How do you measure success after you have completed your cleanse, weight management program, or fitness challenge? The most common trait that I see in my clients is that they tend to become very critical of themselves when I put them on a protocol or when they want to give them the challenge to elevate their health goals. Do you feel like you are failing just because you couldn’t work out today or because you had ice cream? Do you judge yourself if your yoga session or exercise session was less efficient than the last one? What does failure mean to you? Does that mean that something didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to or do you think it should have turned out? Well, it doesn’t matter what you think of yourself as a failure. What matters is that you can change the pattern of how you think of yourself now!
The very first thing you need to do is thank yourself that you have tried. Appreciate, and clap for yourself. Remember how we speak to others when they feel they are failing. How do we encourage and motivate them? Talk to yourself in that tone, the way you motivate your friend or child. Celebrate and enjoy the small wins, a new beginning. Make a list of what you have already accomplished. Today, I am sharing an extract from my journal which I wrote almost two years back or so for myself. Whenever I feel less accomplished I read my own words:
Patience - Don’t rush things that need time to grow. Remember things will happen as they should. Just because things don’t turn out the way you expect right now, doesn’t mean that they won’t turn out the way they are supposed to. Hard and smart work always pays off.
Flexibility - Take every day as it comes. I have personally learned this a hard way and I am still learning. Learn to remove yourself from the mindset of having to plan every single thing out right now at this moment. Try to take a step back and remind yourself that you are always protected and supported by the universe. You just need to have the right intentions and you will know what is the next step.
Re-evaluate - Ask yourself why are things not working out. Does your plan need to be replanned? Maybe you are struggling for a reason. Remember you can always re-plan your plan.
Stop comparing yourself or your situation to other people. Be gentle to yourself. I recently gave myself a challenge of 21 days of workouts. According to this challenge I need to do any kind of movement, and work out for at least 30 minutes consecutively for 21 days. On the ninth day, I just didn’t want to work out. I was angry at first then I started feeling like I am failing. At the end of the day when I sat down to do my gratitude journal, I realized that I gave myself this challenge to elevate my health goals not to feel low. I felt thankful that my body could recognize that it needs rest. I then re-evaluated my workout challenge “plan”, and made a realistic list of the types of workouts I could do for the next 12 days. Guess what? I ended up working out for the next 30 days every day.
Success is a journey, not a destination. Pat yourself on your back for all your accomplishments and achievements. The simple moments and the efforts you make in this journey is the time that you will make memories out of. So, focus on now and be gentle with yourself. With every experience, you learn and unlearn. And this simply applies to anything with life whether you are trying to give up eating junk food or working on a project. Life is a flow. When something goes, you make room for new things in your life. Be thankful for experiences that are always teaching us more than we even realize. Everyone has their definition of success. Find what success means to you and own it.
I love this quotation:
Every experience is a success. - Louise L Hay
Affirm:
I am enough
I learn from every experience
My possibilities are endless.
I am successful
Health, Love & Light,
Manika
