New skills are not always a linear and progressive curve. There are ups and downs and changes, much the same as our daily lives.
You need tools to create habits and behaviours to build skills towards self trust.
As humans we aren’t very good at knowing how much food we ate or when we need extra rest so we have to learn the dynamic process. It’s natural to want to do well and get results fast, it’s natural to have tough days and want to give in and any real meaningful change is actually very hard.
We can’t be perfect from day one because perfection doesn’t even exist but being better does and better is always better!
Small realistic changes adding up over time are still better than when you didn’t do them and taking time to reflect on that sometimes is just what we need.
We get feedback from:
Scales. circumference, activity counters, body fat measurements
Emotions and daily wellbeing
Energy levels, hunger, satiety and other bodily functions
Exercise performance, heavier weights, more volume, less fatigue
and tonnes more!
All of the above inform our progression, not one is more important than the other, they matter to us because we are human beings and not just numbers on scales, step counters or log books.
Sometimes we need to find advice and feedback to guide us on our path but the most important part is doing it in a repeatable and sustainable manner.
How do you know if something is unsustainable? Can you keep doing it exactly to the level you're doing it now in 6 months time? Are you immediately thinking of how you can break away from it at the weekend? Cheat meals? Binges? Then it is unsustainable...
My goal with my coaching is to give you the tools to meet the expectations of your challenges. In actual fact my deep goal is to get you to a point where you do not even need me and you can build self trust.
My experience of working with some of the best trainers in the industry from all around the globe taught me skills and tools so I could do it for myself. Yes we need support. Yes we need skills but we also need to trust in a the process. That's where a coach comes in.
New skills, abilities or desires bring new challenges... we can't keep saying no to ice cream and crisps forever and we need to balance our yes's and our no's and trust that process with your own judgement.
How can we approach self trust?
Start with a positive open minded approach
Never underestimate the power of a positive mental attitude because if you tell yourself that you will fail then you will live that out in real life.
When you come to a problem don't think about what it is stopping you from doing think about how you get around and solve the problem? Do you need to take advice? Do you need to ask for help? Do you need to ask somebody to look after the kids whilst you go for 20 minutes and do Burpee's?
One of the best quotes that I've ever heard is to 'live unchained'... then you will make your desires and wants a reality.
Take action and set yourself the right type of goals
Be realistic about what you can actually do from where you are right now. Meet yourself where you are at.
Think about the situation and your starting point and how you can incrementally make things better.
If where you are right now is number one and where you want to be or the end product is number 10 what are the steps to get you there?
If right now you do no exercise you don't drink enough water and you don't eat good food then even starting at any one of those three areas would be better than where you are now.
What wouldn't be realistic and sustainable was to literally start running marathons the next day.
Setting yourself really approachable and planned goals will show you that you are completely capable.
If you struggle to get yourself going with your goals, set yourself something that would just take five minutes to get you to join in. Read a chapter from the book or find a new recipe to try, both of these are a quick google or literally picking up a book. Once you've read that first paragraph you will be more than likely motivated to keep going. Sometimes that motivation comes after we begin.
Do not be afraid to fail and find feedback
Feedback from those aforementioned areas informs us of our direction. One area not going the way we desire does not mean that we have failed, feedback is a great tool to guide us on our path it tells us how to get to our end product and where we may be distracted.
To help, find good people to bounce ideas from and if so, find some coaching or education.
None of us could be successful without the help of others. When we even look at expeditions to isolated areas or even athletes that are training for Olympic preparation, both of those are not done by one person alone. The people might be the product but the process involves a team.
Uncertainty is what makes us worry that things won't work but you build that through experimentation and testing the comfort zones.
Find the tools that you need to succeed
Where can you find the education of the advice or even the guidance to know how to get where you need to be?
Fully overhauling your diet and lifestyle completely would be a 10 out of 10 on the complexity scale and it might not relevant to where you are right now.
Remember my emphasis on sustainable!
What would you be happy to keep doing most days with little effort or resistance?
As mentioned earlier what would a number three look like or even a number five?
Roundup:
To build self trust we have to go on that cycle of firstly taking action setting yourself a realistic small goal to be approachable and remember that motivation comes after you begin.
Try this at least three to five times with any new goal, skill or technique that you need to learn in any avenue of your life.
If things aren't going as planned don't worry it's completely natural to have to take the time. Find great advice and coaching or just surround yourself with others with a similar mentality.
If you would like some one-to-one advice or guidance then I offer free eBooks, consultations and private one-to-one coaching which is all available in my web store... <- click!
