Staying on track with our goals!
My philosophy for working out as adults is that we’re working out to be better at our daily life, not for a National Championship at the end of the year. Now, you may be one of the lucky few that has the opportunity to work for a national title of some sort. But for the most of us, it's another chore we need to check off our daily list of activities. Now, don't get me wrong, I always feel better when I make time for some type of activity, but it's still something I have to make sure I do.
Workouts shouldn’t be so hard that they completely exhaust you and prevent you from accomplishing the rest of your day. You workout to have more energy, need less coffee and crave good food. You workout to be more patient with your work colleagues, your kids, your spouse. You workout to be BETTER within each of your days.
It’s easy to start something, especially this time of the year, it’s easy to keep going when you have motivation, but what happens when the going gets hard, when you’re tired and life throws illness, hurdles and other road blocks in the way and you get out of your routine or your regular schedule? It’s usually the time when we feel defeated and lose our motivation for continuing to push.
My 4 R's to help you get back and stay on track when life get unpredictable.
Reassess: I like to recenter myself on my big and small goals when this happens and write down those ultimate things that I want to accomplish (or keep it visible on a post-it). So often, I’ll get sidetracked or distracted by the latest IG video or some outside influence that will make me question the path I'm on. If I can realign myself to my own personal goals, remind myself of my ‘why’, it always helps to ground me back to my purpose. And sometimes these 'new ideas' can be good, but it helps me to filter through when I should say ‘yes’ and when it’s actually good to say ‘no’.
Reset: Start again, and again, as many times as needed. This always happens to me when we start a new season of activities, or restart after the holidays. I have to reset our schedule, reset my own schedule, reset my brain to find our new normal, yet again. Have you read the book ‘Who moved my cheese?’ It’s a must-read if you haven’t. My cheese is being moved all the time, but like the mice, I remind myself to keep looking for cheese and not get upset when I'm pushed out of my comfort zone.
Resize: If you find yourself feeling like you can’t move forward, maybe your steps are too big, too much, too hard, they just might be - consider finding a smaller step between where you are today and your next step. Can you take 1 small step to start moving? You will need to overcome Newton’s 1st law of motion when you’re at rest, but once you do, continuing will be so much easier! Keep taking those small steps and when you look back, you’ll have made so much progress!
Reenergize: Take stock of what you’re consuming - what tv are you watching, who are you talking to, who are you following on social, what are you looking at on Pinterest? So often, we are what we consume. Change what you’re consuming to align with where you want to go and you’ll be amazed! It will change your attitude, your outlook and ultimately your motivation to keep pushing towards those things that you really want.
And sometimes, maybe a nap is exactly what you need.
I would love to hear which 'R' feels like a good first step for you. I hope you have so much motivation right now that you're lifting and bringing others with you. In that case, keep this in your toolbox when you or your friends need a little pick-me-up.
It’s hard to keep the motivation going this time of year. But I feel that everyday is a new day to start, and start again, and again. I just put Who Moved My Cheese on my reading list! All 4 Rs are good in their own way. Thanks for the blog!