BLOG 324 TRUST THE PROCESS
Our fitness journeys are a process. We know that change takes time, old habits die hard, and the road isn’t always smooth along the way. Recently, on my own fitness journey and recent endeavors, the saying, “Trust the process”, has really hit close to home. We make so many choices every single day, some more important than others, but one choice often leads to another and unfolds the outcome or sets the tone for what is to come. I hope this BLOG brings you clarity, strength, and reveals some helpful tools to help YOU trust the process of your fitness journey.
Many of our poor choices are made from fear. We don’t want to fail. It’s as if having lower standards or expectations (taking the easy route), avoids failure. The uncertainty of what lies ahead steers us towards our comfort zones. For example, I’d rather not try jogging because then what if my knees start to hurt or what if I pull something…. But what if you don’t and if you just ran for thirty seconds, walked a little, and repeated the process maybe the body will respond better than anticipated?? The fear to TRY can be hindering.
Some of my own personal fears I have to learn to adjust to include being able to “go with the flow” and being flexible. There are aspects of life I am not able to control and being resilient and adjusting when needed can throw me for quite the loop. The process for a perfectionist becomes more challenging by default when I refuse to take a different direction when my original plan is altered. Simply put, for a planner, sometimes the plan has to change and I need to be okay with the new route and move forward. I need to, “Be open to ‘not knowing’. Life changes in an instant. Change with it” (http://theboldlife.com/2013/04/10-ways-to-let-go-of-fear-and-trust-the-process/).
YOU have to believe that being healthy long term is a process not a destination. We can make milestone goals along the way. Let’s say you want to lose twenty pounds, then the process requires getting there and keeping the twenty pounds off for good. In the meantime that means staying on course is up to YOU. Some of my recent videos have been about honesty and happiness. If the process requires 4 workouts a week and staying on the meal plan course, then having wine three times that particular week and an extra dessert may very well negate one or two workouts. So now the process has been tampered, but you have to TRUST to get back on track. I find that many almost reset each week, and the more start overs you have (which is okay), understand that the process is changing. Know that if you made this just a clear cut destination with a time line, then you are setting yourself up for failure. And maybe those choices are out of fear because you suddenly lost two pounds this week and you self-destruct and have a huge dessert in order to retaliate out of fear that now you actually can lose those other 18 pounds. Out of fear, you revert back to old habits. Sound familiar??
By no means do I want to get all philosophical haha. I found three really great tips to live by: (http://tinybuddha.com/blog/being-patient-through-transformation-trust-change-believe/)
Trust life. There’s a higher purpose behind every seemingly impossible and difficult phase. You’ve just got to hang in there and know that it’s for the best.
Change. If you find yourself feeling bad a lot more often than not, take time out to reflect on whether or not you’re happy deep down with what you’re doing.
Believe. Believe in yourself, even if the world around you doesn’t. If you don’t, who will?
When opening my business, any test I have ever taken, and my own fitness journey, are all examples of some of life’s processes I have had to just trust and let the uncertainly of the possible outcome come as it may. Please trust your own fitness journey, and most importantly, be strong and confident in your choices. Make your choices with no regret. One choice at a time, one rep at a time, the process will carry us through. And hey, don’t forget to ENJOY the process as well.
