Always On My Mind Podcast: The Value Question

A colleague posted something in a Facebook group a few years ago.

Five minutes of her time. And it quietly changed everything.

Does this bring me value right now?
Will this bring me value later … mentally, emotionally, physically?
Nicole Doria MS CPT

So here we go

It was a story about a latte. And whether finishing it was actually serving her … or just serving the price.

When I read it I sat there and thought … she just gave language to something I have been doing my whole life without realizing it.

I grew up hearing finish your plate.

That cost money.

And then I became a young mom with four kids back to back on a tight military budget and those messages got louder. I could not fathom throwing away a handful of goldfish so I ate them.

Off every plate.

All four kids. I did the math once. Four hundred extra calories in kid scraps. And I was not even aware I was doing it because in my mind I was just getting the value out of what we spent.

Except I was not getting value. I was quieting my own hunger cues to serve a price tag.

Eleven years into my health journey. Already successful. Already maintaining. And still struggling in ways I could not name until that moment.

So now I ask myself two things.

Does this bring me value right now? Will this bring me value later … mentally, emotionally, physically?

Two yeses and you go. No guilt, no shame.

And if it still did not land the way you thought it would … you are allowed to change your mind. You made the best call with the perspective you had. That is not failure. That is learning.