Overcome Frustrations Along Your Fit-Life Journey
Living your ideal fit and healthy lifestyle is a daily commitment. And, as with every element of life, you’ll have good days and bad days. Everyone experiences highs and lows along their fit-life journey.
Even when you make substantial shifts such as developing your growth mindset, sometimes when frustration hits you might just need a spark of inspiration to overcome it and reignite your motivation. When you’re feeling frustrated or disheartened—perhaps you didn’t get the results you wanted in the timeframe you expected, or you haven’t solved the puzzle of fitting as much exercise as you’d like into your schedule—there are three quick actions you can take to help yourself feel better and move forward. Two effective ways to emphasize the positive and overcome the negative are to remind yourself what brings you joy and to reflect on what you’re most grateful for in terms of your fit and healthy lifestyle. Another is to use appreciation to reframe.
When those moments of frustration hit, pause for a moment and do one or all of the following:
Use positivity: Write what you’re currently happy about in terms of living a fit and healthy lifestyle; for example, sticking to your weekly goals, creating new habits, or cooking healthier recipes.
Use gratitude: List what you’re grateful for, generally, in terms of fitness and health; for instance, getting support from your closest friend, living somewhere it’s easy to exercise outside, or having room in your home to always leave a yoga mat unrolled.
Use appreciation: Reframe negative statements such as “have to” and “can’t” with phrases such as “get to” and “choose not to.” For example, whenever you catch yourself saying something like, “I have to exercise today,” replace it with, “I get to exercise today.” Reframing this way is a powerful reminder that you have the opportunity to choose your path forward, toward your ideal fit and healthy lifestyle, and to travel that path.
But don’t stop there…
Use reflection: Anytime you’re starting to feel down or frustrated or stuck, read the lists of what you’re happy about and grateful for. Reflect on what you have. Feel the joy and gratitude. And then take the next step forward on your journey.
Use repetition: Update your lists at least every month. Bonus: Use a journal to write daily lists, too, reflecting on positive things from that day.
There are many substantive strategies to help you meet your fit-life goals and stay the course along your fit-life journey. (We work through quite a few of them in the Fit-Life Foundations coaching course.) But sometimes you just need a quick reset. In those moments, positivity, gratitude, or reframing can be exactly what you need to get you back on track.
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