Acceptance Is the First Step to Lasting Health Change

Last Friday on my Facebook Live, I talked about one of the most important (and most misunderstood) parts of creating a plan that actually works:

Acceptance.

And I know that's a loaded word.

Because for a lot of women, acceptance sounds like:

Giving up.

Settling.

Lowering the bar.

Making excuses.

But that's not what I mean at all.

Acceptance isn't saying:

"This is as good as it gets."

It's saying:

"This is what's true right now."

And that's a really important distinction.

Because one of the biggest things I see women do is spend so much energy fighting reality that they never actually learn from it.

They're exhausted.

But instead of saying:

"Okay...I'm exhausted."

They tell themselves:

"I shouldn't be this exhausted."

They have cravings.

But instead of saying:

"I'm having cravings today."

They tell themselves:

"I shouldn't still have cravings."

They feel overwhelmed.

But instead of saying:

"I'm overwhelmed right now."

They tell themselves:

"I should have this all figured out by now."

See the difference?

The tiredness isn't the problem.

The craving isn't the problem.

The overwhelm isn't the problem.

The struggle itself isn't the problem.

The problem is the story you're attaching to it.

Because the second you turn a normal human experience into evidence that something is wrong with you...

You've stopped observing.

And you've started judging.

But judgment doesn't give very useful data.

Acceptance does.

Acceptance is simply saying:

"This is happening."

"This is a pattern for me."

"This is one of my common stressors."

"This is a trigger I regularly experience."

Not because you're giving yourself permission to stay in that struggle forever.

But because you can't build a realistic plan for a reality you're refusing to acknowledge.

You can't create a strategy for exhausted Thursday-night-you if you keep telling yourself you should be able to just power through.

You can't find supportive ways to manage work stress if you keep telling yourself you shouldn't let it get to you.

You can't plan around predictable obstacles if you keep telling yourself you shouldn't have to keep dealing with the same crap every week.

Acceptance isn't lowering the bar.

It's taking an honest inventory of the conditions you're actually working with.

And from there?

You can create support.

You can build skills.

You can change the stories you're telling yourself.

But none of that starts with pretending you shouldn't be struggling.

It starts with acknowledging that your struggles are a normal part of being human.

If you missed Friday's Facebook Live, I think you'll really enjoy it.

It's called Stop Making Plans for Your Fantasy Self, and this idea of acceptance is really the foundation for everything else we talked about.

👉 You can watch the replay HERE.

I'd love to hear what you think.