Do you find yourself backing down when things get tough?
Maybe you start the good fight but can’t finish it?
Maybe you turn and run the other way?
Building resilience and your ability to do hard things in life can be accomplished by focusing on your mental state, your emotional well-being, and your physicality.
The book “Mindset” by Dr. Carol Dweck explains the differences between a growth mindset and the fixed mindset. A growth mindset understands failure is inevitable, opportunistic, and a part of life.
Your mental state is your mindset. The growth mindset embraces challenge, looks at failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, and doesn’t perceive obstacles as threats.
Going for a deadlift PR?
Visualize your best outcome. Go over the neutral points – your setup and execution. If you fail, make note of what you can improve upon, get stronger and you’ll be better prepared for your next attempt.
Your emotional well-being can be reinforced by your environment and your support network. By having a community, whether it be your co-workers, family, friends or gym community – having other people in your life who have your back when you are being pushed out of your comfort zone is crucial to your success and self-belief.
Are you strong enough physically to handle what life throws at you unexpectedly?
Living a healthy lifestyle with reasonable nutrition and frequent, strenuous physical activity, including activities inside and outside of the gym, will have an incredibly positive impact on your ability to develop resilience, reduce stress, improve your energy levels, and provide a sense of purpose in life.
Adding onto the activity component, exercise is a form of skill development and when you don’t know how to do something, like a split squat, and then learn how to do split squats, understanding that they never get easier, only heavier as you progress, allows you to accept and embrace the challenge.
You’ve developed a skill, built strength, resilience and boosted your confidence.
For all the hard things you face or turn away from in your life, acknowledge the effort you have given and recognize the progress you have made. Celebrate ALL of your wins along the way, appreciate the process, not the outcome. Momentum and motivation will follow.
“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.” – Zig Ziglar