One Simple Piece of Advice to Change Your Life Today

Every one of us has something we’d like to change. Whether it’s related to our health, our career, or our relationships, we all have goals. 

On a recent episode of The Kim Gravel show, The One Decision That Helped Me Lose 37 Pounds, Part 1, which Kim Gravel called one of the most powerful episodes she’s ever made, she shared a game-changing idea that will help folks take massive action. 

Kim revealed that she lost 37 pounds—which she’s been struggling to lose for 20 years! So how did she do it? How did she go from trying to two decades to actually doing it in just a handful of months?

“I didn’t even know I was doing it until I looked back,” she said. And, “It’s not what you think.” 

She started by sharing that her son plays basketball—and it’s been torture: “the most learned lessons of the kid’s life.” 

Kim started her weight-loss journey in May, and in mid-June, her son went to basketball camp, where he played in some tournaments. A junior, he’d made the varsity team. The first day of the first tournament, he got some play time. The second day, he sat the bench (which, Kim said, is to be expected some of the time).

When her son came home and told them the story of how he’d sat the bench for the second game. The coach put in a freshman and a JV player while he sat the bench. Although he was calm while he told the story, he reported that he started getting angry, watching the younger kids play while he sat the bench. 

He told Kim, “Mom, I was talking to myself about myself. I was watching myself sit on the bench. I was sitting there, watching myself get upset on the bench. In my mind, mom. It’s in my mind.” 

Kim said she knew exactly what her son was talking about; she’d just had something similar happen to her regarding her weight loss. So she just let him finish.

He said, “I just decided, no. I’m not going to get upset. I’m on the varsity team. I got to play yesterday and I’m just going to be here and support my team.”

Two minutes after he made that decision, the coach put him in and he ended up playing the rest of that game and all the remaining games. 

I asked what he thought happened and he said, “I just decided, and then I got to play.”

Kim said she thought, “That’s what happened to me with my weight loss. I woke up one morning in May and I decided I’m just doing it. For the next two and a half months my body just caught up with that decision.”

As she did her daily journaling that morning, she noticed that she frequently wrote the same thing in her journal: I want to lose weight. She was saying it over and over again and it had become her reality. She decided then and there that she was going to change her narrative.

Why did it work then, when she had struggled for 20 years to lose the weight? 

Because she put the struggle on a pedestal. She worshipped the struggle. So much so that it became the focus. 

For years, she’d lived with the struggle, and it became part of who she was … it became comforting. 

“We’re buying the self-help books. We’re buying the workout programs. All of that is fantastic.” 

“We have the knowledge … but we haven’t made the decision.” 

When Kim made the decision to end the struggle and lose the weight, the struggle was no longer an anchor … and she’d never have to deal with it again. 

Decision decides destiny. If you try to take action before making the decision, you won’t succeed, no matter how much you believe you want it.

But once you make the decision, every action aligns with it. 

That’s why this time, as she’s actually lost the weight, “it’s been the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” 

Your mind is stronger than your feelings. When the mind speaks to the heart and the feelings, everything follows. 

Once Kim made her decision, she changed what she wrote in her journal. She wrote, I’ve already lost the weight. I’m moving on. 

She refrained from saying she’s cutting back or going on a diet or eating in a certain way; it’s more like her entire way of being has changed. Instead of working hard (as in dieting), she’s taking action toward what she wants. This means she stops eating when she’s full, her palate has changed, and she focuses on taking actions that make her feel better (through what she eats or going for walks, for example). 

Her whole life has shifted.

“Your body is powerful too, but it will follow the mind.”

The bottom line: Take massive action towards things you actually want to do, and everything else will catch up.

The Kim Gravel Show is a top women’s lifestyle podcast where Kim shares her message of confidence and encouragement with a side of laughter and fun. The show features inspiring, topical conversations with thought leaders, CEOs, and celebrities tailored to give listeners the insight they need to help them discover their purpose, find their confidence, and love who they are. On each episode Kim tackles the topics that women care about in a way that will make you laugh, make you think, and help you see your life in a new, more positive way.

The Kim Gravel Show is a celebration of the stories that shape us. It's about laughing together and not taking ourselves too seriously. It's about the wisdom we've gathered and the hardships we've overcome. It's about looking at the woman you see in the mirror and remembering that she is beautiful inside and out. This is a show about remembering that no matter what you’ve been through you can love who you are right now.

Y’all, life is hard, but we can do it together.