Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my ax.” As a skilled wood cutter, Lincoln knew that he could save himself hours of effort and time with proper preparation.
This is actually a biblical principle as well. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says:
If the ax is dull,
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom brings success.
When it comes to weight loss, are you making things harder than they have to be? I am thoroughly convinced that 90% of Christian weight loss success is due to preparation. You simply order your life so that your daily routine makes losing weight easy rather than hard. Remember: “The secret to achieving your dreams is found in your daily routine.”
I heard a minister say once that the enemy operates in the space between knowledge and action. The enemy’s plan is keep you from taking action on doing the right thing. He gets you to take your eyes off your goal. Two examples of this are keeping unhealthy foods within your daily space. Another is mentally discouraging yourself with false images of pain or deprivation at the thought of getting healthy.
When you make up your mind to get healthy and lose weight, expect to be tested in your resolve. The only way to pass these tests is to be prepared for them.
In my own life, I am always tested in my desire to exercise. One thing I have learned about myself is that if I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, I will not do it later. I’ll either find something more “important” to do or I’ll just say “I don’t feel like it.”
So instead of fighting with myself, I just make it easy to exercise in the morning. I keep my workout sneakers and jump rope together. If I’m doing an exercise DVD I will put it into the DVD player before I go to bed. I will prepare the workout clothes I’m going to wear and sometimes, I will even wear them to bed if I know I’m going to be pressed for time in the morning.
What things can you start doing today that will make it easier for you to reach your perfect weight? How can you order your life so that it supports a healthier lifestyle?
If you are having a hard time motivating yourself, then think about this question: With your current style of living, what shape will your body be in five years from now? Will you be in better health or worse? Close your eyes right now and really experience what it will feel like to have those results.
If you like the results then keep doing what you are doing. But if not, now if the time to start creating a better future for yourself to enjoy and save yourself that pain.
If you busy exerting more and more strength to get through life, then slow down and ask yourself, “What can I do to ‘sharpen my ax’ so that I can handle the issues of my life more effectively and enjoy my life more?”
If you need ideas about getting healthy and shedding pounds, then order my Take Back Your Temple program and take advantage of the wisdom I’ve gained from my own weight loss journey. Just a couple of the tips, if practiced, will save you time and effort.
You can learn about the program here: https://takebackyourtemple.com/program.
And as the scripture in Ecclesiastes says you can be sure that when you take action on what you know “…wisdom brings success.”
Be blessed in health, healing, and wholeness,
Kimberly Taylor
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ program
https://takebackyourtemple.com/program
Hi Kim,
I, too, am a Christian weight loss book author, and I just now, for the first time, visited your website. I have to say that I love what I see. I haven’t yet read your book, but I have seen it around and just never had time to get to it. It appears from this site that you are focused on the emotional and spiritual roots of why people eat food they don’t physically need, and I’m glad that you encourage people to exercise. I think our belief systems are similar, in general. Like you, I have also lived this journey, personally. I lost 75 pounds and have kept it off for 26 years. I would love to speak with you over the phone sometime, since it appears that we’re kindred spirits. I’ve spoken with Judy Halliday, as well, and she’s clearly a kindred spirit with us. For me and Judy (and I’m sure you, too), this is about the greater good and not about our respective books. I thank God for what you’re doing and pray that God blesses all three of our ministries so that we can rescue more and more people from the bondage of overeating.
Hi Dr. Hancock,
I thank you for stopping by my site! I have heard of your book as well and indeed it looks like we share some of the same ideas. But that’s no surprise – given that we both rely on the same source material, aka the bible 🙂
I really appreciate you for taking time to encourage and to pray for this ministry. I will do the same for you. God wants his people to be free. We have a great work to do and we can’t afford to be hindered by anything that would distract from that. God bless you!