If being skinny was all that important to people, 7 out of 10 Americans wouldn’t be overweight or obese.

But come on, you’re different. You REALLY do want to be skinny! You day dream about how wonderful your life would be if you were 3 sizes smaller. Or fantasize about how much happier you would feel if you had visible abs, definition in your arms or looked remotely like some of those gals on magazine covers. You would give anything to be skinny!

Well, if that is true, why aren’t you? Start by asking yourself these questions…

1. How do you fill your personal space?
2. How do you spend your time?
3. How do you spend your energy?
4. How do you spend your money?
5. Where are you most organized?
6. Where are you most reliable and disciplined?
7. What do you think about most?
8. What do you visualize and realize? (not fantasies! What you picture in your life and what is coming true?)
9. What do you internal dialogue about?
10. What do you talk about in social settings?
11. What inspires you?
12. What are the most consistent goals you set?

Chances are unless you are a fitness professional, you didn’t answer these questions with anything related to eating healthy, getting quality sleep, working out or learning how the body works to truly create health.

Let’s narrow this list of questions down a little further to the top 3. How do you spend your time? How do you spend your money? What do you think about in your innermost thoughts?

Can you honestly answer that you spend the majority of your time working on being “skinny”? Or how about money? Do you spend a good percentage of your income on quality foods and hiring qualified fitness coaches (and NO! I don’t mean buying bullshit, shortcut products)?

Our authentic self lies in WHAT we do, not what we SAY we want to do.

How we spend our time, our money and what we think about are the strongest indicators of what we truly value in life. Most people I have worked with over the years, while they may say they want to be skinny, their actions speak otherwise. What their actions do indicate is they value things like raising productive, loving human beings, providing security and stability for their families, creating fulfillment in their careers or living out their final years with freedom! And none of these happen due to your weight on a scale!

But, the things we care most about in life are most possible to us when our bodies are in optimal condition. Achieving contentment in your physical condition is only possible when you have connected it to what drives you from deep within. What you value more than anything else in life. Once you discover this, you don’t have to think twice about taking care of your body. That will become a given.

The body houses the mind and the spirit.

Will that mean having six pack abs? Most likely not. Once you discover who you are and why you matter to the world, your concern over pant size or abdominal definition will most likely no longer be at the forefront of your mind. You will take care of your body because you understand it’s necessity in living the life you were created to live.

Let me be clear on this matter. The condition of your body DOES matter. If you want to live to your purpose, you cannot fully do so carrying around unhealthy levels of adipose tissue, constantly starving your body or relying on medications. The physical condition of your body matters so don’t try to convince yourself otherwise.

For those of you reading this who are saying, “but I found more of myself when I lost weight”, I get it. When your body looks and feels better, your spirit will soar. But, if pant size and physical appearance are the only driving forces, happiness and fulfillment aren’t guaranteed and the results will most certainly be fleeting.

You have what it takes to be skinny. If it was important enough to you, you would be. The truth is, it doesn’t matter enough to you and as a human being, that’s exactly the way it should be! We exist for much deeper reasons than our physical appearance.

Start saying you want to find a deeper purpose. We all want to know we are significant and we matter. Those who do not struggle with taking care of themselves are those who have connected their body to what they value.

I am here to tell you, you do matter. You have a purpose and it lies in what you do, not what you say you want. Figure that out and you will never search for being “skinny” again.