We're starting today off with a tough reality - you have to realize that you will be working towards your goals for much longer than you expect or want. Your goal post will keep moving.
There is no instant gratification in changing your physical health. It takes commitment, willingness to ‘start over’ over and over again, and it takes accepting where you are at in the meantime.
The people who get this will achieve their goals.
A past client reached out last week to share that he just completed his first triathlon. This was a huge accomplishment because this was his goal six years ago when he got off track due to a significant back injury. Due to back pain he had eventually become accustomed to the idea that he might never be able to run or bike again.
When we first met, his goal was to get out of cycles of back pain. He understandably just wanted to recover from flare ups without spending a week on the couch each time.
After making progress, having some setbacks, and working through them he started thinking about triathlon training again. This goal turned out to be one of the most powerful motivators once he tapped into it. His energy shifted when he realized he was reconnecting with this goal to finish a triathlon. Good injury rehab feels like training.
Once we get symptoms relatively under control and someone feels ready to try running again, we start small. I start a lot of people with just three minutes of jogging the first time they try it. One minute ‘on’, one minute ‘off’, three times.
With a warm up and cool down the whole workout takes 16 minutes. If that feels okay, we add one minute. It can feel painstakingly slow. And at the same time, incredibly intimidating. If it’s been five years since you attempted running, or if every time you’ve tried you experience reinjury.
If he had judged himself by that moment in time, when a 16 minute ‘run, walk’ workout felt intimidating, it might have felt like not much was happening or changing.
But if he could have zoomed out from that moment, he would have seen he was breaking a streak of waiting for back pain to resolve before starting again, that had gone on for years. He was starting a habit of running that he would keep up for the next year, during which he would also reintroduce biking, and swimming.
I don't want to speak too much for what he was thinking or feeling along the way, but the commitment to seeing those early moments through, means that he just completed a six year goal. A six year goal that he truly didn’t believe he could accomplish at first. What if he had stopped because it didn’t feel awesome, was intimidating, or didn’t feel like 'enough' to be meaningful?
The hard truth that no one wants to hear is that you have to show up for yourself, no matter where you are. You have to honor where you are, not where you want to be, and start from there. I’m so proud of Shawn for completing this six year goal.
This accomplishment is so much bigger than just that one race. If we zoom out further, where is he headed with this commitment to progress?
I’ll share one last thought about this truth that no one wants to hear. The reality that it takes longer than we realize to change our bodies also means that you haven’t messed anything up in the last week or in the last month.
Forgive yourself for missing a workout, falling out of a gym routine, or flaring up an old injury by running a little further than your physical therapist cleared you for yet.
Forgive yourself for yesterday’s mistakes and start over this afternoon with the thing that you know you could be doing that would feel better. Start small with the thing you’ve been wanting to do more of.
Here's my challenge to you - pull out your calendar and write in when you will make time this week to pursue your goals. What is one small step towards them that you can be doing now?
If you don't know where to start or you have winter goals, now is a great time to start! I am currently booking clients for early September. Fill out the form at the link below to learn more about working towards your goals together.