I’m not worth it for some reason. I don’t understand it. I have a loving husband & family but don’t feel I’m worthy of change apparently. Everytime I get going in the right direction something trips me up & I find myself getting back to old habits. Then the negative self talk starts. What’s the use? I blew it again. I’ll never do this. In the past one binge & that would be the end for me. . Somewhere along the line I felt I had to be perfect & if I wasn’t then I went overboard in the opposite direction. This time I’ve been able to dust myself off & get back on track. But still I have those old feelings How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I have to keep reminding myself that I am not my bad habits. I am a good person. Eating something I didn’t plan on eating doesn’t make me a bad person. Progress, not perfection. I’m going to really have to work on this.

You nailed mine on your first example!! I even like the cool name you gave it.."apathy addiction' Wow... Of course with apathy addiction i am a procrastanator and dont finish what i start...ect The lowest of the low would have to be my laziness...um I mean Apathy addiction... The one thing I can do to change this is first and foremost..prayer. Then I heard you say before the thing you least want to do in a day you should do first. Ive got 3 bikes in the garage Ive never put together for over a year now...how sad! when I get home Im going to put them together for the kids. After that Im going to keep a log or mini journal of things I need to do...the hardest or the ones Im not looking foward to will get done first!!! this starts Today!!! Thanks Bill!

I gave this a lot of thought and I realize that my lowest level habit is not finishing what I start. This habit disguises itself as procrastination, laziness, fear of failure/success, and a lack of focus. I have always been big on ideas and plans, however, when it comes time to do the day to day work that I know leads to success, well, I find myself making excuses or telling myself that I am a procrastinator, lazy... you get the picture. The way I have been transforming this into a strength is instead of making one big plan, I break things down into daily action Items. This allows me to break big projects into small bites and then I get to plan and find new ideas on a daily basis. It turns out that taking on a project or challenge one day at a time is a lot easier than focusing on the end result from day one. The funny thing is that as I write this, I can think of a whole bunch of people that have told me this exact thing over the course of my life. I will also work on being more coachable and learning and applying from others. Hey, what a great lead in to assignment #9.

Lack of self-confidence I have always thought I was a confident person but when it comes right down to it somewhere along the line, my self-confidence was lost. As I think about the past, I have realized I am always looking for approval from someone. It could be for something that I said or something I did. No matter what it is, it seems like I wonder a lot “What did I do wrong?” or “Will they like it?” when I know deep down I did not do anything wrong and everything will be ok. It almost sounds like I have a guilty conscious. I do and I really believe I have it because of my lack of self-confidence. I do not like speaking in front of people because I do not want to be embarrassed and say something that someone might not like. I know nobody is going to judge me. If they do judge me, I guess that is their problem. Even here, in the Transformation community it takes me awhile to write because I am worried I might type something wrong. When something goes right or I finish something I wonder, “How did that happen?” All of these things and probably more have whittled away my self-confidence. What I will do to transform my self-confidence into one of my strengths is to start believing in myself. I will learn to take pride in the things I do and say.

My lowest habit is worring, I'm a worry wart about everything. I also am afraid to makeing decision's perfer some esle to make them so, if wrong one was made I could blame them . I know it's a cop out. By doing this assignments it making me take a long look at myself & I need to step up to the plate stop worring about things out of my control & start making decisions on my own since we only live once & take control of it by,making me into a healthier person! Thanks Bill

Assignment 8 Transforming your lowest level habit. What do you feel is a habit or pattern that you need to overcome? Procrastination/Time Wasting What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? Lack of planning out my day. I do pretty well at planning my workouts and eating schedules but don't plan the rest of my day. I find that at the end of the day I didn't get a lot done other than workout and eat properly. What am I going to do about it? Start with writing out the Power Mindset for other things besides transformation activities. Complete a power mindset for my daily routine at the fire station when I am not running calls.(Be more productive) Write out a power mindset for my side business, so that I can increase my distribution of product without making wasted trips. Basically, live intentionally not accidently! Not to lead a haphazard life but a happy life! I guess you could call it Hopiness!!! Hop

1. I have a few lower level habits "apathy Addiction" Is one I definetly get stressed out and lazyness is what I reward my self with you know life's so hard, I have to rest. I think that this is a hugh obstical for me it makes it so that when stuff gets tough or i get sick I relax too much.I can't do this today ( diet, exercise) lifes hard enough uncomfortable enough as it is , just let me get through this hard day or days and I will get back on track, It's truly something I comfort my self with. When the going gets tough I take care of what I have too then I go lay down , or go to the hot springs. or go shopping any thing thats easy. 2. I Tell my self negative things, based on my fears, and doubts I struggle to believe I can succeed to truly be sucessful, I but then I try I have a good week here and there and life gets tough and I revert back to #1 3. I would like to stop useing profanity words are powerful and I would like to eliminate this negativity , I don't cuss like a sailor but I would like to just quit and I would feel more sweet and clean 4.I don't get enough sleep , I get up at 7am get the kiddo to school go through my day tired drink caffeine but at night when every one is asleep I feel like this is great I like the quite and lack of stress I stay up watch tv read and go to bed at 2-3 am and get up at 7 am I make excuses not to excersise because I am just too tired. and I really am tired. at the moment I'm exhausted and it's 9:24am Ok I did not post how to fix these habits at first so now to give it some thought effort , here are the solutions: 1. I'm gonna have lazy days , I have to exercise anyway, I'm gonna have to set a time of day and say at 2 pm I'm getting on the tread mill and I'll do it no matter what then If i'm so stressed out the rest i'll give my self is meditation , since this releaves stess and it makes my mind stronger. and beyond this if I want to check out and go to the hot springs I can with no guilt. 2. I need to focus on the assignment 6, really be in the habit of looking at the progress, and if I catch my self being negative I will ajust my thought to again focus on positive things, the stuff I'm doing right and well and this will foster room for more improvement . 3. I am making a commitment to change profane words I use into cute phrases and words of exclamation that are not offensive 4. On school Days and days I have to get up at a early time I will give my self a bed time that allows at least 8 hours of sleep. which is almost twice as much as i normally get. other days i will still try to ensure i get 8 hours of sleep, a little planing in stead of flying by the seat of my pants like a teenager.

Procrastination....... It's week 15 and I'm behind on the inside transformation. I was so happy when Bill said if you are behind on your assignments it's ok because some people need more time.....I fit that due to not wanting to deal with the pain but know 100% that if I don't do the inside work I will YO YO all my weight back on. I will not let that happen.

Assignment #8: Well, here goes, my lowest level habit is my good intentions to exercise. If my day gets off schedule and I don't get it in, then by the end of the day, I feel too tired and really have to push myself or don't follow through with it. I will make it a point to get my work out done in the morning. Never procrastinate what can be done now!!

This assigment has really made me think. I actually wrote it out on my desk so that I could continue to really think deep about this one. I came up with my low level habit to be lack of patience, and trust. I feel so good lately, and then I look in the mirror, and the body does not match that feeling. I am expecting instant gratification, which is how I ended up in this body to begin with. I ate and drank whatever I wanted for a long, long, time. I am now going to work harder on being patient, and trusting that this body IS going to change as long as I keep doing the work. I would I would also like to give up wine on free day. I think it tends to make me want to eat more.

Right now, my lowest level habit is poor time management. I always run out of time because my priorities are out of sorts. How do transform this weakness, by looking at what I am investing my time in and determine is this a priority. TV is not an entitlement and kills my 'spare' time that I could be investing elsewhere. Poor time management.

my lowest habit is that i am a night eater i want to eat the whole time i am sitting around watching tv so i am going to try to get out and start walking in the evening

I blogged this, but didn't post it here. This assignment is also very useful for Assignment #11. What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? Worry. I know what your thinking. B.S. right? Well, stay with me on this.... I get all kinds of payoffs for worrying. That's why we behave certains ways. There is always a payoff for what we do, or we wouldn't do it. The payoffs for worry are huge, and it's going to be really tough to let this one go. But, never fear! The bottom line is my transformation is of the unmost importance to me. The payoffs for transformation are greater than those of worry! I just never realized it before. Duh! Undecided Payoffs for worry include but are by no means limited to the following: When I worry, I stress. When I stress, I eat. I drink. I don't sleep....because I'm too busy worrying....so I can eat more and drink more. I get to medicate myself with food and drink. HUGE payoff! When I worry, I get to blame others for why I'm worrying. You know, when you don't like to take responsibility for where your life is at, blaming others is great! When I worry, I get to not deal with what's truely the issue. God forbid! If I did that, then I couldn't worry! See above payoffs! When I worry, I get to not trust in the Universal Conscience Energy of God. If I did that, I wouldn't be in control! Oooo! Here's a good one! When I worry, I get to feel sorry for myself. I can be a real one woman pitty party! Oh so attractive! See above: blames others for his or her own shortcomings. Ha! And here's a real stinker. When I worry, I get to not be grateful. You see, God has always, and will always take care of me and my family. When I worry, I'm basically forgetting all that. Where's the gratitude in that? You know Maggie, it takes a hell of a lot of energy to live this life of worry you've created for yourself. Howz 'bout giving it up now?

my lowest level habit is procrastination. I put most things off until the last minute then kill myself getting thing accomplished. From now on it will be finish each task then move on to the next and if there is no next task at the moment enjoy the fact I have acomplised something and actually have no "pressing" matters that I need to worry about.

This assignment has been harder for me than I expected. What I thought MUST be my lowest level habit kept changing its face!? First it seemed to be one thing, then another. Finally I realized that my habits (actions, behaviors) took whatever form was necessary to support my belief that said "I am not good enough so I will find a way to stop success RIGHT NOW...before it gets really big!" Geez! When will this 60 year old grow up?! am certainly old enough to have seen this pattern in my life before! So here's what I am going to do...just finish this little Transformation! DaDa!!! That will be a success, full and complete. Then I will have to face how I feel about being successful. I think I am becoming someone who can accept it.

For me my lowest level habit was being addicted to cigerettes. I have had a desire to quit this for many years, but would not allow myself to truly feel what I needed to feel about it. I always chased it away with another smoke. I have felt less than not worthy of the potential I knew and have known that I had been given. Finally letting go of this habit I now feel in control of my life. I feel like I dont have to hide who I am, that I am going to shine like a diamond now. Through the whole transformation process I have grown so much and for me this lower level habit is what I truly needed to let go of so that there was no more holding back... Freedom rings in my soul.. And I am so thankful for it!

This is an odd excercise. The fact that I've reached step 8 tells me that there is nothing in my way of transforming right now. I have lost 18 pounds, and finally busted below 200. If I could fast forward to my goal date of June 21st, that would be interesting, but not fulfilling because I need to experience this transformation. I do get fatigued from time to time, so I give myself a break when I really need it. Impatience could be an obstacle, but it took me a whole lotta time to get where I was just recently, so a transformation can't happen overnight. I get up before 5AM during the week and hit the road in the dark and cold with my dog wearing one of those silly headlamps. I think that shows desire and dedication. I've been really good about eating well. I've got a long way to go, but I've come pretty far, so it's all good. Take it one day at a time. Work hard. Celebrate accomplishments. Remember it's about progress, not perfection!

Assignment 8: My lowest level habit is not confronting my fear of failure. As I alluded to in a previous blog, I have a general sense that I am unworthy of good things. That when good things DO happen to me...it is thanks to either someone else...or LUCK!. I am currently taking steps to adjust this thinking. My physical exercise and my coming results have been a way for me to claim ownershhip over failure. Every ounce of fat that I lose is an ounce that I am responsible for shedding. It isn't luck or thanks to someone else. It is due to my hard work.

My lowest level habit is easy for me to identify. It is the negative way I deal with my current employment. Yes, I am frustrated by what I consider a lack of administrative vision, and true leadership, as well as their unreceptiveness to ideas and feedback. I have chosen to bitch and complain along with the other employees, and at times I am the #1 cheerleader for gripping and complaining. I feel like I sold a bit of my soul to them because 26 mo ago I signed a 36 mo contract...so in escence I can not simply escape! I can not slip away in the night, taking with me this negative auroI have created. I need to stay right where I am, provide excellent pt care (I am an Occupational Therapist), cont to be a team player with other depts and BE THE CHANGE. I am truly tired of being part of the problem (the cancer), I want to be part of the solution. I not only need to stop complaining about the situation with others, I have the power and influence to redirect them. I have the power to lead others in positive conversation about many other topics, including the one they are all beginning to ask about: what I am doing to lose weight, get in shape, etc...It is my opportunity to begin to educate others on THE CHALLANGE.

Wow, I’ve really had to do some serious soul-searching again. It seems like each assignment is requiring more and more. My lowest level habit is not valuing myself. I value others a great deal and am sincerely interested in their well-being but when it comes to my own I fall very short. This low level habit manifests itself as lack of care of me and my environment. Skipping workouts, going to bed without taking my makeup off, not doing dishes for days, waiting until every piece of clothing is dirty before doing laundry, and not being consistent with my housekeeping are just a few examples of not respecting myself. I am going to transform this weakness into strength by establishing a written routine to address these kinds of things and use it as a daily checklist until self care becomes an ingrained habit. Until I address this lower level habit I can’t be totally present and have all of me available to myself and others.

Assignment #8 Habit/Pattern I need to overcome… The two paragraphs bill lists in this assignment. “Apathy Addiction” & Procrastination are huge for me. Another is giving up if I can’t complete a task fully. The “All or Nothing” mentality (however, I have made leaps and bounds with this one but it’s still a work in progress). I complain, criticize others and play the blame game a lot. No one & nothing is ever good enough. But in the past, I would not be the one to make the effort to fix it. I have a terrible habit of putting people down. I’m not sure why. I don’t know if it is a learned behavior from childhood (I would need a therapist for this story) or because it was something that was always done to me so I try to make myself feel better by finding faults in others. Either way, it’s a bad habit that needs to be broken. I also have a horrible habit of seeming stupid so I don’t have to put in the effort to get things accomplished or be held accountable for mistakes. I faced one of my greatest fears in Assignment #5; I faced my fear of Transforming. Being held accountable and failing again. Well, here I am and I think I’m doing pretty darn ok. Don’t get me wrong, the fear is not gone but I manage it much better now. I still have an enormous fear of new challenges and failure. But I have also learned if I never try, I have already failed. What if my lowest level habit still showing in my daily life? I have several I challenge every day that are synonymous with each other. Laziness, procrastination, and making excuses. Again, I have made leaps and bounds in these areas and I am so much more aware of them. And having to write this to paper (or computer) and really put them in the fore from of my mind. I thought about it often today. I have another I battle with, but to be honest, I think it has a lot to do with the three I listed above, and that is time management. I am hoping my being aware of the three habits above that are still not letting me reach my full potential; I can create more time and be more effective in my time management skills. Transforming weakness into strength… I think I need to take all the paragraphs I just wrote and write them into daily goals to be posted in my journal and in my gym. To fight the urge to let things slide and not put my best foot forward. To not allow my fears to creep back into my mind and hold me back from experiencing life. I have realized more now than ever when I focus on goals and believe in myself, anything is possible. The Transformation has taught me that and the encouragement I have received from my husband have taught me that.

I blogged on this yesterday and just copied it to put here as well. Bear with me, it is lengthy. So, my lowest level habit in my daily life that is holding me back in my transformation..... I have a few, some of which are already changing like, 1. My addiction to food/binge eating for every emotion out there (since about week 3 I have done very well at controlling this; since my e-mails with Chris Winters I have not allowed myself a full free day and this has helped alot, I have allowed myself a meal a week where i can indulge if I want so that I don't feel deprived) 2. My negative thoughts - what I tell myself about myself on a daily basis (not believing in myself), this too has come a long way and I tell myself many more positive things on a regular basis and only on occasion do I still find those negative things creeping back in and even then, I am finding it easier to stop them. I now believe that I will finish this challenge and that I will accomplish the goals I set out to accomplish. 3. But....my biggest lowest level habit is by far procrastination! Somewhere along the way I deveoped the mindset that I work best under pressure, that my "best stuff" comes when I am under stress and have very little time. This has allowed me to view procrastination as okay, to put everything I do off until the last possible minute. I know I am still doing this - I did it this weekend when I had my family over for dinner. I knew committing to that would "force" me to clean up and organize much quicker. I have put ALOT of thought into the second part of this assignment which is What am I going to do about it? How will I transform this weakness into a strength? I have decided that maybe it isn't such a bad thing, I just need to learn how to make it work for me. What I have found before is that things that don't have a set deadline in my life, never get done!!!! Hence the completely disorganized lifestyle that i have been leading. What I am going to do is set deadlines for myself and make sure that I trust myself enough to make these deadlines matter. That I "honor my self promises" and get things done before my self-imposed deadlines

You know, honestly I have so many bad habits that it was difficult to narrow it down to only one...haha. Of course there is procrastination, laziness, fear, bad attitude, etc. But I'd have to say that the biggest thing that has held me back in life is the way that I just give up on things. I have a very difficult time finishing the things that I start. During this transformation process I have been trying to be very careful about not allowing myself to give up. Sure there have been a few slip ups here and there - but in the past one slip up and I'd just give up. Not this time. I have been reminding myself about what Bill has taught us about progress, not perfection, and I just continue to move forward. Case in point - I had a difficult week last week and I was beginning to slip back into old bad habits - and I could hear my brain telling me to just give up, that I was never going to reach my goals - and somehow (I'm really not even sure exactly how) I snapped out of it. I have actually kicked my transformation up a few notches since then - and rather than giving up I've just begun to fight harder. And honestly I'm proud of myself for that. Now if I can just continue on this path that I'm currently on and continue to fight through the challenging times...

I just read over assignment number 8, and it got me thinking. What is my lowest level habit? Is it Laziness, or Self Doubt, or Procrastination? How about a wicked combination? Lets start with Laziness, I dont do much. I cant seem to push myself to get out of bed, in the morning. I dont do much because I dont know what to do. I have NO friends, no one to hang out with, or to go places with or do anything. Why am I so dependant on other to have fun. There are things I dont want to do by myself. Other things that I cant afford to do. But these are not mental challenges are they? I mean I can do things by myself, but I cant just get others to join me. how can I have fun alone when I dont like doing things alone? How about self doubt, I have tried to loose weight before. I have even had BFL and EFL for several years. I took a before picture back then. But I never got a starting weight, never checked progress, never changed my environment, and I failed. But I dont think that is the case this time. This time I dont have easy access to the destructive junk food that I did before. this time I have support from this community, I didnt before. I believe that I can do amazing things. I dont doubt that I can do it. Maybe just a little impatient. Procrastination, I do put things off. I dont push myself to do stuff. I will wait till it absolutely has to before I get it done, especially if it is somthing that I dont want to do anyway. I just have a hard time believing that procrastination is my LOWEST level habit. Maybe it is all of these things, or there is somthing more. I need to do better at it all. Have a little fun. I need to show respect to myself before others can. and I need to push to get things done right away, and then Ill have all the time I want to do what I want.

Procrastination! I am still looking for an answer! I have started to read a book by Brian Tracy called Eat that Frog. I am hopeful that it will be the catalyst to light a fire under my a$$.

Low level habits are something I have in abundance. I am a procrastinator, a worry wart, lazy, a cheater, sleep deprived, down on myself, over-reactive and a bit scattered. If I were to pick one that is probably the most detrimental I would say not sleeping enough. If I were to choose the one that bothers my husband the most it would be not sleep enough. If I were to pick one that bothers me the most it is my lazyness and my inability to commit and follow through. I am breaking the mold with this change. I am sticking with the plan and working out. I am spending time each day thinking about who I am and who I want to be. I am spending time making things happen for me. I am also going to try and be better about sleep. I just have to figure out when to fit it all in.....

"What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back?" A combination of procrastination and poor multitasking. Historically, I have been a terrible procrastinator, often putting off doing something until I absolutely have to. Part of the reason that is so is because I try to do too many things at the same time and wind up going for the “low-hanging fruit.” This means that the important, difficult things get repeatedly put off over and over until they build up to an increasingly intimidating, mountainous challenge. Not only that, but the more things I try to tackle, the more of them I just plain forget! I will overlook the seemingly most obvious and important things simply because I’m too busy immersed in something else. "How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength?" That process has begun. I have begun keeping lists and constantly evaluating those lists against priorities, and I tackle the list based on priority, not on ease. Unless there is a reason I cannot do an item at that time, I will tackle that item before moving on to lesser priority items. My focus on this Transformation has also forced me to do something else important: cut down on the number of things I’m trying to do. I knew that I needed full focus for this challenge, so I have made the decision to let go of some things that I knew would distract me. It’s an ongoing battle…there are still things which continue threatening to draw my attention away from the important things I need to do. The structure of this Transformation Challenge…especially the T.com site and community…are helping me overcome this daily though.

ASSIGNMENT # 8 CONTINUED... THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE OF CO-DEPENDENCY~ Yesterday afternoon I met with my 12-Step sponsor as we usually do once a week. So we started talking about my progress in Step 3 of my writing assignments, when things turned ugly and uncomfortable (for me). I really thought I had gotten to the bottom of the lowest level habit, but not. In the course of our discussion, I realized that I had to dig a little deeper on Assignment # 8 on T, which is something I had already done ALOT of work in 12-step the year prior, but unfortunately the Triangle of Co-Dependency was rearing its ugly head in my life again without me "recognizing it." I never heard of the triangle or Enmeshment, so I started researching it yesterday...and not much to my surprise I found myself drowning in it. I was not a happy camper. I got mad at first, so I swam out that anger and left the pool in black water. I realized during my laps, that I can't change the root which started before I could cognitively put my finger on. My Mom is an adult child of an alcoholic, as is my husband. How do I NOT pass the baton onto my children! OVERWHELMED doesn't really cover the emotions I felt yesterday afternoon...so I got quiet and prayed about it. God gave me a SIMPLE answer, as God usually does if I am quiet enough to listen to His still, small voice....I can change the NOW, TODAY, ONE DAY AT A TIME... The simplified answer is THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF GOD. Focus on His love, His joy, His peace and pass it on. Just BE. Treasures in Darkness TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman Friday, March 27 2009 "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." - Isaiah 45:3 "I have never been in this place before. It is new ground for me, and I find I am way out of my comfort zone. I am scared to death to trust Him at this level. I had to confess to the Lord I have not been able to accept or believe His love for me in this area." Those were the words I expressed to a friend when I was in a difficult place in my life. That day when I confessed those words, God led me to this passage of Scripture. What we perceive as dark periods in our lives are designed to be treasures from God. They are actually riches stored in secret places. We cannot see those times in this light because of the often-accompanying pain or fear that prevents us from accepting these times as treasures. They have a particular purpose from God's viewpoint: "...so that you may know that I am the Lord...who summons you by name." You see, unless we are cast into times in which we are completely at God's mercy for breakthroughs in our lives, we will never experience God's faithfulness in those areas. We will never know how personal He is, or that He can be trusted to meet the deepest needs in our lives. God wants each of us to know that we are "summoned by name." Every hair of our head is numbered. He knows every activity we are involved in. His love for you and me knows no bounds, and He will take every opportunity to demonstrate this to us. Has God brought you into a place of darkness? Trust Him today to reveal that hidden treasure that can be found in this darkness. Let Him summon you by name.

I would say my lowest level habit would be STUBBORN INDEPENDENCE/ISOLATION you know like I can do it by myself (like a 2 year old)...what I can do about it is join an accountability group and connect with a few select people who I admire or have something in common with.

My lowest level habit is criticizing and thinking negatively far too often. I'm too critical of all those around me, as well as myself, and I spend way too much time thinking about the coulda, shoulda, woulda. To change this behavior, every time I start thinking negatively I will replace that thought with a positive one, I will focus on the good, instead of dwelling on the bad.

ASSIGNMENT # 8 What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? I have had a bad habit of not taking full responsibility for my life, my recovery, my own happiness, my emotions, my self-control. Instead of facing these things head-on and fighting for what mattered, I wanted to run or hide from my feelings because they are uncomfortable. Sometimes it seemed too hard to deal with certain issues, so I avoided it by numbing in a matter of ways over the years, but mostly with sugar. I tried to take the easy way out (which is really the LONG ROAD back to square one). So God, lovingly kept putting the same assignments in my life in a different way, shape or form, in order for me to deal with it....FINALLY! How are you going to transform this weakness into a strength? 1. I am physically working through some hard emotional stuff in my T- Assignments with my Coaches Stoney and Clarissa. I am also working a 12-step program for my sugar addiction with my sponsor. My abstinence is #1 because it keeps everything else in order. I ask God for guidance each morning during my devotional time, and focus on One Day at A Time, because that is enough. I want to remember each day, instead of trying to get through it, or forget it. Living life to the fullest each day is respectful to God, my creator.

Well, after almost 2 weeks of staring at this lesson, I think its safe to say that my lowest level habit involves procrastination! Duuuh! But there are SOOO many choices! I can clearly see where I let this habit interfere with my life in so many ways that, like the cigarette smoking, its just got to go! I think the comparison is valid in that there really are not any 'half' measures that work in the long run. I will commit to facing this challenge the same way I dealt with smoking - "Head-on". Something rpeebles said, "Not doing something for fear that it will be the wrong decision. Bottom line is NO action is wrong action", rings very true for me too! Thanks for pointing that out!

As always, these assignments make me put the feet down and recognize where the problem is. In this case, I KNOW that I put things off or don't give 100% all the time. Excuses such as time, tire, and so on, keep coming to mind but in reality is easier to come off the path than to follow, it requires more effort. The "tomorrow" mentality has to go...

Although, I have really been working on this low level habit, I believe that I must conquer it before I can make a 100% transformation. That is, sometimes I know that I do not have 100% intensity in my workouts and I know why. I will let my mind lose focus and once I lose focus I will start to think: I did enough cardio today, so I can skip the treadmill”, or I will think “it is okay to stay at level 4 when I know that I can be at level 6”. I will start to convince myself why it is okay to do less and not more. When I do this, it truly affects my workouts because first, mentally, I know that I did not give my best and secondly I know that my body lost for the day. So, “How can I transform this weakness into a strength”? Well first, I started to write down, the night before, my entire workout plan for the next day, including the level of intensity for cardio exercises and the number of reps and weight that I am going to lift for that day. I made the commitment not to deviate from the plan. If I feel myself returning to a point where I am going to lose focus, I quickly remind myself of my workout plan and I, very aggressively, tell myself to stick to the plan. Most of the time this approach works but I want to get to the point that every time I walk into the gym I do not have to worry about losing focus. Another strategy that I use is to remind myself, ALL THE TIME, of my transformation purpose and how far I have come already; this really works as well. As I stated earlier, I have made much progress in improving this habit, but I am not 100% there yet; but I will get there. Jonathan

I need to overcome "MAKING EXCUSES." I have been mostly successful thus far in my Transformation and I'm on the road to my goals. However, if I had not made excuses, I would be closer to my goals. I make excuses for the following: --getting up later and going to the gym later (because I had to have more sleep, which I get enough of anyway) and doing that causes my day to become wacky, ---planning meals and workouts later instead of now (because supposedly I just don't have time right now, too much other stuff to get done when in reality I do have the time), ---doing my Assignments later in the week instead of the beginning. I will transform this weakness into strength because I will overcome it by doing the following: ---I will place the alarm clock on the other side of the bedroom so I have to get out of bed to get to it which will lead me to getting ready and going to the gym first thing in the morning, ---take one day each week to prepare my meals and pack them, --consistently plan my workouts the night before by keeping up with my BFL journal, ---do my assignments every Monday to allow time for reflection as the week progresses. Doing these few things will help me get to where I need to be in my Transformation. I tell myself that it's not complicated, I just have to do it, and that there are NO EXCUSES for not doing it.

It's all because I haven't been a man of my word. I've lost the trustworthiness of my character. I say I'll do something, and I don't do it....or I start to do it and stop it. This is my lowest-level habit which has shown up in my daily life that is holding back my transformation.To turn this weakness into a strength, I need to develop my "don't quit" attitude. I've already started using that during this Transformation. Even though I've slipped at times or because of life events like the birth of my son during this Transformation...I haven't quit. I just keep going. I don't start over. I just keep going. - Chad

T.com Assignment #8: Admit to my lowest level habit holding me back and what I'm doing to turn it around!? This is a LOADED question! I have been the QUEEN of LOWEST LEVEL HABITS that kept me from attaining my goals. However, if I was still that Queen, I would NOT be on my way to attaining my goals for this very special "BE THE CHANGE CHALLENGE" that I am participating in for the very first time! Maybe I have beginners luck, because after 101 failures at the Body-for-Life Challenge, I am sooo determined to get this change down pat, even before I started. I had to be perfectly sure I was NOT going to humiliate myself again, by sending in photos that appeared to reflect very little change, or send in pathetic before pics that never had after photos to follow. The good news is, I finally found out that it was not my fault! That was a huge relief! And you know what? I am a firm believer, that if you are failing to reach your goals, it most likely isn't your fault either! Then you will say to me, "But I ate the chocolate, I drank the alcohol, I ate the bread!" That's right, you did, and so did I! But, before you beat yourself up about that "slip up", let's talk about your health. When was the last time you had a "reality check?" How well do you know the human body? Do you read books and study all the dis-eases out there and what the symptoms are? Have you traced your own symptoms? Do you know what to do about it? Well I am happy and quite proud to say that i can honestly say, I do, and i know more about the human body now, that I have failed at the Body-for-Life Challenge so many times, than I would have known if I succeeded once and forgot all about it. Those "failures" pushed me forward like never before. I have now learned that I had a rare virus that resided inside my body for almost five years, and if it made it self apparent about five years ago, it was probably working on my body for another five years before it surfaced like a demon, out of the blue. In retrospect, I had the signs, I had warnings, I had clues, but I ignored them due to ignorance, pride, stubborness, resentment, grief, feeling sorry for myself and so many more reasons, I could go on and on. The point is, there is a LOGICAL explanation for everything our body does to "cope" with the food it gets and it's surroundings. "Our job is to become the writers of our own body's manual." We don't come with one, because every single body is different, even so for identical twins! We must decipher the code, we must determine why our body responds the way it does to stress and all the reactions stress causes and what we need to do about it to control, maintain, and eliminate the effects it has on our system, especially when it is damaging, most of the time it is! It is our job to decipher why when we drink one glass of wine we suffer such adverse consequences, yet our friends can drink a whole bottle and seem not to have issues. It is our job to find out why having a piece of chocolate, or a fancy coffee drink, we become nervous wrecks and could literally kill someone that crosses us the wrong way, when people we know hit Starbucks every morning on the way to work, and many times on their way home! It is our moral obligation to become the authors of our own body's manual! Only we can study these reactions and issues, only we can witness every single EPISODE! Why then do we numb ourselves and pretend not to notice? Why then do we intentionally grow to like the mental and emotional, and physical abuse that ignoring the signs and repeatedly torturing our "higher selves" wisdom and constant effort to poke us and give us the signs that we must "BE THE CHANGE" in order to live in peace, bliss, health, prosperity and joy!You must ask yourself this very important question: "If I do not write the manual for my own body, then who will?" Without passing the final exam on what our bodies are trying to teach us, have we failed at LIFE as well? OK...two questions and I can write so many more that are interrelated. Because we have been given ONE MIND, ONE BODY, ONE SOUL, what have we done to restore their resilience to get us through a long and healthy life together. We beat them up, we separate them, we treat them as they are meant to be tended to separately, as if they belong to several different people. Well they are YOURS, MIND, BODY and SOUL COMPLETE YOU! After several years of suffering and "FAILING", I have been infused with the knowledge and wisdom, that the KEY to LIFE is KNOWING that the MIND, BODY and SOUL must be trained simultaneously in order to achieve TRUE BALANCE, internally and externally. To achieve your highest purpose that God has create just for you. And until you come to that reality, you will NOT find your true purpose in life and will lead a far less meaningful and UNFULFILLING life than God has programmed for you! That is MY WISDOM! Now, about the LOWEST LEVEL HABIT that USE to hold me back, time-and-time again, was eating out and the mindset that it created. You see when I was a child and we went out to eat, my father always told me to order anything I wanted. My mother, on the other hand, would always say don't tell her that. She shouldn't have fries, and she doesn't need a rootbeer! Well, she was right, because I was a chubby little girl. However, I was the only one in the family that was chubby, so I was an outcast as it was, I did not like being told that "I" couldn't have the fries or the drink, but everyone else could! If my mother had whispered to me that we didn't have the money and I should order something smaller or less money, I would have probably wanted to do everything I could to contribute to the family "crisis". But what this turned into was "Demi's" problem is her weight, and we don't have that problem, therefore she shouldn't be allowed to have the bun, the fires or the drink or the dessert! So, as an adult, after I was married, going out to eat meant to take my power back! Why can't I eat the bread, the fries (I'll go to Red Robin and have the BOTTOMLESS fries!!!!), I'll find a way to regain that power and humiliation that was stamped in my brain since I was little. When I finally recognized why I was "weak" when ordering out, or why I preferred Italian restaurants where zi knew we not would get more food for our money, but I could order as many basket of bread as my little heart desired! This has STOPPED! I have truly taken control into my own hands by not trying to get back at my mothere all these years, when the only person I was getting back at and hurting was MEEEEE!!!!!!! I now bring food with me every single day I leave the house, whether I'm going out or to work. I ALWAYS ARM myself with power, CELERY (my secret weapon), salad, boiled eggs, omelettes with veggies, turkey balls, chicken breast, vegetables and more healthy stuff that you would simply not believe. And if I do dare eat at a restaurant, I stay away from Italian, my favorite, but will treat myself on FREE days and special occassions, and I don't mind taking extra time to special order my food so that I know I eating the best that I can. But I truly enjoy seeking out coffee shops, parks, or romantic outdoor spots where we can eat the food I have packed like a picnic every day, instead of on a holiday weekend only! I enjoy that so much more that searching for restaurants that serve the most food, with the lowest prices, and the closest proximity, and by the time we find it, we are beyond our breaking point because we haven't eaten in hours. No, I fuel myself and calm my nerves by eating healthy foods every two-three hours, each and every day!!!! THAT IS POWER! GET IT! FEEL IT! BE THE CHANGE! You have my support and blessings...Demi in California xoxoxoxo

I must admit that I have a lot of habits that I am not so sure are beneficial to moving in a forward direction- being too critical of others (including myself), being impatient, complaining, blaming, negativity… a bunch were mentioned in Mr. Phillips’ blog about this assignment, and I feel like after reading it, I am a big bubbling kettle full of low level habit stew with a dash of each! I think my biggest low level habit is my inability to “let go”. I dwell too much on the small stuff. I honestly let some things bother me to the point of letting precious time go to waste. I am so concerned with what others are thinking of me that I cannot focus on the “now”. I let them control me to that extent. I allow them to have power over me. I “sweat the small stuff”, and I cannot say why. I am not sure if it is just my insecure side looking for approval, or if it is just that I have to be liked. Either way, I need to understand that nothing is always going to go my way, and I will not befriend all who I meet. I read into other’s behavior and sometimes even allow their successes bring me down. I am always wondering what their motives are, or fear “getting burned”. Not everything is a conspiracy against me. I need to learn not to be so defensive. On the other hand, the old adage “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” is a concept that certainly applies to me. I asked a co-worker what he felt about this low-level habit of mine and he said that while my inability to let things go is a big weakness of mine, it is also my greatest strength. He explained to me that he has noticed that although I allow others to get under my skin, I often learn from it and become stronger. I gain energy to become more aware of my interactions with others, and I am more cognizant of my surroundings. And even further, am more aware and willing to accept how my actions and words affect others around me. I can turn this low level habit into an even larger ally. I can simply remember that I cannot control others, fix others, or make them think a certain way. I do not need to get upset. I just need to take a step back, stop and think about if there is truly a reason to be upset, and then decide if I need to act on an issue or not. Are things that I get upset about really all that worthy of getting upset over? I just need to be more realistic and honest with myself. Heck, would it hurt to cheer on others, and even sometimes feel sorry for those who can’t see the good in others? I know the answer; I just need to speak less about it and just put it into practice! “The easiest thing in the world to be is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.” - Leo Buscaglia

What a poweful question! Sine we aretransforming fro the inside out I would have to say I have more than 1 low level habit, but far more important than the physical low level habit are things that I know the outside would fal more into place if I could overcome these barriers. One of my biggest low level habits is the way I speak to my daughter. I struggle daily with the way that I speak to her. She is my everything yet I seem to always talk down to her. There is always a tone of annoyment (is that a word?) in my voice which has led her to self doubt and low self esteem. I am setting a new goal to change the way I speak to her knowing that the power of change is in change yourself. So when she sees my change she too will begn to change her self doubt and negativity. From this day forward I will make a conscious effort to embrace her and lead by being the example. I have always been on her about her tone of voice nd the way she talks and treats people but reality is she learned it from me. Time to break that habit and create a more positive environment for her. The other habit would be self doubt. When I really put thought into this assignment and think of my blogs or notes by pictures I always have something negativ to say (goes hand in hand with what I am trying to teach my daughter ) anyway... I do need to celebrate my victories and be proud. This was perfect timing in my groups thread today about how celbrating victories is not bragging. I am going to work hard to leave negativity and self doubt out of my progress.

I'll just link to my blog on this assignment. The answer is far too long to put here. http://www.transformation.com/NCDadof4/blog/Exercise-8/Assignment-8-Lowest-Habit/28605

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? My lowest level habit is that I worry A LOT. I worry if I am a good enough mom. I worry about the unknown. I worry if I am making other people happy enough. I think about how I can fix this problem, or that problem. I worry I am not doing enough for my transformatioin. I can worry so much about making a bad decision that it will keep me from making any decision at all. My husband tells me I have paralyzation by analyzation. You name it, I have probably worried about it. I have lost so much time, energy and sleep to the worthless habit of worrying. I don't want to be a prisoner of my own thoughts any longer. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? My plan is to give it up to God and give my mind and body a break from it all. I need to let him do his job and keep my thoughts out of his way. When I have a concern I am going to pray for help/guidance/wisdom and then move on to having a productive day or restful night. I have really been focusing on this recently and it is making a big difference in my life. I am sleeping better, which gives me more energy during the day. I am more relaxed, and I am sure more pleasant to be around. I know I still have work to do in this area, but it feels so good to be letting go of that control, which I never actually had in the first place.

I have at least two success-sucking low level habits that hold me back. Not so much during this 18-week challenge because I feel very focused; but I know if I don't work on getting them changed now they'll end up undoing everything I'm working so hard to achieve. My worst low level habits are: 1) Not setting goals -- I've never been a goal setter. I'm more of a "go with the flow" type who hides in my own little bubble. 2) I have a junk food addiction and I'm a closet binger. Right now I am in control, but this is the lowest level habit I fear the most. Now, what can I do to overcome these habits??? 1) I will get in the routine of setting one or two goals at the beginning of every month. I'll write them down and hang them on my computer at work. I'll put a pop-up reminder on my calendar so I don't forget! 2) I will treat my food addiction as any other addiction. I will call on God for His awesome strength to help me. I will ask for help from T.com friends when I am struggling. I will review my goals and my assignments to overcome my cravings. I will stay connected on this website. I will face my fear of returning to my former fat self and I will refuse to believe it. I will remember that it's progress, not perfection that really matters. I will be the person who eats healthy all the time (not just when people are looking and not just when I'm on a diet). I'm in this for life! ~Nancy~

My lowest level habit is procrastination when it comes to taking on confrontational tasks (both at home and in the workplace). I often wonder if this has something to do with the way I was raised as a child, but I have a history of pushing contentious issues out in hope that it would just go away, or that it would work itself out. I’m fully aware of this (which is a good thing…no denial here), and it is something that I’ve been working on. Another low level habit is truly letting go and letting God control my life. I have struggled with the power of this for years, and it drives me crazy. I want so badly for Him to use me in the way that He sees fit. Lately I feel like I am capable of so much more, and that I have so much more to offer to others. I’m hoping that I can continue to let go, and I’m hoping that He finds a way to put me to work in His name. My Transformation has helped with both of these habits, and I’m truly seeing and feeling the change. There is a lot more work to be done, but the only true constant is change…and I welcome it! I find that the best way for me to overcome both of these low level habits is to be open to change, and to acknowledge when I’m facing the habit when it occurs. With the first habit, I know when it is an issue because more often than not it’s the confrontational issue that makes me uncomfortable. This triggers a response, and I’ve learned to take a step back now to assess the situation before shelving it in perpetuity. The more I deal with this issue when it occurs, the better I become (and more comfortable I become) in dealing with it. With that I truly believe that I will be stronger when dealing with adversity which will make my life at home and work much stronger. With the second habit, it’s a huge work in progress. I have joined the Men’s ministry at church, and I’m learning a lot from the awesome group of guys that make up our group. These guys are in different stages of their walk with Christ…most are far more advanced in their relationship with God than I am which can be intimidating at times. I do feel, however, that I’m in the right place, and that I’m going to learn a lot in the group setting. It is important that I continue to open myself up and ask questions to become better educated and to enhance my relationship with God. My goal is to continue to work hard on this relationship, and I feel in time I will really start to notice Him working in my life. That alone carries SO much power.

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? *My lowest level habit is blaming my husband's schedule or my kids for my lack of getting my workouts done. If the kids are up all night and I can't get to to the gym at 8:30am, I blame being up all night for not going. Or if my husband changes his plans, I blame him for my not going. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? * Its NOT anyone else's fault. I need to set up my workout plan/schedule and a back up plan/schedule. If I'm tired in the mornng, I can go at night. My plans should not change just because Chris' does and I need to let him know what my plans are-he is not a mind reader. I can workout at home, ride the bike inside or go later if the kids are napping at my scheduled gym time. There is NO excuse not to workout daily!

I would have to say that my lowest level habit that is the most disruptive to me moving forward in my goals and achieving the success in my program as i envision it is the one of communication. of late I have failed miserably in this area, especially with regards to the people I am in contact with. This brings up confusion for me and others, lack of planning and an overall air of distrust. I need to be open with those around me and tell them what is going on. I need to tell the whole story of the situation and not leave out the part that suits me. Troy

What is your lowest-level habit that shows up daily in your life and is holding your transformation back? Mine has been rearing it GREAT big ugly head for about two weeks. I have been grappling with it everyday. Overthinking. It has lead to sabatage, self doubt, procrastination,even a great big pitty party. This lowest level habit really does effect everything. Now what am I going to do about it? Stop overthinking. The work and research into this has been done. I just need to do the work. Use the tools available to me. Have a positive attitude. When I make a decision I will go with it and stop reanalizing it. I have not yet bought the BFL book, that will change this week. Obviously, using tips are good, now I need the guidlines.

My lowest level habit is not using resources that are available to me.....I avoid asking the champions questions...because I think they are to busy...and I don't want to be a pain in the side......I don't ask other bodybuilders at the gym many questions...I don't want to interupt their timming or It is somewhat humiliating for a weight lifter who benches 350lbs or more to come over and have to take his time to explain how to keep my butt on the bench when lifting 140lbs, Iwent 4 months of doing the same exercises over and over before I asked and found out that I need to switch things up>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I will daily ask a more experienced person for advice...so I can achieve more progress...

I've grappled with my lowest level habit, but what I think it comes down to is the lack of confidence that I have to finish the challenge and continue to remain faithful to the eating and exercise plan. The past me has always gotten on these kicks of eating right and exercising, then one thing or another would happen as life does, and I get off track. I start sleeping past my alarm and miss my workout, or make an excuse that I will work out when I get home or say there's no time to plan meals and I know how to eat right and I can wing it. Or I get sick or we go on vacation... the list goes on. Well, that has not worked for me in the past and that is what brought me here. I knew what I have done is not working. I did BFL in 2002 and got terrific results, although I never finished it (surprise, surprise!) How I'm going to turn this into a strength? I will continue to plan my meals and exercise which has gotten into the fifth week with no cheating and not missing a single workout. I will finish this challenge. No doubts in my mind. And since I will want to continue to feel as good as I will, I will continue to plan and exercise past the end date. I will compete in future challenges to remain focused and continue to learn and grow. Finally, keeping connected and accountable to the T.com community has also brought me strength and hopefully encouraged others to do the same.

I have been running this over and over in my head and it is hard to narrow it to just one. BUT, I think this one is where others tend to stem from for me. What is your lowest-level habit that shows up daily in your life and is holding your transformation back? My lowest-level habit is not believing in myself. Man, that is so hard to say but it is true! How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? I am going to transform that weakness into a strength by learning to trust the process and stop the negative self-talk. I AM WORTH IT, DANG IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I have been traveling this journey, I have been learning to let go of some things and to grab onto others. I let go of the scale and the "perfect" number upon it. I grabbed onto taking this challenge one day at a time and doing what I know needs to be done each day. Am I doing it perfectly? Not everyday, but I have learned to forgive myself and move on to another day. Progress, not perfection. I let go of not being accountable, and grabbed on to a wonderful, supportive accountability partner whom I trust. It is making a HUGE difference in my life. Now, I need to let go of the non-belief that leads to negative self-bashing and grab onto BELIEVING that I CAN DO THIS! It is a tough process, and I have to work on it daily. Sometimes minute by minute. I will get there. I am worth it. ~Karla

If I am being honest, there are several low level habits that afflict me, but as far as the transformation goes, probably the worst one is emotional eating - you know, grabbing a couple of ounces of chocolate when you are feeling lousy and telling yourself that it can't really be THAT bad for you. I am also a little bit lazy because I am not being religious about measuring all of my food in detail I have stopped eating fried foods (not that those were ever a real problem). I have stopped eating ice cream, even lite ice cream. I have stopped drinking wine for now and I am eating very small amounts of red meat, but my portions are still too big. If I am going to make my transformation goal, I will have to crack down much harder than I have been.

Assignment #8 What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? Addiction? I would have to say that my lowest level habit is alcohol. I do not think that I fall into the category of being an alcoholic (but then I am not sure what defines an alcoholic really) but I have come to realize that maybe I am somewhat addicted to it. Especially after listening to the show on addictions. I do look forward to having a class of wine during the week at WWGHH. But sometimes it can lead to two. I am more of a social drinker - on the weekend I enjoy have several glasses of wine or even margaritas if we go out for Mexican food. I have never ever planned to stop drinking entirely, because I love a nice glass of red wine or a margarita. I know that it is really not good for you healthwise, but I justify it by drinking red wine. But the fact is... is does sabotage your progress. 2. Organization: I don't do a very good job of planning my workouts ahead of time like I should. I haven't even planned the one that I am getting ready to do in 45 minutes. And it's UBWO :) I get them done and I do really hard workouts and push myself all of the time. But I sure would like to be more organized. How are you going to transform that weakness in to a strength? 1. I need to figure why I enjoy it so much and learn to limit myself on the weekends. I have very strong will power on my eating plans and workouts, but I have to learn how to just say no on the social gatherings. Or at least limit it. 2. Maybe I should purchase another BFL journal. I don't spend enough time on thoughts for the day, and wins. I am so disorganized that I just throw it all together at the last minute. I seem to do so much better when I used the BFL journal. Well that's it for now. If I come up with anything else I will repost. Hugs, Edie

LOWEST LEVEL HABIT! I have so many low level habits, where do I start! Ok, The most definite lowest level habit I have is .... NOT TAKING CARE OF MYSELF. It shows in the way I dress, the way I take care of my body, my hair, my clothes, my makeup (or lack of), my whole general appearance. I don't want to be this way anymore. I have always admired those women who were overweight , yet so beautiful. They radiated beauty in spite of their weight. That is a person who is spiritually whole, dispite the outside. I wish I could be like that, even when I am overweight. I just let the weight affect me to the core. When I am fat, I don't feel beautiful. I don't really feel like I matter much in the eyes of anyone outside of my family. I don't feel that my opinion counts for much. How can I be confident, and pretend to know it all, when I don't even care about my appearance. I decided that with this assignment, that I would take care of me, outside and inside. I will not go to the store in sweats or PJ's (yes, I said pajamas!) anymore. I will always make sure that my appearance radiates the happiness that I feel within. I will wear makeup and do my hair when I leave the house. I know these sound like simple, trivial things, but I know they will help me transform into that beautiful butterfly I am destined to become! xoxo, Terri

I have always been a self motivator for myself. This site has showed me that there are so many people out there that are just like me. I do not know a lot of people who are spirtually in tune with themselves or even motivated to accomplish anything new in life. This site has inspired me to keep going and that I am not alone anymore. This was the first place I came when my Dad passed away. All the words of kindness and hope that came from here was amazing to me. I come to this site for many reasons to learn, love and inpire someone with my own experience in life. All the blogs I read give me different ideas and direction each time I come here which makes me want to come back for more each time I get the chance. I want to give special thanks to you Bill for making such a wonderful community filled with people all with the same goal in mind. To better themself and maybe help or inspire someone else out in the process.

My lowest level habit definitely is that I keep letting my job take front stage before my life. I've missed some meals during the day because I don't take breaks or an actual lunch time. I've managed to stay on track and get my scheduled exercise in, but have dropped classes I enjoy in order to accommodate after hours conference calls or duties.

Ok here goes...my lowest level habit is behaving compulsively in two areas: eating and accumulating credit card debt; and being secretive about both of them and staying in isolation. I have used this low level behavior to fill loneliness, fear and a spiritual emptiness. What I am doing about them is connecting with two 12-step groups and doing the assignments, connecting and being present here on T.com to stop these low level habits.

The lowest level habit that is holding me back is not confronting my fears. There are other low level habits that come to mind, but when I REALLY concentrate & Think...they all have a "common denominator"= NOT FACING MY FEARS. The prime example & probably the most evident example was RESISTING. (By the Grace of God this came to the surface last weekend and I am no longer resisiting!) Another way that not facing my fears has held me back is through PROCRASTINATION. I procrastinate because I am afraid. Afraid of what?! Success. Failure. Change. So...I just put things off instead of doing them. How Am I going to Transform this weakness into a strength? Face things HEAD-ON that have scared me...Starting with these Assignments!! Everytime I do, I gain confidence! * I am OPEN & WILLING to accept ALL that God has planned for me! * Accept and WELCOME change! * Just DO IT!! * Plan, be prepared (workouts & food) * Use the fuel & confidence I get from each time I face a fear to PROPEL me FORWARD and to face another! * TRUST GOD! * TRUST THE PROCESS! * TRUST MYSELF!!!

My lowest level habit is constantly talking myself out of stuff. I am the worlds best at doing that. You know what it is. It is the voice in your head that says 'You don't need to do the treadmill this morning. You did it yesterday so you should be good for a couple of days.' Or, 'You don't need to go to the gym this morning. It's cold outside this early in the day. Wait until it's warmer later in the day.' that last statement is really saying that I don't want to go to the gym at all. This is the negative self talking. I've listened to that voice for years and followed it's advice to the letter. I see where that has lead me. At one point I was over 300 lbs and very sick at times due to my diabetes, which is another thing that voice lead me to. 'Go ahead and eat the whole pizza' or 'Order the double burger and large onion rings'. To combat that voice I need to overwhelm it with positive energy. My weapon will be the positive words and the positive self image i have in my mind of what I'm going to look like and feel when I've made my goals. I know it is working because of the progress I've noticed. Defeat the voice and I've won the battles. No surrender.

Assignment 8 ~ Transforming Your Lowest-Level Habit O3/10/09 My lowest level habit is PROCRASTINATION. Def: ~putting things that need to get done off until an undefinable later. How is this holding back from realizing my God-given potential? I am making promises to myself that I don't keep as a result of procrastination. The promises support becoming the change. Procrastination supports staying right where I am. It supports not moving. And that would be OK if I wanted to stay the same. The forms procrastination takes are: Internet activities of unlimited varieties. Reading email, writing email, reading blogs, looking up information out of curiosity, I was meaning to get to the gym last night, but I stayed on the internet too long and broke another promise to myself. But I want to change. I am going to transform this weakness into a strength by setting some limits. Internet is fun, but it is not a priority. The promises I have made to write, practice and play music, pay bills on time, eat right and workout, along with household responsibilities are my priorities. Priorities will be scheduled first. I will also schedule specific internet time, because enjoying things is also important. But there needs to be limits on fun just like there need to be limits on work. I will strive for a happy balance so that I feel that I have adequate amounts of fun as well as adequate amounts of accomplishment. I will establish a Win Win strategy. ~Brooke

Assignment #8 completed on 3/4/09 on my blog: ASSIGNMENT #8 It's been such a busy, crazy last four weeks that I was just reviewing all my blogs and realized that Ihad written out Assignment #8 in my notebook but hadn't ever posted it. Assignment#8 - Lowest Level Habit(S) Here they are but I really haven't decided the order they should go in - it depends on the day. Organization: I try to get my house organized, and in organizing one room then I clutter up two more. Or if I get one room organized it only lasts a few days until I'm cluttering it up again. I am very organized in some areas of my life - but I have tons of "paper". I see something that I think is important and I print it off to review "later" and it gets piled (or maybe filed), and then when I want to review it, I don't know where it is so I may look it up online or in a book or whereever it was in the first place and I print if off again. I really have a l-o-o-n-n-g way to go to get on top of this. My husband doesn't help any either because he clutters too. Then having two busy months back to back with no weekends off to "clean up" has made it really bad in my home office. The rest of March will be a slower month so I want to get back on top of my taxes and get all the excess paperwork either filed or thrown away. Procrastination: Can you believe that I haven't even began working on my taxes yet?? This happens every year. I always say I'm going to get everything together at the end of January and then I don't. This year I had my files all set up and I'd even gone through a bunch of the papers mid-December so I for sure could have everything ready early this year, and then everything was flooded at Christmas and still a mess all through January while they were re-carpeting, etc. , but I've still had a month now and haven't gotten to them. I always end up making the appt. with the tax man and then I have a deadline so I'll get it done. I've always "felt" like I worked better under pressure so things get put off until it's nearing the deadline and the pressure is on and then I kick in big time and go for it. I don't really want to do it this way. I'd rather plan and work on it a little along at a time and get it done early. Once I get the eating/exercising down good, this really needs my attention!! Computer Time: This I'm somewhat improving on. I am getting rid of a lot of e-mails that really aren't important. Being on staff at the church I'm on a lot of different mailing lists for curriculum, ideas, etc., and I'm now narrowing it down to what I feel is the most important so I'm not reading so many. I also delete lots from friends/family if it's just forwards. I'm probably missing some motivating or informative info. occasionally but I just don't have time - I'd rather spend e-mail time on T.com checking in with all the wonderful people on here and trying to encourage them. Fat-Thinking: This is improving. My loose pants are a big reminder. My stomach isn't going down nearly as fast as I'd like but other parts of me are, so I'll just be patient with the progress but work hard at doing exercises and eating right and managing portions and it will all happen. My self-esteem is better thanks to the time I spend with the Lord and all these wonderful encouraging messages on T.com, and doing the assignments which really makes me confront the issues, and deal with them. I really don't feel that I'm in "bondage" anymore to my past. I think I'm coming out of bondage to my "weight" -- but I soon have to go dress shopping for a wedding this summer and I'm not looking forward to that. I'll wait until I have a few more weeks of Transformation done before I even attempt that. I haven't bought any clothes since I began T.com and don't want to until I am down a few more inches (notice I said inches, not pounds -- that's a big improvement for me). I am no longer a slave to the scale. I only weigh every three weeks as I had planned at the beginning of the transformation. I know I'm on the right path to success for reducing my body fat so I will continue on with the program as a lifestyle. I feel good, I have energy, I don't crave other "junk" foods like I did before, I enjoy exercise, so I know this is the right thing for me to do. Progress .... not perfection!!!

I have mulled this assignment over in my mind for several weeks now! I have finally found an answer that ties everything together! For years I have tried to overcome weaknessess that I knew where holding me back, keeping me from reaching the next level. I never could figure out why I stayed in the same place, until now. My lowest level habit is NOT BELIEVING IN MYSELF! I have finally put my finger on it and what a revelation it was! Because I had lost the belief that I could accomplish any goal much less my biggest dreams, it kept me at the same level. I have lived a healthy lifestyle all my life but I knew there was a higher plane and I wanted to get there! But for some reason I was stuck. Until now! Through my transformation so far I have opened up my heart and soul and I am getting to the core of who I really am! It feels so awesome! I have actually started believing in myself again and continue to improve day by day. I am confident that I will acheive my goals and keep reaching higher! Thank you Bill for all you do to help people like me! I appreciate you!

Assignment #8 Transforming Your Lowest Level Habit (3.7.09) I have been thinking about this assignment for weeks now trying to come up with the “right” lowest level habit and I have come to the realization that there is more than one and I can’t determine which is the lowest so I will talk about all the habits that are holding me back right now. These 4 weaknesses are actually very intertwined with each other. Because I have low self esteem I have negative thoughts about myself and I don’t believe in myself. I also feel the need to please others because I don’t understand I have worth and acceptance regardless of what people think of me or whether or not they approve of me. Because I so desperately “need” the approval of others I have always tried to be perfect in everything that I do and who I am. Of course this is not possible and I always fail at being perfect which just results in negative thinking and the whole cycle starts over again. What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? Weakness: People pleasing – For as long as I can remember I have been addicted to the approval of others because I have not seen the value in myself. Throughout this transformation journey I have become more aware of how much of my thoughts are towards what people think of me, whether or not they approve of me or what I am doing. This is so exhausting and completely unnecessary if I understand the truth about me. According to God’s word, I am already completely accepted, worthy and loved unconditionally by Him and I should strive to please God not man. Because I have strived to please man for so long I almost don’t know how to act or think differently. I want so badly to stop caring (in a good way) what people think about me and I want to be free to just be me. Weakness to strength: I have started putting my trust in who God says that I am….loved, accepted, in right standing with Him, worthy. I will continue to seek God to show me areas where I am seeking the approval of man rather than accepting who I am in Christ. I will strive to please God by being the person He created me to be knowing that He will help me and I don’t have to be perfect. I will ask the Holy Spirit to show me times when I am doing things to “please” others and ask Him to show me ways to change the situation. As I trust God more and believe in His truth about me, I will feel the “need” for man’s approval diminishing. Weakness: Negative thinking – I have always had low self-esteem and have struggled with my thoughts. I have never been much of a goal setter or risk taker because I have never believed in myself. Most of my thoughts are about what I cannot do or what I should be doing and I heap much condemnation, guilt and self fulfilled prophecy upon myself because my thinking effects my beliefs and actions. Weakness to strength: – I have started taking inventory of my thought life and “taking captive” negative thoughts and submitting them to God, searching His word and Truth and replacing those negative thoughts with the promises of God. I have started thinking about what I am thinking about rather than letting my thoughts go wild and have free reign of my mind. I am replacing negative thoughts about myself with positive thoughts and affirmations. I am working to replace “can’t” with “can and will”. Weakness: Procrastination – I did not realize that I was so much of a procrastinator until recently. As I started looking at all the different areas of my life I could see procrastination involved in each of them. The more I became aware of the fact that I procrastinate more than I thought I did the more I decided I wanted to understand why. I did some research on procrastination and found some interesting things about myself. Two of the common reasons for procrastination are 1.) Fear of failure or success. In my case this would be a fear of failure which goes hand in hand with the second reason 2.) Perfectionism - if I can’t do it perfect than I won’t do it at all. I find myself procrastinating when it comes to assignments because I tell myself that it takes me a long time to “analyze” each assignment which isn’t a complete lie. I have a very analytical mind so I like to dissect things from all angles before drawing a conclusion. However I think at times I use my “analytical” nature as an excuse to procrastinate. In working on assignments (and I used to be this way in school too) I don’t just dive in because I am afraid I won’t do it right or I won’t have the “right” answer. What I fail to realize most of the time is that there is no “right” answer. The answer is whatever it means to me. These assignments have to do with me. No one else can answer them for me. I have to do my own searching. I feel that I cannot complete something until I know it is perfect because I am afraid of failing. I procrastinate when something seems difficult because I don’t want to deal with it or I don’t want to fail or I am afraid of not getting it right. Weakness to strength: I have done the work of researching this area of weakness that I have recently discovered. Recognizing the reasons that I procrastinate I can now recognize when and why I am feeling a need to put something off. I can break tasks down into more simple tasks to make them not seem so overwhelming. I remind myself that I CAN accomplish whatever is set before me with God’s help. I am starting to give myself time to think through things but recognize when it has been enough time to “analyze” and now I just need to follow through on the task. Weakness: Perfectionism – the need to be perfect and do everything perfect. This has caused much stress, frustration, heartache, failure, guilt and condemnation in my life. Weakness to strength: I have started practicing “progress not perfection”. I have accepted the fact that I never was nor never will be perfect and that is perfectly okay. I am paying attention to the small victories in each day. Focusing on progress and throwing out the false idea that “perfection” is realistic or ever attainable. I will always probably be an overachiever by nature but I can cut myself some slack and just enjoy life a little bit more.

So what would blame, complaining and ungrateful behavior look like turned around? (These are my lowest level habits.) I think ownership, having positive thoughts AND words, and being grateful sound like strengths I’d love to have. It may take some time to “reprogram” my thoughts, but awareness is the first step. Practice is the second. I wrote several paragraphs about my thoughts and plan for this on my blog "Assignment 8" - what a great experience this was, in a bittersweet kind of way!

Assignment 8: Procrastination. This is my lowest level habbit that I am aware of. I love putting things off until tomorow. I will put off workouts, assignments, chats with friends, posting on the forums and anything else that requires a little time and I don't like it one bit. Starting tonight, i will no longer fall victom to this mindset. I will begin to take action against it and I will succeed

What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? ************* My lowest level habit is NOT being in the moment. I am always multi-tasking (mostly focusing on work) to the point where I miss what's going on right then and there...I need to "be still"; a friend recently told me: You are a human BEING not a human DOING. And that has stuck with me...the more I live in the present, the better I am to handle what will come another day.******************** After you write down the lowest-level habit which is negatively affecting your transformation so far, please also, in the space below, write down what you are going to do about it. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? ***************** Multi-tasking IS something that plays well, especially during these fast-paced times, and especially in the workplace. But truth be told, multi-tasking really does not serve anyone, in the grand scheme of things. Work isn't done as thoroughly as truly is needed, people aren't given the attention they deserve and so end up getting dismissed, and true goals/reasons for doing something and doing it well fall by the wayside because we're just focusing on the "doing" rather than the purpose. I am going to transform my weakness into a strength by purposely slowing down, purposely focusing and being more thoughtful with each moment, and by being present....I am a human BEING not a human DOING, and what already I am learning by adopting this mantra is that things I thought were uber important and priorities...just aren't. Just BE.

My lowest level habit that is effecting my transformation is -and this is mindblowing to me -because I consider myself to be pretty aware of things-but it has come to my attention after much pondering and honesty-the habit is a need for a reward or pick me up.. Before the challenge my reward was a small piece of chololate, a magazine- but with my giving up of chocolate and funds being tight...I am left feeling empty. I guess the latest years of my life I have been feeling very lonely. My mother passed a way 6 years ago and I don't have anyone in my life who says nice things to me. I don't have much in the way of family-3 brothers who are very busy with their lives and families and most friends that have drifted. I have so much love to give-and I give all I can to my daughter- she is the joy in my life- but I often feel frustrated that there aren't more people in life-and I get angry with myself for having self pity-then I end up giving myself a little present to feel better. With the transformation challenge -and no sweet surprises -on the more challenging days-it leaves me feeling more empty because I am not medicating the pain of self pity-so I am left to feel it. I guess in the end I end up down and negative-but I keep doing what I need to do but my inner child is whining all the way. I guess the only thing I can do is to keep on doing what I am doing and work through it. I have been reading books to keep me spiritually connected and that does help. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. thanks Bill-that was a good one.

My lowest habit is lack of complete organization! Piling up paperwork and things both at home and at work. Procrastinating in clearing and organizing and getting rid of unnecessary or duplicate things. I have boxes waiting to be emptied and organized that I need to deal with. This has kept me from really allowing God’s plan for my life from totally being fulfilled due to lack of organization and clutter. My mind isn’t set free knowing I have “clearing” to do. No more. I will make ORGANIZATION and DECLUTTERING one of my top priorities. Commence tonight clearing one box and commit to emptying a box each day until it is all done. First is start my day with prayer; Second - plan and prepare the meals for the week and eat meals and snacks following "Eating for Life"; Third is exercise using Body for Life; and Fourth is ORGANIZATION. I will print this so I can see it daily to remind myself of my priorities.

Uncovering my lowest-level habit took me through a process that was both painful and revealing. My first attempt at writing down my lowest-level habit had me simply stating some of the bad habits that I have been working on: procrastination, negative words (putting people down intentionally and unintentionally), internalize everything/take things personally and finally, the inability to control my emotional ups and downs (when confronted with adversity and/or situations which where I felt threatened). Very early on in my journey I had identified and had begun to work on procrastination, and being mindful of the importance of words – specifically being positive. I attributed much of my procrastination - to placing myself and my desires above everyone else. I read and re-read The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. I learned about not taking things personally (also had to do with me placing myself in the center of importance) and that I needed to immediately make changes to be “impeccable with my words.” Bill also emphasized the power of words so I had many touch-points to help me with these first three. The fourth was a bit of a puzzle. I didn’t feel like inability to control my emotional ups and downs really got to the root of the problem. It sounded and left like a reaction to something– which led to the question of what was that something? After considering this question for a while I came up with something closer. I habitually would lose control of my emotions when I felt I was not in control of a situation. But this too still didn’t feel like the bottom of this puzzle pyramid. After a couple of days of trying to not think too much about it, it hit me square between the eyes. I was afraid! I had successfully buried this fact under layers of over-confidence and over-controlling. Only now that I had started to peel away some of these layers in my transformation journey was I able to dig deep enough to make this discovery. I understand now that FEAR is my lowest-level habit. What made this identification difficult was that my fear was manifesting itself in so many different ways – as so many different habits. Now that I look back at each of the habits I want to change, I realize that they are all grounded in fear. Fear of not being in control. Fear of the unknown. Fear of loss of ego (this one manifests itself in so many bad habits). Fear of the future. Fear of loss. I would not have been able to break through to get to this point of self-realization without completing the assignments so far, listening to Transformation Radio and reading some of the amazing blogs on this site. I also have been reading quite a bit. My current read: The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle has really helped me to learn to live in the Now and to let go of the internal pains and struggles that keep me from my transformation. I want to share one specific passage that helped me to understand how my mind would create fear from the unknown. It is this fear that would then trigger my emotional responses which I had originally identified as a lowest-level habit. The passage is a little long, but I think it is well worth the additional read: Are you worried? Do you have many “what if” thoughts? You are identified with your mind, which is projecting itself into an imaginary future situation and creating fear. There is no way that you can cope with such a situation, because it doesn’t exist. It’s a mental phantom. You can stop this health and life-corroding insanity by acknowledging the present moment… Become aware of your breathing. Feel the air flowing in and out of your body. Feel your inner energy field. All that you ever have to deal with, cope with, in real life – as opposed to imaginary mind projections – is this moment. Ask yourself what “problem” you have right now, not next year, tomorrow, or five minutes from now. What is wrong with the moment? You can always cope with the Now, but you can never cope with the future – nor do you have to. The answer, the strength, the right action or the resource will be there when you need it, not before, not after.

This is a tought one. I have a great list and I am almost proud of my list not wanting to let go of these weaknesses. If I let go of them I will probably have to be responsible for what happens including failures. I will have no excuse. I am having a hard time picking one to let go. I have been taking counsel from my fears and not keeping my self-commitments. I lie to myself and am in denial a lot. I do this easily by not planning or taking action. I am going to make a commitment right now to keep my self-commitments. I am going to transform this to make it into a strength by making plans when I make a commitment and write it down so that I don't forget my commitments.

Assignment #8 What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? Negative and doubtful thinking is probably the lowest level habit that I deal with on a daily bases, although after eight weeks of transforming, I can see a big decrease in how many negative thoughts I ponder on daily. Still, there is that moment or two each day that I will stop and think, “Why am I doing this?” “Do I really think I can become a Transformation Champion?” This negative thinking is something I feel has plagued me most of my life. I have often wondered if it stems from the fact that my dad left home when I was around eight years old and stayed gone for many years. Working two jobs my mom managed to raise my three sisters and myself on her own. I do remember hearing a lot of negative talk from my mom during those years, although now, as an adult, I can appreciate what she was going through. I do remember blaming myself, feeling alone and afraid, and often wondering why. I believe it left my sisters and I feeling unworthy and with low self-esteem. I was very shy during most of my school years and was often embarrassed at my family situation and would avoid bringing friends to my home. To this day, we all, to some degree, still find it hard to let go of the past. I was lucky enough to meet and married a wonderful person after college that has been “the” positive force in my life. She has helped me through the years to come to terms with my past, and it has helped us to build a positive life and environment for our own two children. Although I believe I have made great progress through the years, I still have moments that negativity and doubt will rear its ugly head and stand in the way of my progress and growth. How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? One of the ways I am trying to transform my weakness of negativity, doubt and low self-esteem to a positive strength is to practice the art of self-love. I’ve always associated self-love with someone who may be over confident or cocky. This hasn’t been an easy thing for me to adjust to but I realize it’s an important step that must be confronted if I ever expect to change my outlook on life. When I doubt my ability to succeed in this transformation I try and concentrate on the mental and physical growth I’ve already experienced in just eight weeks. It has become easier and less painful to look in a mirror and accept the changes I’m seeing in myself. I am also learning to accept my past and to accept that most of what happened to me when I was a child was out of my control. I know that realistically I may never rid myself completely of negativity and doubt but I am trying to take a more proactive approach at controlling my own thoughts and reactions. I have found that assuming responsibility for what you think is a powerful step towards personal growth and happiness. It helps to teach us accountability. I have found that like most things in life, the more you practice something, the easier it is to do. Starting on week 9 of my transformation I will implement a new plan of action into my program. I will assume full responsibility for what I fill my mind with. I will stop blaming others for how I feel, what I think and how I react. Before each workout I will fill my mind with positive images of how I want to look and feel. I will see myself happy and in control of my own destiny. I will envision myself taking the trip of a lifetime to Hawaii. I will see myself as a champion and setting a positive example to others in need of help. Greg

My lowest level habit is staying up too late and not getting enough sleep before my am workouts. I have recently changed to an earlier work schedule and I am planning to go to bed at 10:00pm on week nights.

My lowest habit is procrastination. (Patriciamia's comments below could have easily been mine!) I, too, am a planner. Sometimes I enjoy the planning process more than the performance. NO MORE! I will work daily to make sure I do not put off tasks until the last minute (or later!) and I will approach each task daily with a desire to bring it to completion. Thanks! Marv

My lowest level habit is absolutely negative self-talk and not believing in my God-given ability to overcome and be a true champion. I work daily on casting negative thoughts out of my mind. I have seen progress in this area since beginning the challenge but it is the worst habit I will have to conquer out of this whole challenge. If I can master my mindset, I know I will change my life..forever. The years of negativity just don't go away overnight. I take baby steps everyday and note each and every victory I have in this area. I can't believe how much life changes just by shifting your mindset and allowing only good to rule your thoughts. I thank God everyday for all of the progress I have made since starting...I am so thankful for this process.

Yup, oh laziness, big pain in the neck! Probably one of the hardest habits to break. I've been lazy to take a decision that i know is good for me. I had settled into my comfort zone, that included comfort food, and it was hard to step out of it. There is also fear masking behind laziness. I've caught myself having fear of change and resorting into laziness. But when you realize change isn't bad, and actually happens faster than you imagined, then you have the power to turn laziness into a stimuling energy to keep changing. Then you become a changeaholic...lol...nah serious, then when you reach your goal you learn how to transform the lazy stagnet energy into active changing positive energy.

My lowest habbit is going to bed late. I wake up and Im dragging the rest of the day. Which leads to laziness, when it comes to working out I begin to think of all the excuses, then I have to really talk myself into goin to the gym. NO kidding its 12:12 p.m and I didnt have to work today,so there was no excuse but here i am typing and I have not made it to the gym yet! OK thats it no more typing I need to go now, to the gym. Im glad I read assignment 8, I will make a better effort to hit the sheets by 10:30 pm, instead of 1 or 2a.m. OK, to the gym I go . BYE.

It didn't take too long for me to identify this one...and Bill helped point it out. My greatest weakness is laziness. But if I dig deeper, I believe the real root of laziness is my own weak self-image. When I reached age 50, I noticed how people I worked with would always go out of their way to tell me what little value I had in their lives. And it would come from unlikely people: so-called friends and co-workers! I was suddenly confronted with the fact that many people feel condemned (or a failure) themselves. I only realized this after much reflection over the past year. But now I understand that people are not my problem. I could actually be projecting my own failure out there where I am asking for condemnation! Think about it! I've been so busy worrying about being of value that I projected little value. And so for me I have sought out friends and co-workers who are content with their lives and am careful to voice my self-doubts. Knowing that I have a relationship with my family and my God that hold me in high esteem. The more I practice and focus on that, the more likely I am to take care of the details of my journal, workouts & eating habits. I'm off the "lazy" couch and on the path to a better lifestyle and healhier condition.

I think that my lowest level habits boil down to fear and apathy. The way that they manifest themselves are: 1. Negative self talk 2. Self loathing 3. All or nothing mentality 4. Anxiety (social anxiety, panic attacks, intense fear of change) 5. Always seeing the worst case scenario in a situation. 6. Laziness 7. Procrastination 8. Seeing the worst in others, because I see the worst in myself 9. Fear of failure as well as fear of success. 10. Depression 11. Binge eating (When I first started on t.com this would have been my #1, but thank God, I haven't really given into it since I've started with the exception of free days... and even on free days my eating is not nearly as bad as it was before I started) Figuring out how to turn these things around is something that I am trying to figure out. So far the things that are most helpful to me to combat apathy are to move in the direction of caring and to just MOVE period. Get to the gym, do schoolwork... things like that. Taking action. Dealing with the fear and depression are much more of a challenge and are the most difficult part of this trasformation for me so far. I feel like I'm doing the right things, but I know that something is missing. The things that I'm doing to change are: 1. Doing the assignments... that meant posting that Assignment 1 picture... :| 2. Using exercise as a coping mechanism rather than food. I've noticed that my level of depression escalates if I eat junk or even too much of the good stuff. 3. Reaching past my comfort zone 4. Trying to catch negative self talk and disarming it before it can become too destructive (it doesn't feel like enough, but hopefully one day it will be) 5. Reading positive books 6. Watching positive or at least "happy" or "mindless" TV instead of my usual horror movies and dramas. 7. Writing in a gratitude journal 8. Using visualization 9. Reaching out to the community or to friends. 10. I've started school 11. I've been looking for a job (my frustration and fear about not finding one are not helping me at all) 12. Trying to focus on the journey and not the destination

My worst and lowest habbit is perfection. I am a perfectionist to the max. That is why I have ended up with the before picture that I have now. Everytime I would start a diet and do good, one slip up and I would blow it, because I would think well, I've already messed up and I can't go back and fix it, so then I would end up never getting back on track. But here, I am constantly working out this problem. I am relizing it is prgress not prefection, I have to tell myself that every single day! It is so hard for me, but when I lay it out, and admit what I am doing I relize that is the problem that I've had all these years of struggling with my weight and my life! So I must focus daily on progress and never look at it from a perfectionist state of minid!

My lowest level habit is procrastination. I used to be very organized, when I was in the business world and I carried a daily planner; now that I am a "creative type" (singer/songwriter), I often don't even know what day it is, because all days are now the same. Though the BFL logs are helpful for exercise and eating, I need organization in all aspects of my life, which will reduce or eliminate procrastination. So, last night I bought a new planner book, and I am filling it with tasks and calendar entries to plan things early, and wipe out that procrastination!

I have a number...but I have put this assignment off for weeks thinking about it and here it goes. My lowest habit would have to be reacting and overreacting to my boyfriends attitude towards me. I have been working on this for a few weeks and see an improvement, but I know on a weak day it can take the littlest thing to just set me off. I have others to write about, but this is truly the lowest and brings my spirit down. I also need to stop complaining about the relationship to others...it just brings my energy down. I have other bad habits I need to change, but for now this is the one I know is stopping my progress in transformation and consequently life. Jennifer

I thought long and hard about this one because at first I thought it was lazyiness or procrastination. I kept digging. It took many twist and turns in my mind and everytime I examined why I was lazy it was because of fear. I didn't start something because I was afraid it wouldn't turn out perfect. I didn't start cleaning my house until I was sure I could do it all in one day and to my standard, perfect. I was afraid of what people thought of me if I wasn't perfectly put together with my clothes ironed and hair fixed and everyone with me the same way (husband and child). It sure was exhausting trying to be perfect. I was driven by different types of fear. Fear of people not liking me, fear of not being enough, doing enough, losing my husband, losing my child, getting so overweight I couldn't walk, not being dressed the correct way, saying the wrong thing(which I do all the time), lol can you say foot in the mouth disease, laughing wrong, dying at a young age, my child dying, husband dying, and the list could go on. The fear prevented me from starting to live my life and I ended up depressed and overweight. I blamed everyone else except myself. Rationilizing the fear by saying I didn't fail, but it bit me on the butt because success didn't occur either. What I am doing to overcome fear is to acknowledge it when fear comes, identify it, check to see if it is rational and if not let it go. I have more peace in my life and I know I am not in control, God is, if things happen I do my part and leave the rest up to Him. Another thing I have learned is serenity is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with.

It has taken me a few days to get really clear on this assignment. It was a hard one for me. I'm not having a problem with the physical part of my transformation. My lowest level habit is putting my dreams and interests last. I support others, especially my family, but then I don't feel I have the desire or energy to actually do something creative for myself. I am using the BFL Success Journal which has helped me in planning and following through with my workouts and meals. I know something is holding me back in other areas of my life---indecision, talking myself out of things, fear of failure, fear of success, I can't fail if I don't even try, right?! I need to focus, make clear decisions and follow through. I'm going to commit to giving more time to myself and my creative interests. I'm going to make it a priority for me, just as I have for eating nutritious meals and doing high intensity workouts. I will start making a clear plan of what I want to accomplish for the week. Great assignment! Thanks Bill.

procrastination and organisation

My lowest level habit that is holding me up is afternoon apathy. So far, I have only had one day where the exercise was moved to the afternoon. I am going to start doing things in my yard and around the house for at least an hour after work. I know this is like frogs on a lilly pad and only talk so far. I will start this habit on Monday 2 March. I would start to today but, I am already getting the house ready for a poker gme tonight and new furniture tommorrow. So, I will make a point of not allowing myself more than 30 minutes of relaxation after work before I do something that requires movement and the expenditure of energy. This could be walking the dogs, going fly fishing or even organizing the garage. Just gettign myself movign for one more hour.

It's funny I thought this one through a few days before I read the assignment. My major low-level habit is being judgemental towards people I don't even know. When I first realized it i couldn't believe how much I did it. I spoke with a few people about it, my wife, and a few people in this community, and then I realized that I didn't do it as much...it's already started to change. Another one was making excuses...now when I start to come up with an excuse for example..not working out...I go to the gym immediately, or find another way to exercise just to avoid giving into my excuse habit...I haven't given in since I started almost two weeks ago...it's one of my 2 signs of continued progress that I noted...I'm proud of myself for not giving into it...it was my biggest problem.

I would say that I tend to sabotage myself with negative thinking. But I'm working on that one every single day, and forcing myself to think positive is something that works for me. But everything else is going extremely well. I don't procrastinate, I plan every single day, I have no fears and I'm doing my best each and every day. It took me 21 years to get me to where I am today, but finally everything is coming together!

One of my lowest level habits, is not planning! So, knowing that, I make sure that every page and space in my BFL journal is completely filled out before bed every night!.........The BFL sucess journal is a wonderful tool, and has been extremely helpful in accomplishing this! As a matter of fact, If I dident have the journal, I would not be where i am today!!!.....

OH MY GOODNESS...I knew where this lesson was going and oh how I was dragging my feet...but here I go!!! My lowest-level habit is not wanting to get up in the mornings, having a bad attitude if I get up one minute to early. Here we go: How do I plan on overcoming this habit - When I am going to bed at nights I am going to pray that God will be my alarm clock that wakes me and guides me to be honored to wake up each day. There are some people that don't wake-up. And also to feel blessed - get up with a positive attitude. This is a tough one for me, but if I have God on my side, then ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!! Amy

My lowest level habits are procrastination and negative self talk. I have just spent 1 hour online reading health articles rather than work out. I will finish this assignment and get to today's exercise! I realized the other day that when I worked outside the home, I had a ritual of writing down all I needed to accomplish the next day; and systematically crossing each thing off as I completed it. As a stay-at-home mom, I don't do this, so free moments aren't used as effectively as they should be. I've started my lists and will get back into this habit to help battle procrastination. As far as the negative self talk, I will try to replace (or at least follow) negative thoughts with positive ones. I will try to make it a habit over the next 21 days and turn it into the new way I treat myself.

My Lowest Level Habit is Procrastination. From the beginning of my transformation, if it wasn’t for my wife pushing me, I would have rarely, if at all, done any exercise. I would and still do try to find excuses not to go to the gym or get up to do cardio. It’s getting better through the weeks. Repetition has been helping me. And as I see the “cause and effect’ inside and out, it make we want to continue on.

Procrastination. I have lists of things I need to do and I attack the easy, and enjoyable one, leaving the things I don't like to do or have some kind of negativity attached to it. I have tried to have TO DO lists in the past and eventually forget about them. I need to try again, but this time keep it at the forfront of my mind to stay focused on it. Also, I should prioritize them in order of least favorite to most. That way the list gets easier each time I cross something out. I will also tell my friend John to hold me accountable to doing it.

My lowest habit is my fear which tells me that I CAN't do things. It has been something that I have struggled with my whole life. Even in this process now it haunts me. Everyday I have to find the strength to not let it hold me back. I have proved it to myself with my education that I have what it takes to fight and this is one area in my life that I have not been able to conquer. The way that I'm going to makes this weakness a strength is to fight the struggle each day and ask for help from God and those around me. I will re-read my blogs that help me remember what my goals are. I will continue to fight even when it gets hard. And if I fall down, I won't stay down!

My lowest level habit is taking on too many projects at one time. I have many interest and hobbies that I enjoy working on. However, important things such as Bible study and digging deeper into the transformation assignments often get pushed aside because I use too much time chasing my other interests. I need to utilize my time more effectively by doing what is truly important first then as time permits go after the just for fun stuff. Brian

I have a couple of low level habits, 1 I tend to keep things inside instead of sharing how I feel. It takes me longer to figure things out on my own. I need to start sharing how I feel with others so I can process how to handle, what ever it may be, with the help of others quicker so I can move on. 2 I always try to find a compromise for situations I don't want to handle head on. I need to just start to take the "bull by the horns" and take care of it. No 2 I've already started working on in my life and my business.

My negative inner dialog is my worst enemy. Every other time I have tried to complete BFL it would eventually stop me. "You cann't really do this fatty" Is what I would here everytime I looked in the mirror. This time is different, every time I say something bad to myself I add something positive to it. ie.."you cann't do this fatty" "Oh hey is that my waist, I can see it now Skinny" It is helping, I also use the negativeness to drive me when my workout is getting tough. Sort of a 'll show you" attitude. I know I am stronger than those thaughts and I will beat them.

My Lowest Level Habit- I really think I have two, The first one is procrastination, for I find myself making up reason not to do something even if I know that it has to be done so I put it off to the last min. I have been know to put things off so long and worry about them instead of doing what needs to be done that I have made myself sick. The second thing is I watch all together to much t.v. I have been know to set down infront of the t.v. and total lose all track of the day. Before you know it the intire day is gone. The action that I am going to make for me is to allow myself to only watch one hour a day of t.v. that I am just setting. It I want to watch t.v. then I have to either be on the treadmill or working on something at the same time. For the procrastination. I am going to start making myself face the fact that It has to be done so instead of stewing on it just do it.

Assignment 8 Transforming Your Lowest Level Habit!! The lowest level habit that has been showing up in my daily life which has held back my transformation has been my mindset and attitude. In the past I have exercised and dieted regularly without seeing much in the way of results. I figured that a gym membership and preparing meals from the latest diet cookbook would produce results. I believe that I have always allowed my mind to get in the way of these results. I would quit a repetition or two too soon not pushing to my maximum ability, or I would eat something completely off the meal plan, telling myself that I could make up for it tomorrow or the next day etc…. Last week while watching a preview for a golf tournament, I saw a recap of an interview with Tiger Woods in which they were asking him about his first Major victory after his wife had given birth to their first child. He was asked, with a lead coming to the last two holes, was he thinking about his first Major victory as a new father and the celebration with his new family. His response was that he needed to get off of the tee well on seventeen, and not give back any strokes on the last two holes to give him a chance to win. For him it wasn’t about the finish line or the celebration, it was about the next shot. This interview has played back in my head several times over the past week, and I came to the realization that for me to affect change it has to happen in my mind and my attitude. I need to adopt the same sort of mindset as Tiger. In the gym I need to think about my next repetition, my next set, and how I can get the most out of it and not leave anything behind. In the kitchen, what macronutrients are going into my next meal? How the negative foods will derail progress. Make sure that I am eating correct portions at the right times. The mind is very powerful. I plan to use this to my advantage by choosing to think positively to keep me on track. Using my mind to push past the point that I previously thought was failure, and to control cravings for unauthorized foods. I plan to look at nutrition one meal at a time and my workouts one repetition at a time and one set at a time.

My Lowest level habit is in-activity. Procrastination, not speaking up for myself, not changing things I’m dissatisfied with, worrying about the past, or looking to the future instead of living in the moment, instead of stopping where I’m at and realizing that each choice, each decision moment by moment makes a difference… I’m always compromising doing what I really need to do in order to move forward. Always looking forward without moving forward. I recognize that I have made much progress throughout the last 8 weeks. But I am still working on this. It encompasses so many areas of my life. I found an old journal a couple weeks back. And there was a ton of needy-codependent-old relationship stuff… And I was in a much much worse place then a couple years ago… But at the same time, I was complaining about the same stuff two, three years ago, that I was complaining about 8 weeks ago. My rowdy dogs, my job… my health… My relationship with god… My messy house… my relationships with others… I was dissatisfied in the same ways and complaining about the same things for YEARS! Wasting my life! I feel so great to know that I already am making progress on getting somewhere. Somewhere good. I’m not even exactly sure where I will ultimately end up with this transformation, but I don’t even care! I am changing my life positively and I have made more progress in the last 7 weeks than I have in the last 10 years. What am I going to do to transform this weakness into a strength? Take action. If there are things I need to do to further my progress, Take action. Stop putting things off. Moment my moment action-by-action, idea-by-idea. Job by job… I just need to take action! Not tomorrow, not soon… Right now! For example I think I have talked about writing in my BFL workbook for three weeks now… I only did it for the first couple weeks… It was helpful, it helped me stay accountable. Helped me feel encouraged, helped me keep track of my progress. And it feels so good to count my successes. I recognize the helpfulness of it… but don’t step up and take care of it. I’m tired of putting the same old things off. I want to take action, and improve my life.

Assignment # 8 Being truthful with yourself first and others second is what contributes to keys to your personal success. In growing from my adversity and past mistakes, I haven’t always been an honest person. At times in my 20s, I sought the easy way out, not thinking or caring about how it would affect my future. What I’ve discovered today is what your actions from the past, whether acute or obtuse, affects you down the road. I was blessed enough in Feb 2008 to go cold turkey on overcoming alcoholism. Drinking due to depression, not being able to keep a job , and living at home with my mother after 30 really sent me emotionally in the dumps, feeling little hope I would be able to move out, knowing I am too old to be living here. Other factors contributed towards me living at home. The good thing is I don’t get drunk anymore, though I did have a few sips of grape wine, after accidentally crashing the front end passenger side of my mother’s car last week. I wasn’t going to mention this, but I am confronting it before everyone. Although I am no longer full time into it, every once in a while I get the urge to feel the pleasure of “trees”. [Trees] not only make me sleepy, but hungry enough to pig out on food. I was full time into it in high school days, but it didn’t affect my weight at all. Trees is the only thing I’ve done in my life, besides alcohol. So yes, I admit that it’s every once in a while, but hopefully, I can pray on it harder that I overcome altogether and treat it like an “ex girlfriend” and never look back, while maturing on with life. Working on overcoming trees is helping to tweak my diet better! The lower level habit such as trees affects my health after ingestion, because it alters my level of hunger, sleep, and energy output. I can’t blame no one but myself, because I inhaled of free will. While I can’t remember the last time this year I helped myself to some (it wasn’t long ago, but just can’t remember the date - I know it was sometime in January 2009) , I haven’t had any this month. I’ve been able to sustain sufficient energy levels, stay in the gym since inception “02/18/2009“ , only missing Saturday Feb 21 (due to my fault getting there too late in the day after catching up on blogging and writing for the search engines like Google) and eating healthy. So, this transformation is teaching me to always be honest with myself first, others second, while learning to relate to others like family! Overcoming tree consumption will potentially assist me in amping up cardiovascular output. A boy can only last 10 minutes tops for now on the treadmill (which I’m working slowly on rebuilding tolerance toward) , bearing in mind that a strong temple comes come building up a strong mind. A strong mind takes a lifetime to master. Baby steps daily in striving for excellence spiritually and mentally, by treating trees like an [ex] will help me accomplish above and beyond what I expect out of myself, yet what is expected by others.

In spite of almost successfully completing 8 wks on the Challenge, my lowest level habit would have to still be procrastination. I don't have to force myself into eating right or exercising everyday, I love both of those activities but other areas of my life suffer because I still choose to put them off rather than meet head-on. I rationalize this by telling myself that I'm busy pouring myself into this right now 100% so if I don't get to this project or that project until after the 18 wks, it's ok. I'm not sure really what to believe about this as I know it does take a full-court press on my part to maintain my focus on this Challenge (creating the right environments and all the other assignments).

I am holding myself back in my personal life, working life, spiritual life, and transformational life due to fear. I think I have to be perfect in what I do and therefore I do those areas mentioned only about 60-70% and in some cases less. I t is something I am facing head on with realization of only giving myself minimal room for letdowns, or what I deem failures. Instead of just doing the right thing, working hard, and expanding my abilities, I try to calculate my success rate and look at many variables real and perceived. I have gone through my whole life this way imagining how great things will be if I follow such and such path and than thinking of the pitfalls, time, hardwork, and committment. I am the man that always was told what great potential I have and than do nothing to reach it in fear of failing. What I am doing about it is reading and listening to good books. I will learn to plan better and than actively follow the plan. Like for instance this challenge, at first I was skeptical and than I jumped in with two feet following it. I am paying attention to Bill's saying progress not perfection. I will increase my successes through further educating myself in those areas. I will remind myself nothing is gauranteed and life requires that I continue to progress, work, develop, and accomplish. Doing the right action even though my mood or feelings want to take me another direction. I am determined to change this lowest low so that I can progress towards my potential. Derek

What do you feel is a habit or pattern that you need to overcome? I have a problem with being quick to anger or short tempered. How can anger be used to help me? Well, I can be angry at the temptations to snack that come along. I can be quick to say NO. But mostly I think of anger as the response to something deeper. Like frustration or lack of control. Like just now my 9 year old called me into the bathroom and she had been trying to put peroxide on a pimple and she dropped a cotton ball into the brand new bottle. And two days ago I had just told her NOT to use it without me around. Arrrgh. I didn't lose my temper but I feel the anger within me about something so little and I wish I was just better at letting it go. I need to walk the straight and narrow when it comes to eating. I'm a wimp at saying 'no' to the cravings for more snacks - low fat frozen things or fat free pudding or whole wheat mini-baglels or maybe all three. Maybe this could be a strength if I ate protein and drank water before snacking. Is this what is meant by turning it into a strength. Not sure if I did this asssignment right - how to turn anger and snacking into strengths, but I hope I did it okay

I think my lowest level habit is selfishness. I want what I want when I want it. From that state of selfishness I have neglected my children, neglected my husband, neglected my marriage, and neglected my self. Neglected my self? How can selfishness result in self-neglect? Isn’t that contradictory? Well, you would think. My selfishness has resulted in large amounts of procrastination, large quantities of laziness, huge amounts of over-spending and over-eating, tons of sitting on the couch, and miniscule amounts of self care. I am so ashamed for the times that I neglected the kids. They didn’t deserve that. If I could turn back you know I’d go back for a do-over in the blink of an eye and be more there for them emotionally. I’m more ashamed of what the selfishness did to my marriage and to my dear loving wonderful husband. He didn’t deserve it either. I don’t know that I can ever provide restitution for my past actions. I do know that I can make sure that I never repeat these mistakes. I do know that my husband has forgiven me and I think we’re stronger for what we’ve been through but I still tend to beat myself up over it. I’m having a much harder time forgiving myself. This self-absorption I feel is also a form of selfishness. I think too much of myself and not enough of others. It’s got to stop. Here are some things I will do to banish my selfish attitudes. 1. I will clean the family room. Most of this is my junk and no-one wants to come down there because of my junk. First thing in the morning I will find a box and a garbage bag. The items I don’t want but are still good will go in a box for the Goodwill or Salvation Army store. The trash will go in the garbage bag. I’m pretty confident I can get that room cleaned and get 100% of the laundry done tomorrow. I think before and after pictures may be in order. 2. I will pick-up my share of the household chores. Right now I do only the laundry and the shopping. The rest of the chores are split amongst the husband and two teens. I don’t even do any cooking except for the meals I fix to take with me during the week. How wrong it that? So, I will take a more active part in keeping the house clean and cooking for the family more. 3. I will spend more time with my family when they want me to, not just when I want to. 4. I will hit my workouts first thing in the morning when everyone else is asleep. This has always been my plan but it isn’t always executed. Then I have to take time away from being available to workout. 5. I will find balance between my computer time and my family time and my me time. Balance has been another very difficult thing for me to accomplish.

My lowest level habit which shows up daily, which holds me back from my transformation is procrastination. I avoid a lot of personal things that I need to take care in the present but I ignore it and convince myself that I can take care of it later. I am realizing that these things that hold me back are getting in the way of my transformation goals. I will transform this weakness into a strength by facing the fact that the pain of procrastinating will be a lot worse than taking responsibility of the situation immediately.

My lowest habit is sneaky- its self justification. Its the voice that promises that it I don't get up and workout, I'll do the workout later. That I because I worked so late, I need the extra sleep. Its the voice that says, because of unplanned critical crisies I can make this afree and and then replan my food and workout--- I rarely make good on the promises but the voice of self justification tells me that this time I will. This is a tough one for me because frequently I do work too hard, I do deal with unplanned high stress stiuations. But my justification behavior just makes the whole thing worse. I'll try the following: Reality check, review goals, mantras. I'll do these things this week while asking my support group for suggestions.

My biggest weakness is my inability to believe this system is going to work for me. Sure it works just fine for other people, but its not going to work for me. Nothing else has. I gain weight so easy. Every summer-fall I gain 20 lbs on a so called clean diet. I believe something is wrong with me. The only way I have lost weight in the past is through calorie deficet. Way below what BFL reccomends. I am sapossed to eat 2400 - 2700 cals a day to maintain. I must keep it at 2000 or I gain. I have to go to 1500 to lose. I really don't know how to turn this into a strength and are willing to accept criticism. I will try to think about this one.

Assignment 8 What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? My lowest level habit has been negative self-talk. At this point in my Transformation I feel I have defeated my lowest level habit. However prior to January 5th, I mentally abused myself. I was always putting myself down for one thing or another and then reward myself with non-healthy food and being lazy. I must continue to be aware and ensure that my past lowest level habit doesn't creep back into my thought process. I know I am on my way to suceed. I just feel it and can visualize it! How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? Since January 5th, to correct this behavior pattern, I let myself know several times a day that I love me and BELEIVE in me. I praise myself everyday for actions that I implemented to be a success for the day. I no longer ALLOW myself to think negative of myself. I am on a mission to become a healthy person inside and out and nothing is going to stand in my way. Onward and Forward! No looking back!

I will admit that I had many low level habits at the beginning of this transformation. If Bill had us do this assigment early on, I would have listed many. But this being the beginning of week 8, I have conquered the areas that I knew I had to work on. These are some of the things that have changed for me: drinking, procrastinating, being unavailable to my kids, gossiping at my job, thinking only of my needs, worry about what others think of me. I am not the same person and that makes me extremely happy. I have also gained peace with my parents and dealt with some bitter and jealous feeings towards others in my family. These things no longer bother me. I am and feel free more so now then every in my life. God Bless all of you at the T. Community and thank you for your support and kind words.

Assignment # 8 What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? I know this is going to sound very egotistical and big-headed but at this point in time I don’t see any really bad habits holding me up or my transformation. I have spent several days focused on this question but while we all love to “find” and point out our weaknesses here, thus “letting the Bad Air out” and freeing ourselves up to “move on,” I feel my (our) commitment was set in stone prior to starting this program. IT’S WHAT GOT US STARTED! We were soooo low, sooo close to “literally” throwing in the towel on life. We actually looked at each other and said “can we start over again?” and came damn close to saying “no.” We’ve both had allot of very heavy (as many on this site) things hit us in our lives and have been blessed with the stubbornness to just “keep on keeping on.” This time was different; we both have been hit very hard with multiple “in-bounds” and none of them small. Now don’t get me wrong as a person who’s never lived without some constant form of adversity, I appreciate it for all the positive changes they’ve brought to myself (and my wife.) It’s certainly made both myself and her strong and very self analyzing which getting back to the point is what brought us here. We had a choice “give-up” and drift into the “numb apathy” that’s soooo inviting (but the biggest problem with our country as I see it) or “Try one more time.” We chose the “ONE MORE TIME.” This meant that we entered this at an already established 110% and even dropped ALL bad habits a week prior to starting as this is just what we stated, OUR LAST TIME to try. Now that’s motivation! So as egotistical as it seems, I don’t have anything keeping me back at this stage. It truly is “DO or DIE!” Mike

Bill, right now my lowest level habit is lack of faith in myself and the process. I really don't believe that this can work for me. I have trouble visualizing my goal. How I will turn this into a strength is to continue to explore visualization and making my future that I want tangible to me in many ways. I will stop when I am engaging in negative self-talk or asking myself harmful questions. When I am doing these things I will lovingly spend time with myself reviewing my goal statements and my progress.

Assignment # 8. As I started to post this last week, I had to hold off and really think about it and not to just slam something down on the paper, so I will post this and assignmnet #9 as well (wanted to post 8 first) I realy know now (and I did for a long time) that my Lowest-level habit is the lack of work/life Balance I have. My wife Sophie also works in retail and understands the days can get long. But I find myself (as the Store Manager) sometimes feeling I nedd to be there all of the time in order to have my store run correctly. And that is not the case. I need to learn "when to leave" so I can spend more time with my family and have more time to work out better and to communicate on the T.com with fellow friends. Family is so important to me and I need to make it more of a priority, than thinking the place (store) will fall apart without me. As my profile states the reason for this change inme is for my family, not only myself. So I know I am not being selfish, but when I stay at work too long I am being unfair. - I will work on the work/life balance every day going forward - I will learn to call it "quits" at the end of the day and not to extend the shift uneccessarily. - I will take more time to spend with my family so we can enjoy each other's company together. - I will contiue to love my family more every day and they will continue supporting me like they have been with this transformation. Thank you, Brian

We all have a low of low habits... it's great to hear everyone's chatter on the topic and I can agree with nearly everyone. Right now my lowest habit in some ways is selfishness... but that appears in so many ways. Because of my selfishness I sometimes choose to be lazy... I chose to criticize others to put myself "higher" than them, I brag to build myself up, I choose sometimes to do MY things 1st and put off the more necessary tasks, I chose to be as much in control of the situation as I possibly can. So... I will try to be less selfish... to analyze am I doing this for me... or not.

I would have to say fear,frustration and self-critisizm. Mailnly selfishness is now at the base of all these things,not wanting to change until now.I believe there is a beautiful side to me,but there is an ogre that does not treat herself with respect and gets frustrated because she is not taking good care of herself or her family. The fear is the negative voice saying"YOU CAN"T DO THAT".and giving into that lie has held me back in every area of life. By becoming a Be the Change person I will now fight these lies about myself and trust GOD that he gave me ability to change and enjoy my life.Not live a base existance!

Wow! I have just updated some of my assignments and what I have found is that one of the things holding me back is in fact my lowest level habit. I will call it "lack of discipline". I stay at home during the day and have just found it easy to put things off till tomorrow. In my mind its because I don't "have" to do it right now. When I worked full time I remember that I was so much more productive. I think that it was because I "had" to do things by, say, Monday because I had to go to work. What I plan to do about it is setting up a process in my mind that won't let me do something unproductive until I do something that IS productive. An example might be: Make sure I clean the kitchen and put a load of laundry in BEFORE I get on the computer. Its like I have to earn it I guess. Or to make sure I work out BEFORE I get on the computer. It seems small but for me it will make a big difference in getting things done and being productive. This has been a difficult thing for me for a long time. When I accomplish this I can visualize major progress!! Janice

I have two lowest habits: Putting myself last, putting off the things in my personal life because work can't wait...and giving into this deep seated (and I don't know where it comes from) sense that I am not deserving of any real success or progress. I am scared of real success professionally and personally.

My lowest habit is not allowing myself to believe in my abilities as everyone else does. It does not matter that I hear often how terrific I am in organizational skills, studying, pushing my limits and attaining higher goals then most. However, I always feel as if I simply can not get to that heightened state of accomplishments. I have achieved a 4.0 GPA in school (as a returning student w/four kids and a business to run), I am tackling the physical/spiritual transformation here, and contend with past injuries on top of that. I am determined to evolve whole heartedly, and know that the step to true authenticity is within my heart and soul. Having the knowledge and knowing I am good at what I do when I apply myself, and honoring that in BELIEVING in myself are two different entirely different concepts. My weakness will become my biggest strength. I challenge myself everyday to reinforcing to myself, "I AM A SUPERWOMAN, I AM WORTHY, I AM ABUNDANT, I AM AN AMAZING SOUL!" - The believing part is evolving every time I say it. The transformation happening - simply BELIEVE!

I've come back to address this one again after the last week. I have a feeling that a little deeper than my habit I announced last week is another one. And I call it shame. I think that I feel ashamed about what I am doing far to often. Even though there is no logical reason for it, it feels like shame. Like I'm not really proud or committed to what I'm doing. It feels like I do things to try and 'make up' for other things I've done in the past. Like what I do is always in an effort to make up for what I have done, or to prove something to someone or myself. This is what feels like shame. It's like I don't feel truly authentic - or at least as authentic as I'd like - about how I am living. It's like I'm always carrying some sort of burden from the past, that is driving me on. That's what I call shame. I've put it out there! I've let it out! I'll see how that feels over the next few days.....What I'd like to turn that into is actually pride. Pride about what I have accomplished, and pride about my willingness to keep learning and trying. To feel good that I am always willing to apply myself and take action. Even if things aren't perfect, it's all learning. And if I'm easier on myself, it can all be much more fun too. Becasue I can feel good about what I am doing and where I am at. Because it is unique and it is valuable to others. If I feel shame I'm expressing that to others. And that's not very productive! Pride and satisfaction is much more fun to put out into the world!

My lowest level habit is not pushing myself further to see my true potential. I tend to be satisfied with halfway. I notice this alot when I am working out. I read this assignment last night, and let it sink in. Today, during my workout, I almost stopped, without giving it all I could give it. I remembered what I read and what I had noticed about myself. I stopped the low level habit, in its tracks, and pushed on! It felt so great to know I gave it my all. I was proud of my accomplishment! I realize,throughout my life, when I would settle for second best effort, I would feel guilty because I knew in my heart that I could've done more. I didn't feel the satisfaction of knowing I did my best.I have decided to continuously push myself to reach new goals and stop letting myself down!

MY LOWEST LEVEL HABIT IS NEGATIVE SELF TALK. THE LITTLE VOICE INSIDE OF ME THAT IS SAYING YOU ARE NOT THIS ENOUGH, YOU ARE NOT THAT ENOUGH. I AM SO VERY HARD ON MYSELF,AND I MUST REALLY CHANGE THIS. I WILL REALLY TRY AND BE AWARE OF THOSE NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS AND PUSH THEM OUT WITH POSITIVE THOUGHTS. I KNOW THIS CAN BE DONE BUT,IT IS SUCH A BAD HABIT THAT IT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY.I THINK THAT IF I START FORGIVING MYSELF MORE AND TRY TO THINK MORE POSITIVELY I WILL BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THIS!!!!!!!

Below is the Part 2 I promised from yesterday morning. :)

I found some truth that will set me free, continually, as I absorb it. :) I think I am well on my way to ridding my mind of "I CAN'T". Truth is powerful and when I see a new truth that I know I needed to learn...WHAM! It is soooooo POWERFUL. Here's an excerpt from last night's blog: I'll share part of an email I just sent to a wonderful friend who sent me encouragement here tonight: Wow, I am having another serious breakthrough today-I’m studying as we speak and getting thoughts down!!! J It’s amazing on this journey how things happen and fit together in incredible timing…then God reveals something new to me that I can’t believe I never saw before or knew about myself. ;) How is it that we live inside our bodies for so long and can be so clueless about ourselves? :) lol I’m so thankful and know, baby step by baby step, I’m changing for good. Even tonight, with this morning’s revelation, I feel something new welling up within me, I think it is true acceptance for who God made me…every bit of me…and I feel so loved. Confidence not so much in who I am, for apart from Him, I am nothing, but because I am His creation, who HE made me, the lovingly designed goofball that I am, I think I am really beginning to see my value in this world and that I truly live and breathe to show His glory. It feels good, I like it quite a lot, I think. :) Being God’s child is not just a trite cliché’…it means God loves me deeper and wider than I can fathom. How can that not fill me with confidence and joy that no mortal can ever take away from me?! I’m so excited to further grasp what all this means for me and I am brought to tears for the gratitude I feel….so very thankful I began this journey. I thank God I do not have to keep living the way the way I was before. Now…I BELIEVE IN ME. I can say it...each day I know that belief will only grow. It astounds me, as this day unfolded and I am now ready to say goodnight...how truth can hit like lightening, blasting truth into our lives like a flash of light. I'm astounded at this challenge and how God is using it...it's been one surprise (with miracles!) after the next. AMAZING. :)

I started working on my lowest level habit and life environment at Christmas by having the mindset to make a change in my attitude and abolish fear which created anger and self destruction in my mind, family and body. I continue everyday to work on forward focus. To wake up and be ready to run down and eat my oatmeal and workout. This creates positive energy. God took my fear away from me which has taken my anger. I am not apathetic by any means, I am driven, but I don't fear the future, I am embracing the future and this transformation makes me feel better than I have in eight years. I am getting mind healthy so it will drive my body. As my body changes, it will feed my mind. My lowest habit requires continuous feeding and I am feeding it.

Hi Bill, My lowest level habit is that I have trouble balancing things in my life. I I tend to focus on one thing and give it my all then get guilty for letting other things go. I will turn this into a strength by becoming more organized. If I write it down I will make time for it and be held accountable. Liz

Well, I don't know which one to pick....it seems as if I have lots of what Bill listed above.....however, I feel that the one that I truly think is holding me back the most from being the "Best" me is my lack of support I show for my wife and children. I always have positive things I want to share with them about them, however, those words seldome come out. Instead it tends to turn into criticism for them. I always have suggestions on how to improve themselves -- and I'm pretty demanding that they listen to my suggestions. I always feel horrible afterwards, knowing that I should be helping instead of demanding. My kids are great, as is my wife. There are things, behaviors, that I would like to see all of them try to change, but I should accept them for who they are and love them unconditionally. My goal is to try and change this habit by simply making myself say the positive things that I think in my head, instead of thinking that's not "manly." I'm also going to make an effort to change how I say things when I am suggesting things. And let them decide if they are going to use my suggestions. I'm going to show my love for them and go from there. Stay strong everyone.

[I forgot to name the actual habit: falling into the "I CAN'T" mode of thinking.] What an awful trap...I'm doing my homework right now on real steps of how to turn that around by addressing what I wrote below. :)

Assignment #8...finally! *DING DING DING* Give the girl a prize!!!!!!! I love Eureka Moments!!! I don't have them often, but this morning, as I've continued to ponder assignment 8 and why (aside from the procrastination factor) ;) I have not come to a decision on my lowest level habit. Procrastination is a part of my habit repertoire...but it wasn't the lowest. I'm learning that in the transformation process, many things come together in concert to work in us and to help reveal ourselves to us. For me, it's been a variety of posts (one by Coach yesterday) and continued digging into the soil that is me. My lowest level habit...drumroll...which is not something I was aware of conciously...no self confidence. Minimal, at best. I am soooooooooo happy to discover this about myself. It's yet another surprise of this journey, I thought I knew myself far better! ;) Here's the definition: assurance: freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities I've had a few shining moments of what I thought was confidence, but I as I consider this, I don't know if I've EVER been truly confident in myself. This is wild for me to consider and I will work through what this means for me and how to change. I've never been one to get on the self-esteem band wagon and seek it out for myself...God esteem has always felt so much more important to me. I don't recall ever looking at my inventory and checking to see if the "self esteem" was there. I have never wanted to be someone "high" on themselves, as that's a characteristic that I felt was not a good one in a person, so rejected it altogether. There has to be a balance there, I guess. Especially when I see in the definition..."freedom from doubt". THAT is a GOOD thing. Maybe I just never looked at the true meaning of self confidence and lumped it in with self esteem. I know that when I look back on things, I did not have the kind of adults around who tell you "You can do it!" and encourage me in any way. The only time I remember someone telling me I could do something...and it stuck with me...what my English teacher my senior year. We had to write about our plans after high school. I'd stated in my something along the lines of "not being college material" and would just work. He wrote back the coolest note on my paper, asking why on earth I felt that way, that of course I was college material and it was possible. It surprised me and got me thinking in a way I never had. (I did end up going, for a year.) ;) Not long after, I ended up in a horrific relationship, trapped and miserable to the point I did not want to wake up each morning. In that span of time, about 18 months, lets just say, the verbal and mental abuse dispelled any shred of confidence that may have been present. At the end it got physical and my sister helped me get away. My poor husband...those scars show up in my life as defensiveness and feeling crushed if I disappoint someone. Many things are crystalizing here for me, even as I type, I keep feeling this "Aha!" feeling of finding answers I have been seeking about why I've operated as I have and why... I can so easily slip into "I can't" thinking. I believe I'm a good person with a good heart who wants to always do the right thing...I can believe nice things ABOUT me. I don't know what it means to believe IN myself. There it is, the thing that I think has tripped me up for YEARS. *deep sigh* This is good...my journey continues!!! We'll have to call this part one, part 2 will be how I turn it into strength. Stay tuned. :)

I have really soul searched this one and I know that giving in to over thinking my exercise program is my low-est level habit. I have a bad habit of looking at every exercise with a magnifying glass. I'm always asking my self, (even though I did all of this last night), Is this the right exercise or should I change it to this one to get more effect. I may change the whole program. I will do as I did in my last challenge wright it down and just increase my high point and get on with it.

Lowest level habit is watching tv at night and feeling like I have to have that late night snack. The snack is usually a bowl of cereal or something sweet. Thank God that has changed. In fact the watching tv helped me get past a hurdle. The hurdle was going from 20 minutes on the treadmill to 30 minutes. I had to tell myself if I could sit my butt on the couch for 3 hours what is 10 more minutes. SO these habits are broken now thanks to God's Grace.

Whew, I have a lot of bad habits! Picking while cooking or off my kid's plate, putting myself down, smart mouth, judgemental thinking, hanging on to anger when people chose act in ways that hurt me, trying to do too much for me.... But I think the underlying, biggest problem that can set off ALL the others is that I am VERY IMPATIENT. I expect stuff to happen and happen NOW!! (How Aries am I? ;-) As a result of my flaming impatience, I speak in anger, I push my son when I should stand back and let him go at his own speed without stressing him, and I get discouraged when I don't make "enough" progress with my weight loss and conditioning goals. I believe this impatience can be transmuted into positive action, but there has to be some space between the flush of the feeling and the action. Everything is in motion, change never stops, and whatever is p*&!ing me off is not going to last anyway. I have to ask, though, what is underneath the impatience? I had a friend tell me once that there are only two emotions at the root of existence - love and fear. So I want to tip the balance - away from fear and towards love.

My lowest level habit is letting myself deserve to be in good health,feel better and look better its been hard to blog my thoughts,express my feelings,at times Im embaressed when others tell me Im doing good they can tell the difference,Im feeling better about this ,I havent used the Transforrmation community much till recently I have found out the reading of others blogs,struggles and commitments are helpfull and motivating to me ,it lets you know we all have similar struggles ,so thanks for all your thoughts and post there very helpfull gregc

My lowest level habit is looking back to the past and regretting what I have done. Or regretting the way things turned out. And feeling anxious that I have 'missed out' or that I did the 'wrong' thing. Or feeling super-anxious that the good things that I used to have won't come back again. And from this looking back I can feel hopeless and worthless. Like the good things I used to have are gone forever, and I'll never experience them again. And it makes me think that the path I'm on is the 'wrong' one, and that I should be doing something else - and that something else will lead me back to when things were great again. And it all now sounds a bit strange, but at the time when I'm looking back it really hurts because I'm scared that I used to be really happy with things, and now I am not so much it feels like a loss. And I find a loss hard to take. To make this former habit a strength I am realising that the backward looking is just my mind and ego talking. It is going back to perceptions of when things were 'great', because it likes things to be like that. I acknowldge that. What I take from it is that I am destined to have 'great' things all the time. That's what I desire. But I know reminiscing on past great things is not real. Great things are happening always. In fact, my ego and mind only blocks the current great things when it is looking for past great things (!). It shares the same goal as the 'real' me, it just misunderstands. If my ego is looking for great times, I can show it that great times are NOW. In that way, I can use the egos search for great times and fun as an additional strength - it can help motivate me to make things great now. ANd that requires staying in the now. ANd being energised, motivated and enthusiastic. How can I make each day so that at the end of the day my ego looks back and says "I want it to be like that again!" That's how I can turn the tendancy to look back into a motivating force.

I have been slowly picking away at my lowest habits since I started this journey. I am kinder to myself. I am forcing myself not to leave everything until later. I am gentler with my family. I am more focused with my exercise. I have stopped drinking alcohol. These were my lowest habits and have already felt the change. All I need now is to concentrate on being more organized with my meals. This is my short list, I will create a more thoughtout plan and post on my blog.

Assignment Eight: What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? After you write down the lowest-level habit which is negatively affecting your transformation so far, please write down what you are going to do about it. Lowest Level Self Discovery: Common Lowest Level Habits That Have Hinder Me In My Transformation On A Daily Basis: Procrastination Apathy Fear Blame Others Blame Circumstance Do Not Believe In Myself Anger Addiction to unhealthy food Live outside my means Stress Anxiety WHY? DIVE DEEPER SPENCER. What is the habit that these habits stem from? Why do I choose to procrastinate? Why do I choose to get lazy? Why do I choose to fear? What do I fear? Why do I choose not to believe in myself at times? Why do I choose to blame others, circumstances, my past, and my environment? Why do I choose to get angry quickly? Why do I allow others, circumstances, and my environment to stress me and have feelings of anxiety? Is it my thinking? Is it the way I think? Is it the way I perceive? Is it my paradigm? Is it my perception? Do I make these choices out of the way I see myself, the world, and others? Yes, this is my lowest habit which all my other habits stem from. It is my destructive thinking and how I perceive myself, others, and life. Why do I think this way? I believe I learned it from my environment and from those who thought the same way. I touched upon this "destructive thinking" in Assignment Four: Assignment Four: "Let's really be honest here, Spencer. The purpose why your making this transformation is because you do not want to be a prisoner anymore. You have been a prisoner of your negative feelings, behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs for too long. You are transforming because you are are sick and tired of the negative and destructive feelings of guilt, sadness, anxiety, depression, and unhappiness, that you experience on a daily basis. These feelings consume you! You have allowed these feeling to define the person that is standing in your "before" photo. You are transforming because you cannot keep walking around feeling defeated with no hope for yourself or life. You cannot live life this way anymore and be out of control. You are transforming because you have allowed yourself to be a victim of your flesh and behave in a manner where you find yourself quick to anger. You eaisly get stressed out and quickly engaged in destructive unhealthy eating to releave the stress and feelings of anxiety. Spencer, come on now, let's really be honest. You are transforming because of the way you think and how your beliefs limit you. From an early age in your home environment, you were taught that it is not right or allowed to get what you want. You have the false belief that you are not allowed to succeed and it is wrong to go for your dreams. You have the belief that to win in life, to obtain, or even be blessed financially is not allowed and improper in the eyes of God, family, and others. You are afraid of what God and others will think. Spencer, this false perception limits you and your true potential. You are transforming because you have to do this for "you" and your family. You are breaking these chains of destructive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that consume you. Spencer, you are transforming! I repeat, you are transforming because now is the time. It is your time. Now go out there and get it!" How are you going to transform that weakness into a strength? By confronting our lowest habit, and admitting it to ourselves and at least one other person, we immediately begin to dissolve its power over us. And when we ask the right question: "How can I transform this weakness into a strength?" and we remain open to the right answer, we are taking another step forward on the transformation path. I Spencer Cassler will transform this weakness: I am going to humble myself and go to my Heavenly Father in prayer, ask for help and inspiration daily. I am going to seek His direction and write a mission statement that that is centered on true principles and not the destructive thought process I am going to engage my mentor and my group "Mission Driven Transformation" in this assignment and my mission statement. I will seek their help. I will go to my Heavenly Father in prayer and fast for 24 hours and ask Him to make this weakness my strength and have the courage to live my mission. I will daily take out my mission statement and have quiet time with it and my Heavenly Father on a daily basis. I will use the power of vision and words of faith to live it daily as it transforms into my strength.

My lowest level habit is allowing toxic people to affect how I see myself and allow them to bring me down. I am a tolerant person but sometimes I don't acknowledge when someone isn't good for me. I stew on things these toxic people say, I get down, use it as an excuse to not be me. I bounce back eventually and then the cycle continues. I've already made changes in this area...the most toxic person in my life is now at arm's length. I'm being respectful of the person but not opening myself up and I'm limiting the time I spend with this person in person or on the phone. I believe that I see more worth in myself I will be more comfortable choosing those who can influence me!

My lowest level habit is lettign myself get side tracked. I will start something and then something else will come up that seems to demand my attention more than the first thing. I don't really see this as a strength unless you consider some serious multitasking a strength. lol The best thing I can think of to change this habit, is scheduling, I am learning to schedule everything. even my workouts. I still get sidetracked once in a while but not nearly as much and I am getting a whole lot more done. ;) This will help me stay consistant and on track.

I can not begin to express how much this assignment has affected me. I ended up posting my assignment results on my blog. Way to long to post here. I find that I need to read it and meditate on it over and over again. It is exciting to take a good hard look at my lowest level habits and know that I will be doing something about it, that I want to do something about it!

My lowest habit is using food to medicate - Being an emotional eater I tend to satisfy my cravings by eating comfort foods - I am learning to recognize those feelings and not act on them - I realize how hard I have to work to burn those useless calories that I had been eating in the past.

My lowest habit at this time would be comparing myself to others. I also tend to beat myself up. When I feel down I immediately want to start drinking to numb out. So I need to recognize that type of thinking and Stop It! I can be kind to myself and Hi-5 myself when I do a good job. and I don't have to listen to the lies of self abuse. I am lovable. I am Gods Child! How dare I keep insulting what He has made.

My lowest level habit is overeating when I eat something that tastes REALLY good to me and being judgemental. I don't do either one intentionally but I need to be more aware of both before they become a problem. Overeating will negatively affect my transformation (if it's done on other than a free day) because it sabotages proper eating habits. My thinking is that there is some other reason besides it just tastes good that is behind the desire to overeat and I have to figure out what it is. Being judgemental negatively impacts my transformation because it's just wrong thinking and doesn't do me or anyone else any good. Notice that one is physical (or is it?) and the other is spiritual. So, how am I going to change these habits? In addition to really considering why I do both of these things and getting at the root problem, I will make sure that I ALWAYS use portion control and "check" my attitude when I am judgemental. I will choose NOT to do either one of these and replace these lower level habits with positive impacting attitudes.

My lowest habit is the inability to "stick to it". This has caused my failure in transforming in the past. For me it went hand in hand with focusing way to much on perfection rather than progress.

Thanks Bill for this Assignment, its been very effective for me. My lowest habit is being on autopilot when it comes to food. My solution is to keep a list (in several places) of my purpose, motivations, people who inspire me,visualizations, etc.

Transformation Assignment #8 Transforming Your Lowest-Level Habit What is the lowest level habit which is showing up in your daily life now which is holding your transformation back? My biggest low level habit that I have is not giving the intensity and not extending myself in the gym. I always complete my workouts but when I am done I look back and say I could of put more intensity into that workout. I need to push my self beyond the limits and know that I can do it. I tend to quick before I really need to. This is a huge hurdle to overcome but when I do then the top of the mountain is the place where I will be. How are you going to transform that weakness into strength? While working out and feeling like I can not go anymore I need to reach deep inside and pull the inner strength out and say yes I can do more. I need to search for that power that I know is inside and unleash it. I need to stay positive and focus on being the best that I can, to be the best around and not stop until I reach the top. Once I get over this I will truly being living the workout that I know I can do. -John 01/31/09

I think my lowest level habit would be worrying at times what others think of me. Fear of rejection is tied to that. I have had a great deal of rejection in my life and to fully be ME the person GOD created me to be....the weaknesses and strengths...and not worrying about peoples judgements of me. LIVE my LIFE embracing who I AM ...the PEARL of who GOD MADE me and to trust that I will be received by others and to have faith that others will love me unconditionally. Ragamuffin and all.....Love Shari!

My lowest level habit, the one that keeps me in a spin cycle of unhealthy “Yo Yo” dieting, is that I am an “All or Nothing” person. Let me explain the blessing and the curse of having this trait. The blessing is that when I put my mind on something and go ALL IN. I can really make it work and work well. The problem is, once I achieve a perceived victory, like, losing the weight, I then do nothing and always end up worse off than I was before. Of course, I back myself into another corner and have to go All IN again to dig myself out of an even deeper hole! It seams I can’t find the balance in life. All or nothing, Black or white, in the pool or out of the pool. That’s me to the core! For example the hardest thing for me to do right now is take our “free day”. My personality doesn’t handle it well. The fear is that I will lose my footing and fall back into the “Nothing” mode. You see, when you only have two gears, full speed ahead, dead stop or reverse; you get overly protective of your momentum What I thought was one of my strengths has really turned into my Achilles’ heel. Here is how it plagues me. In the past I have used this intensity of purpose to lose weight rapidly. In the past I could easily lose all the weight I needed to in just 8 or 9 weeks. I then have this over confident feeling that I can eat and do what I want when I want because I can lose the weight anytime I choose. This last cycle, I ballooned up over 254 pounds. I even went out and bought a new wardrobe to fit me and soon after I could not even fit in IT! This cycle must stop! This assignment is once again perfectly timed for me. Until I went deeper here, I didn’t understand my behavior. Here is how I WILL change this destructive cycle. I will take my free day each week and prove to myself that I can handle it. I WILL make this a lifestyle change that I can follow for the rest of my life. Chris Winters attitude toward food is what I need to adopt in order to make a permanent change. Thanks to Chris and Bill this time WILL be different!

My lowest level habit was hiding. I was hiding from my past. It loomed, over my shoulder, everywhere I went..always back there in the distance. I was letting my past defeat me, everytime I tried to better myself, self doubt and shame came in. My mind kept beating myself up, telling it that I had made it before and I blew it, now I would continue to fail and never reach that goal again. Our conference call with Marty brought all of that out. It is no longer hiding in the distance. I let it out and have moved past it and I will be even better than I was the last challenge. I won't allow past failures to effect me now. I am focused and motivated!

I actually have 2 habits that need an overhaul. First is I am soooo impatient! I hate waiting and I hate lines, it is difficult for me to even help my kids with their homework because my patience level is slim to none. I even have a name for this I call it the Veruca Salt Syndrome- Ya know- "Don't care how I want it NOW!" When I start a weight loss program I want results, and I want them NOW! The weight never comes off fast enough, I get frustrated and I Quit. My second habit that needs a change is that I believe in my heart that I'm doing really well on the eating part of a plan, but I don't take into consideration all the little bites of food I shove in my mouth throughout the day, and then wonder why I'm not getting the results, then I say "screw it! I can never lose weight" and I throw in the towel. To solve these issues, I need to keep in mind that this is a journey not a destination. I didn't get this way overnight and It's gonna take time. (Stay Consistent).

I hate confrontations, but I would rather confront myself than anyone else. My lowest level habit would have to be that I place a much lower value on myself than others. If soneone needs something, I take it upon myself to help them even if it costs me. Some would say this is a good thing, but too much of anything, even a good thing, is not good. I need to balance what I give others and what I give myself. I need to not help others to the point of it hurting me. I don't intend to come first, but I can't always come last.

My lowest level bad habit is actually two things Laziness & Procrastination. How i'm going change that is by creating two new good habits which i have to do every day to move me further away from those bad habits. One of my new habits will be to have a journal and writ down what i'm doing on a daily basis to win and achieve my goals in this Transformation Challenge starting today

My lowest level habit is that I am a critical scorekeeper. I am this way with myself and with others. My wife and children have expressed that they feel like they cannot do anything right. To deal with this, I will focus on the good and being supportive. Anytime I or my family notice me being critical I'll put a quarter in a jar. I'll make a game of it.

Transforming my lowest level habit My lowest level habit is using eating as a pacifier for my tiring or stressful day or life. I will wait until tomorrow to be successful!. Ridiculous! As the week wears on, I begin to feed my flesh whatever it wants at that moment. Once I've given in, it's over. I discovered last night that this is a double dilemma, this eating what I shouldn't eat and when I shouldn't eat. Not only do I not reach my goals and get discouraged, I don't enjoy what treats I could have. For example, I ate super well yesterday, and had planned to have a Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwich as my last snack. It was delicious! I enjoyed it so much. Now, had I already eaten 10 HErshey's miniatures, I wouldn't have enjoyed the "treat", but I probably would have eaten two of them! Can anyone relate? So, to change the lowest level habit of eating as a pacifier, I will plan tasty, hearty, diverse meals that not only satisfy my physical need for food as fuel, but satisfyl my need for comfort and reward. I love shrimp, scallops, turkey burgers, so I need to plan my menu accordingly, especially as the week wears on. Also, I am a planner by nature, so I need to be excellent in planning my meals for those later days, saving my favorites for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And, no glasses of wine!!

I am like alot of the others here I always put things off until the last minute. My worst is saying I am going to go to the gym early and then I wait until the last minute to go! So I am going to try and work on this now!

I would have to say my 2 year old is my lowest habit, hehe. Nah.... but she does hold me back from getting in my cardio. Yesterday I finally found a way of keeping her busy so that I can do just 20 minutes on the treadmill. So I put her tricycle in the basement and this keeps her occupied for a lil while anyway. I also put her a play area so that she can play while I run. So she is happy and I am happy!

Bill, My lowest level habit is procrastination. I procrastinate for several reasons. One is because I am lazy, two is because I get distracted and three is fear. I am going to plan my days better and stay focused by asking the Lord to guide and help me because in my weakness He is strong! I used to go by a six most important things list and felt so organized and prioritized. I am going to go back to using that list! I know that the life I want doesn’t involved procrastination. I know that if I want to see my life vision, I have to do the work it takes to get there in all areas of my life! Awakened, Brenda

This is a good one. I will say that I have changed many lowest level habits when I joined this challenge on Jan 5, 2009. I have noticed that the one thing I struggle with is procrastination. I am doing everything to the best of my ability except the ab work and yet I want to have rock hard abs. I made a vow to myself today that I will do them no matter what. I want the results I know that I can have!

Lowest level habit that is getting in the way of transforming my life right now is lying to myself. Telling myself that I am going to do something or not do something and then doing it or not doing it. To help myself overcome this I know I need to pray and read my bible more often asking for strength from God to improve in this area. Also I need to tell someone what I am going to do or not do so I am more accountable for it.

The problem im facing is the loser in me thoughts that say "quit" because the human being see's itself as one way and is too scared or not positive enough to beleive that you can be better. I guess its human to get these thoughts of conforming with what you are and not having the ilusion of being better. I say its human to get these thoughts but i think that losers are the only ones who ever beleive them. I feel i can be much happier, confident and acheive better results than today, professionaly and personally.

OK...I don't like this assignment...LOL! Daily habit that keeps me from my tranformation success... Procrastination? Stress? TV? Frustrations with perfection? External entertainment? My Job? Men (always ask me out to dinner when I'm on a diet)? ... Pick one? I haven't been in love for 12 years... by choice... when I get rejected, even in the smallest way, by anyone (boss, friends, boys, etc).. I selfdestruct whatever is good in my life... I don't know why?... I think I play the victim to myself way too much! ...... the answer? CHANGE THE HABIT!...how? ONE DAY AT A TIME!

My habit sounds weird but it is no patience. I expect to have things right then and I have a hard time when it does not happen. So I see that I havent lost enough weight fast enough I give up! This time I am not trying to go to fast I am trying to be patient.

my lowest habit is procratination...like to wait for the last minute. will do what needs to be done ...ASAP.

I skimmed through most of the comments and started jotting down the ones I could relate to, but ran out of paper! If I have to choose one overriding habit, it's what I call FAT BOY thinking (self-esteem) . It's a common thread in a lot of my T-community writings. I still think of myself as that 13 year old, 5'4" tall, 188 pound Fat Boy. "I'm not worthy of having the body I want" is what Fat Boy constantly says to himself. The way that I WILL change this way of thinking, to shed Fat Boy from my life forever, is to admit the he exists inside of me, continue with honestly completing these assignments, staying true to the program, and posting my success for all (including Fat Boy) to read and see. That was hard, but brutally honest. > WorkoutGuy

My lowest habit is negative self talk. My lack of self confidence. For example I hold back in group settings because I'm self talking, "are they going to like me or reject me".

I read through the comments on here, and I could pick almost all of them for being my lowest habit. I'm going to go with Faith. Faith in myself. I've "tried" to do 12 week challenges before and never finished. Taken 2 "free days." Or missed workouts till I was done at week 5. So, there's that little morsel of doubt in my brain that says, "I'll believe it when I see it. With that said, I've got a week and a quarter going strong. So, when those thoughts work their way to the surface, I'm going start matra-ing "believe, believe, believe..." Kinda like when Lou Ferrigno is chanting "Arnold" in pumping Iron.

I need help on this one. I have wasted every spare minute of my time since 1986 on the computer. I started when the internet was just text only. I AM ADDICTED to the computer. It is my friend, my entertainment, my man cave, It doesn't mistreat me, It doesn't argue with me, it is the BIGGEST time sucker in my life. I have let it rob me of TIME that could be spent with family, friends, neighbors, and community. How do I turn the computer into a positive?? Or do I turn it's ABSENCE into a positive???

The lowest level habit I have showing up in my daily life and holding back my transformation is cigarette smoking. I went to my doctor and got a perscription for chantix. I will start the program Monday, Jan. 19, 2009.

turning weakness into strength, huh? Ok, my biggests weakness.... RUNNING. running away from things that make me feel stressed/overwhelmed/helpless/inadequate. Right now, the biggest thing I run from is my disorganization. I run by either physically leaving the house or using escapes (such as spending wayyyy to much time on the internet) This in turn makes the problems more overwhelming because nothing gets done and tasks pile up, I give up control. It also breaks down relationships because I am not seen as a partner or a team player. I am seen as lazy and non dependable. Funny how those are two issues that get to me the most about people, and I am the prime example of them. huh, never thought of that before. food for thought..... Anyway, to improve myself and to turn this into a strength. When I was feeling in control and the best about myself, I was very strictly scheduled. I was on a self inflicted super-solid schedule, and I didn't change at all. The problem with that is I wan't flexable at all! I have some anxiety issues, and it would throw me off the deep end if things diviated in the slightest. My goal is to get back on track with my schedule, allowing time (set aside) for unexpected issues. that way, everything still gets taken care of, but there is room to breathe. Is that good? K, I will get started today! Horrah for Bill Phillips and Franklin Covey!! LOL! ~Harlee

Until Yesterday...I liked to put stuff off...especially when it came to emotions...I did not want to do it any of it...Sure emotional work drains me...but when I did what needed to be done...I was drained but relieved...I felt so much better...Now...I just do what I need to get done and then I can go on about my day...No stress or knawing feeling that hey I need to do this...I feel so energized when I know I did my daily workout first thing in the morning...

Low level habit-Eating junk food and justifying it by saying, "everyone eats this type of food, its a normal thing, there is nothing wrong with being fat, im not that fat, i hold it well" To change, i am looking at my before photo, because it doesn't tell me what my brain does, it tells a different story, I am also using as much positve self-talk that I can to accomplish my goals of having low risk of CVD.

"Here, let me fix that!" Bill, that is my lowest level habit, and my highest level habit! I call it an exaggerated sense of responsibility. I consciously (when I'm conscious of it) step back and remind myself of where I am accountable, and where I am not. Ideas precede my ability to follow through - and I end up with more on my plate (and it ain't food!) than I can manage. I love how it pushes me to accomplish and build from scratch. I don't like the aftermath of added weight. I guess more food on my plate isn't just figuratively speaking! To keep this habit at a high level, I need to focus my energies, and not lose myself in the process. That is what I love about the transformation! I am an integral part of the process!!! I have to care for me too!

My lowest level habit that holds me back the most in life, as well as will hold me back in this transformation if I don't put a stop to it, would have to be a lack of consistancy. I have had the hardest time "sticking to things" and staying the course. What I've done to turn this around during this transformation is this: I taped my "Before Pictures" to the mirror in my bathroom, along with my "Purpose for making the Transformation Declaration". That way I'll get to see it everyday! This is very encouraging for my spirit because it reminds me of the crap I'm leaving behind as I move forward...literally!!! Seeing those before pictures and reading the reason why I'm making the transformation just sets what I'm doing in stone.

Wow I may have to come back to this one. For today I am in the zone feeling strong and in control. I have already faced the negative power that in the past has burdened me and kept me from succeeding. I now catch the negative thought and immediately change it to a positive thought and action. One thing I have learned is that for every negative situation , thought, circumstance there is 379 other degrees to look at it from and I know with out a doubt some where in those 379' there is a positive one waiting for me.

My lowest level habit is talking about it and not doing it. I am going to take action and make myself get the initial commitment underway. I can sit around all day and think and talk about it, but now it's time to do it!!

funny how your answers change as you grow. I now know just who my worste emeny was, ME!!! I was my own worst enemy. I recognized that and then I was able to focus on the good in each and every situation. Being closed mined was really getting me into trouble but now a new awearness with an open mind as taken over. I am open to life's promises. I don't hold back and I don't give up. I have turned froma weak person I was ashamed of to a stong and proud person I want the world to see. Love, Linda

lowest level habits 1. using food as a drug ... facing and dealing with what's eating at me, transforming into using food as fuel for my body. 2. using fat as protection ... building a strong lean body, working on feeling safe in my body. 3. having unrealistic expectations for myself ... taking one step at a time, applied consistent action will get me where I want to go, where I need to go. 4. Eeyoreitis ... focusing on gratitude and what is possible in every moment vs. lack and what is impossible.

Hmmmm I hope this is what you call low level habits. If so I have a few of them and here is what I'll do about each one of them. One is my inner voice reminding me that I tried BFL challenges before and I failed. This time I'm confident in myself and I know I will complete this challenge without any obstacles. If there are obstackles I will look at them as a challenge and defeat it. Another habit is my grumpiness towards others on the road. Almost like road rage but I just get mad as curse sometimes. What am I doing about this? Now I just take deep breaths and think to myself it's nothing but a thing and not everyone is perfect. Neither am I :0) My biggest low level habit is not wanting to get up early to workout. I keep hitting the snooze button. I still get up but not as early as I would like to. My plan is to get to bed early and stick to it.

My Lowest habit was my negativity! My criticism to others, responding to others criticism in a negative way. Feeling more positive now and loving life and those around me already has shifted my negativity. Procrastination, something i used to be very guilty of, is something i need to build on.

Since the Tn weekend I have worked all day today on looking at all the assignments and seeing if anything has changed, I see alot of change but still see alot more work to be done. I have just realized from going over all my notes and essays to myself and journals that I answered what my lowest fault was but I didn't answer how I would turn that around. To transform that weakness into a strength. That's very hard. Honestly right now, I don't know. I have to think about this and focus on an answer. if I had to give an on the spot answer I thinnk I would have to say. I will trnasform this negitive bad habit in to strenght by 1st realizing that I have this bad fault and that it is a fault that is holding me back. 2nd I've learned from this fault because it showed me that I can never rise above it if I continue to hold on to the past. If I hold onto the past and dwell on it it becomes a habit, if I stop dwelling on the pain that the problem caused I can stop the pain too. if I stop the pain I won't be dwelling on a negitive thought therefore the bad habit breaks. I can and will replace the negitive thought with a good thought and think of the good and not the pain. so while I am thinking positive thoughts I am making a new good habit. Not sure if what I am writing is making sense but I know what is in my head right now. I'll have to think about this tomorrow, it's getting late and I need to have a fresh clearer thought on answering this. GET*HER*DONE LINDA

i did write here 38 days ago..time management was my lowest level habit. procrastination and letting other things take priority over ME TIME. over the past 38 days i have been more aware of the tricky tricks my subconscious tries to play to sabotage my gameplan. I am finding more time in my day for things like meditation, prayer, reading novels, playing with my pets, playing with my husband and having more of a life outside thanks to this transformation. I am assessing what needs to be done and am more able to say..."no, i am going for a run in 10 minutes but i will be back and will get to that in an hour, after i shower" decision making is becoming easier as i break the procrastination habit too! i am keeping the promises i make to myself with more and more regularity and pleasure.

#8, Transforming Your Lowest Level Habit, Creating Something New FROM BILL - "Here’s the way I see it: When it comes to Transformation, you can only rise as high as your lowest habit. And only when we free ourselves of those habits can we ascend." Man oh man, Bill really doesn't pull any punches with us! I felt that one in my gut. "POSTED ON BILL'S BLOG - Mine's food. I love it. I love to cook it. I love to eat it. I love to read about it and study it and play with it - really! When people play that fun game where they ask "If you could have any wish granted instantly, what would it be?" My husband laughs. He says, before I can answer, "She'd be able to eat anything she wants." Bill, you ask, "How can I transform this weakness into a strength?" Powerful question! Thanks, so very much. My answer is to transform this love of food into a love of creating varied, healthy, delicious meals that are gorgeous and support my new lifestyle. Thank you so much for this post. It is EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning. Sending good thoughts and a hug your way, Deb" Here's the thing. After I read this blog and after I posted my lowest level habit, I got to thinking. Real thinking. Hard thinking. From another assignment I learned that I was willing to learn new things from other people, and that I don't know everything. I learned what I was willing to give up, then I gave it all up, let it all go. Except my kava, by the way, apparently I'm not on that level yet -he, he!!!! After letting go - of results, of fighting the process, of shame, of blame, of microwaving most my food, of continuously repeating the same mistakes, of an acid body ph, of cooking the life out of food, of being tired, frumpy, sick, old and exhausted most of the time - I came to a pretty neat place. New. Wow. New. New things to do. New things to learn. New things to think. New ways to feel. I found I like the simplicity and uncluttered promise of new. It makes me feel young again. Full of promise and hope and happiness and untapped possibility. It makes me start wonder-ing again, as in wonder-ful, full of wonder. I am NOT on drugs by-the-way, except the caffeine, of course, so you can let that excuse for my "wonder-ings" go. I'm just new. I decided to try a new habit. The one I mentioned in my response to Bill's blog. Eating gorgeous food. For me, this meant mostly raw. I like it. Really. Lots of variety and color and flavor. I bought 4 new raw/vegan books and picked up new recipes one at a time. When I picked up the new habit of eating gorgeous food, my energy soared. My muscles quit hurting so much after workouts. When I picked up the habit of adding power foods like chlorella, maca and non-dairy acidophilus