All in mindset
Making changes requires vulnerability: an openness to admit we might fail, to say we don’t know what we’re doing, but a willingness to try.
This takes courage.
Like, buttloads of it.
When faced with vulnerability, whether we acknowledge it or not, our goals and our purpose suddenly become very clear. It’s the yardstick of our deepest desires: what’s worth doing even if I fail?
Most of us want to engage in our lives from a place of worthiness. When we realize that no matter what choices we make – pizza, salad, lifting, walking, having that tough conversation with our boss or partner, avoiding it for another day, etc. – no matter what gets done or what gets left undone, we are still enough, our perspective on our choices changes.
Getting to that point requires us to show up and let ourselves be seen. Which can be terrifying, especially if we are used to putting up a shield (which manifests in various forms, but, for me, perfectionism is my go-to…more on that soon :) ). Cultivating a sense of worth – remembering that it is our birthright – changes everything about our approach to food, exercise, work, and relationships: it has the power to set us free.
Taking the leap to become a stronger, more resilient version of you is worth the courage it takes to get there EVERY TIME.
Typical Steph meal: chicken, asparagus, broccoli salad (broccoli, Greek yogurt, cheese, shallot, walnuts, cranberries). Protein + veggies + satisfaction factor. Satisfied, not stuffed.
Trying to white-knuckle our way through a plan that doesn’t work for us, no matter how “perfect” it is on paper, sets us up for failure, hormonally, mentally, and physically.
Our nutrition is a commitment to serving ourselves. I, personally, hate to disappoint people, and this was a wakeup call for me to stop disappointing myself and instead act in service to myself so that I can better serve others.
We are strong and worthy. Our goals should always be plans to improve and upgrade ourselves into elevation, not fix what’s “wrong” with what we see.
That framing makes all the difference in the world between yo-yo dieting and effortlessly eating to serve your goals, and between a 21-day “banish xyz flaw” plan and training to be more mobile, energetic, and powerful.
There is strength in fully showing up.
What I mean by that is, enter your relationships being fully, honestly, unabashedly YOU- boundaries, goals, struggles, and all. It certainly can be scary, especially if you’ve never done it before or if your closest friends don’t have the same goals as you. But creating space to express that vulnerability is your job; how others react to it is theirs to decide.
Action begets more action. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Put one foot in front of the other in spite of the uncertainty. Turn the small victories into a juggernaut, and win your battles, mighty warrior.
Complete strength starts in the mind, and the mind is immensely powerful. This is becoming an increasingly large part of the conversation in fitness- an awesome development!- and yet, I find time and again that each of us, when presented with a crisis, forgets how powerful our thoughts are.
Consider it. You’ve heard the cliché phrases all your life: “mind over matter”, “where there’s a will there’s a way”, “where the mind goes, the man follows”, but have you ever stopped to think about how much more goes right when you are absolutely determined to succeed?
