Do you ever get caught up in life’s crazy curveballs and adventures? Your routine and healthy living efforts become a distant memory and getting back there just feels a bit hopeless.
"What if something trips me up again and I'm right back where I started?" "Maybe I'll just start up again after this next ____ (insert whatever upcoming stressor is looming)." "All of the changes I know I need to make to get where I was just feel like too much right now."
Our healthy choices, workout routines, and clean eating can be really overwhelming, especially in the beginning. Often times we can't even find a way to start while sometimes we can make a plan for a week or two to get right back to where we were getting to classes again, meal prepping, waking up early for our magic mornings... but then a slight breeze (or lack there of) knocks the wind out of our sails and we fall back into a routine full of quick and junky meals and skipped workouts.
Ya feel me?!
What if, instead of wasting mental and physical energy starting and stopping our healthy living efforts, we work to create MOMENTUM?
We started our September Goal Setting Challenge on the first and with the start of school’s routine changes and traveling to visit family, I missed doing my daily goal getting work 5 out of the last 8 days. Like, I didn’t even skip it, I just straight up forgot...
I had a moment of guilt and, I'll be honest, panic, when I realized that I, the coach for all these mamas looking to me to stay consistent and reach their goals, couldn't even do the challenge I had proposed. But then I realized something:
It's not about the results. It's about the sustainable changes we're creating.
Anyone can commit to do something for 30 days. Anyone can follow a fad diet or start hitting the gym and see some results. What I am teaching, and what I am cultivating in myself is a strong and healthy relationship with myself and a mindful approach to my actions. That’s the value (and, bonus, that’s what gets us the results that feel AWESOME).
And as any fitness professional will tell you, or anyone in the business of achieving goals, it's all about staying consistent. Small results can occur with big changes, but to create the big results we are looking for, it's all about the consistent efforts we put in.
Life is already hard enough, our own self care shouldn't be! To create sustainable changes and habits, it's all about creating a mindset that feels awesome, so you are motivated to make the healthy choices and stay consistent because it feels good! That mindset is what builds momentum.
When I was trying to decide if I could muster the energy to get in a workout and I realized I'd totally forgotten about my monthly challenge work, here's how my thought process went:
Thought 1: "Oh man, the challenge! I could have done that this weekend while I was traveling even if I couldn't get in a workout. But I didn't. I totally forgot about it! It's ok, no one knows I've forgotten about this but me! I'll just pretend like I didn't miss all those days of work."
Thought 2: "Hmmm... that feels weird. I won't get the results I was after and I'll never know where I would have gotten if I'd actually gone through the challenge. I’ll really just be cheating myself."
Thought 3: "I'm bummed I forgot! I was really excited to do this!"
Thought 4: "I love how it feels to commit to something small and stay consistent and watch those results unfold. I was excited about this and how it will make me feel. I'd like to make it happen. Why don't I just commit to starting today?"
Thought 5: "Okay! I'm doing this! Back on board! But...I really don't want to workout today. Maybe I'll just do my splits and handstands to work on my goal. I'm so tired and I barely moved at all while I traveled, I know it will make me feel good if I do a bigger workout, too.... hmmm.... still don't want to workout. I do love that meditation time I get when I do running intervals, maybe I should do that! Oh, and I can listen to a new podcast. I do have 45 minutes but if I'm not feeling it, I can stop any time. I'll check in how I feel after 10. Okay, let's do this. I'll go workout and then do my 2 minutes of splits and 2 minutes of handstands to start back up on my September goals! Woohoo! Okay, now I'm pumped!"
By allowing myself to admit and process my feelings, to think through them, acknowledge them, and not judge myself for them, I am getting my mindset in a place where I am making a choice that I can be proud of no matter what I decide to do. I can be confident that I have made a decision I am happy with and I can keep moving forward.
We are not just taking action, we are creating MOMENTUM.
Starting and stopping is exhausting. Momentum is what propels us forward even when we're not putting in a big effort.
By cultivating our mindfulness, we are creating momentum that keeps us moving toward our goals. The big efforts get us moving even faster and the little efforts keep us happily paddling downstream.
Notice I didn't try to tell myself not to feel something and I didn't try to tell myself to just suck it up and do it, which actually still would have gotten me to do the workout, but it's not cultivating a mindful approach to my decision making. There is no momentum there. Every choice becomes a battle of will. A fight against ourselves. You may win that battle consistently for a while, but it can only last for so long.
As a rebel at heart, I can only "bully" myself into doing things I don't want to do so much until I sit down and cross my arms and say, "I'm not doing this anymore!"
You can feel good about the results and that can carry you pretty far for a while. Long enough to even reach some goals! But once you've reached your goal or once life has tripped up your focus, it can take weeks, months or even years to get yourself back on track.
Your old habits and patterns take back over and often a lot of that progress is lost. In this case you've built no momentum. You've forgotten about yourself and your mindset and, instead, only focused on the results. But this is about you. Whether you goal is weight loss, strength building, toning up, or alleviating health issues, to be truly successful, the change you need has to start within.
So let's practice! Start talking to yourself. Start cultivating your mindfulness and create momentum. ANd then watch that momentum turn into rapids that can carry you through when other things need your focus.
Meditation and journaling are a big part of how I've cultivated mindfulness. Exploring my feelings. Focusing on alleviating negative feelings rather than ignoring them. Asking myself, "what will make me proud?"
It’s ok if you forgot to pay attention to or prioritize whatever it is you are trying to commit to. Yes, that is a failure, but failing isn't bad! Failing is actually awesome. It's a chance to take stock, figure out where you need to make a change, and move forward. Failure helps build momentum!
Don’t get defeated and don’t give up. The mindfulness will come but it takes practice.
Give yourself grace, reach for the stars, and remember that every day and every hour and every choice is a chance to make choices you’re proud of and that will move you in the direction you want to go. ..Create momentum!
Pick a goal and join me! Let's cultivate mindfulness and create the momentum you need to keep you sailing through mom-life like a true Savage!
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