This week my focus has been on mindset. I think that has grown from knowing that we have world mental health day coming up on 10th October. Equally I spend most of my days feeling slightly overwhelmed with my brain buzzing with the list of stuff I need to do, which is either related to kids, household management, my own health, work life balance and building or researching to help serve my purpose and passion through growing inside out.
When feeling overwhelmed, I spend 10 mins doing simple breath work – it is proven to stimulate the vagus nerve which has a healing effect on a person's body due to its ability to promote relaxation and help clear the mind.
I am lucky, in that I tend to be a person to drive things forward, take actions, however so many of my friends, procrastinate, scroll through social media, and then feel guilty when they have not achieved an item, or a training session or their goals.
Have you set your goals? Goals come in many shapes and forms, some are simple, and some are more complex, yet by setting your goals you are planning to live your life your way. You can align to your mind, body and soul.
When I started running it was for a personal goal to lose weight and become fit, however over time I did wonder with the knowledge and experience I accumulated what could I fully achieve? One of my desires was to achieve a half marathon in under 1-hour 50mins, I really believed in my heart that this was possible. Equally my other goal was to achieve a marathon in under 4 hours, again I knew in my heart I could achieve this.
How do we set goals? Take your dreams, listen to your heart and set a plan of action.
It sounds simple but challenges will always come as part of your journey and this will impact, your mindset, your confidence, and your energy levels.
At the time of the pandemic, like many others I did catch COVID and unfortunately lost 50% of my muscle mass. This was my biggest challenge when I wanted to achieve my half marathon goal and my marathon goal. Yet, I did not give up on my dreams, my goal, my vision. I planned what was required to succeed and worked harder to overcome. Strength training, cross training, focus on food nutrition, starting small and building up again to my performance level before COVID.
Good days and Bad Days - I had good days and bad days when undertaking the training, not just when running, but mentality, my kids were just constantly at each other, trying to score points, I was knackered physically and mentally at times, and had to be on top of it in my corporate job. Some runs felt great and then what appeared to be a simple 10 mile run for the run up to the event, was awful and I felt I had failed and let everyone down.
On the bad days I had to really focus on my mental stamina. Physically I knew I had done enough to achieve the goal, but in my mind, it was different, always questioning myself.
How do you increase mental stamina? Each day I would write down my goal, it became a mantra “3 hours, 47mins and 59 seconds” (this was for my marathon) I would say it out loud, I would envisage myself going over the finish line, I even saw in my mind what I was wearing and what the weather was like. This really supported me in pushing away any negative thoughts, and helped remove the feelings of lack of self-worth that crept in, because deep down I knew I could do it,
Even when running on the day, my focus was one foot in front of the other and rehearsing my mantra in my mind all the way.
Every day, our brains have this internal dialogue with itself sometimes good and sometimes bad, it is normal, and every human experiences it, but what is important is how you manage those thoughts, as they do not define you. This is where being present in the moment, helps tune out the chatter and tune you into your body, your, heart and your gut.
What are my top tips to help you establish a strong mindset, and how to achieve you goals because you CAN achieve anything you want in life.
Tip #1: Set yourself a goal
Make it specific but a goal could also be a list of things you want to do before you die. For example, read a specific book, go on a certain holiday, it does not have to be big, it just helps you focus on what you want and how you want your life to be.
Tip #2: Write them down and display
Write down your goals, like you do with a shopping list and put somewhere you can see! Fridge, bathroom mirror, on your screen saver.
Tip #3: Work out what steps do you need to do to get there?
If you don’t know that is okay, google, learn, speak to others. Put a date (even rough estimate) of when you want to achieve it.
Tip #4: Plan into your schedule
Once you have the steps, then plan into your week. Most people groan at this point, but believe you me, the concept of time was invented, and this is one of many areas inside out can support you.
Tip #5: Believe you can
Reframe negative thoughts into positive ones, your mind will believe what you tell it, so fill it with positivity, motivation and determination
Tip #6: Don't Quit
If you miss a session, forgive yourself, and keep going.
Tip #6: Celebrate every small achievement.
Setting and achieving goals whether big or small is not just about physical fitness or nourishment it is a holistic approach. Ignite your light and truly believe you are worthy, and you can elevate your wellbeing
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