Negative self-talk...

One thing I've learned as an athlete and as a mommy is that negative self-talk gets you nowhere fast! I think we all suffer from it just a little bit but the key to reaching your potential and seeing yourself as a success is silencing that nagging little voice with nothing good to say.

My dad was always the first to tell my sisters (there's 3 of us girls in the family) that "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all!"

I think these words apply to being a mommy and a runner. It's so easy to get down on yourself about things, I could go right to town starting with all the bad feelings I have about letting someone else watch my baby so I can have a career. Then I can round it out with feelings of inadequacy about my less than adequate house-keeping skills and to top it all off - I have a bad habit of letting myself walk when there's no running buddy along with me.

But what does this get me?

Nothing but feeling bad about myself.

I've found that the best thing I can do for myself is focus on the good I do - I work to provide a good life for my child, I will teach him a great work ethic, my house-keeping may suck (and it really does) but my baby has more attention than he knows what to do with (and I happen to think that's a good thing!) and I might walk a little but I'm out there putting in the miles. I try damn hard to be better than I was yesterday.

You know, I actually used that line in a job interview once and I meant it! The interviewer asked "What sets you apart from the other canidates we are interviewing?" My response was this, "What you get today is not as good as what you will have tomorrow! I am always trying to better myself."

So if you walked on your run today, walk a little less tomorrow.

And don't forget to tell yourself about all of the good things you do!