Your mindset—all your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, etc.,—can be your #1 transformation tool or your #1 transformation stumbling block. And when your mindset is serving as a stumbling block for your transformation goals, it can be easy to fall victim to the excuses, thoughts, and feelings your mindset is feeding you. Bodybuilding.com uncovered 3 mindset-related reasons people struggle with their transformation goals. Have you ever experienced any of these?
- 42%: It’s too difficult to follow my nutrition or workout plan
- 38%: It’s too difficult to get back on track when I fall off my program
- 36%: It’s too hard to find the time to stick to my nutrition or workout program
If your answer is, “Yes,” to any of these, please know that you are not alone. Not by a longshot. From the posts, feedback, and comments we receive daily in social media and through customer service, we know that these three reasons are pretty common, and they can be so frustrating!
So, how do we create and continually nurture a transformation mindset? The type of mindset that will serve us in achieving not only our transformation goals, but all of our goals? While there are many stumbling blocks we can encounter on our path to transformation, here are three transformation mindset stumbling blocks and some tips for overcoming these stumbling blocks:
Stumbling Block #1. Perfectionism
Is there anything wrong with wanting to be our best? No, absolutely not. But when wanting to be our best turns into wanting to be perfect, that’s when there’s a problem because being perfect is 100% impossible. And trying to be perfect can not only be a stumbling block to our mindset and our goals, but it can also cause stress, anxiety, eating disorders, low self-esteem, sleep issues, and more.
No matter how hard we’re trying to achieve our goals, real life will happen. Things out of our control will happen. And when these types of things happen, it can be tempting to adopt an “all or nothing” perfection mindset: “If I can’t do things the way I planned, I won’t do anything.”
So how can we get over the stumbling block of perfection? Here are three tips to help you embrace your imperfection, and we’re all imperfect!
Just do something.
This tip might sound simple, but it’s often the opposite of simple. When you’re stuck in perfectionistic thinking, just doing something—even one little thing, can make all the difference because something is ALWAYS better than nothing. And even doing the smallest something counts towards achieving your goal and creating that transformation mindset!
- If you’ve planned a 30-minute workout, break that workout into 5 minutes at a time. Or on those really crazy, busy days, be happy to get in a 5-minute workout.
- If you’re struggling with your nutrition plan, make it a goal to drink an extra glass of water that day or get in a serving of protein for 2 meals that day.
Kick that perfectionistic thinking to the curb by doing something—even something super small and simple.
Need ideas for small + simple things you can do to help you nail your transformation goals?
Don’t procrastinate.
This tip goes hand-in-hand with the tip above. Often, we’ll procrastinate doing something because we’re afraid we won’t be able to do it perfectly, or even near perfectly, or even very good at all. And sometimes, if we don’t enjoy doing what we need to do, we’ll often procrastinate doing that thing (Let’s be honest: There are parts of any goal we don’t enjoy, right?!?!). Other times, we’re often stuck just getting started, especially if we’re embarking on something new (new workout program, new nutrition program, etc.), so we procrastinate doing that first workout or making that first meal. But here’s the deal: Any time you’re a beginner, or even a bit past the beginning stage, you’re learning and growing. And your efforts will be far from perfect. Think about a baby learning to walk: When they take that first step and fall down, do we tell them they’ve failed and to give up on walking? No! We help them get back up, we help them take more steps, and we cheer them all along the way until those tentative steps become solid. Treat yourself like a baby learning to walk. Don’t procrastinate. Just do the thing, no matter how imperfectly it goes. Then keep doing it over and over again until you’ve mastered that thing.
“Be brave enough to be bad at something new.”
Be careful about comparisons.
Comparisons can be a slippery slope since true comparison is 100% impossible because you, your life, and your experiences are 100% unique. And you can’t truly compare two things unless they’re 100% the same. However, since comparisons are a fact of life, when we use comparisons in a positive way, they can inspire us, motivate us, and propel us forward on our goals. They can show us the path we need to take to be successful. But negative comparisons are a huge mindset trap. Social media can definitely play into comparisons—both positive and negative, so be sure and monitor the way social media affects you and mute or unfollow any accounts that send you down a negative comparison pathway.
Stumbling Block #2. Falling + struggling to get back on track
Just like with that baby learning to walk, we will all fall down at some point—or at many points—on our transformation journey. What we do next is key to creating and nurturing that transformation mindset. So, what do we do when we fall down? We follow the CRR Process: Confess, Reassess, Recommit. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of this process:
Confess: Tell someone you trust who has your back about your fall. Be totally honest about why the fall happened, what led to the fall, and all the things that contributed to that fall. Until we’re honest with ourselves, real transformation is going to be tough to achieve. And when we are courageous enough to share our fall with someone else, we’ve taken a huge step solidifying our transformation mindset!
Reassess: Have a very honest and vulnerable heart-to-heart talk with yourself about why the fall happened, and then make any needed tweaks to your plan so you can help prevent any future falls and make your transformation pathway smoother.
Recommit: Commit to yourself that you will follow through on the commitment—the promise—you’ve made to yourself. Recommit to continuing to build your personal integrity and get started again ASAP.
And don’t think that this is a one-and-done process! Falls will continue to happen, and they can serve as a great education. So, when you have a fall, ask yourself this question as a bonus to the CRR Process:
What did I learn from this fall?
Be sure and take lots of notes of what you’ve discovered through this process, refer to them as often as needed, and use them to strengthen your transformation mindset. Because, after all…
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Here’s one last, very important thing about falls: The only time you’ve failed is if you don’t get back up after you fall—you quit. As long as you get back up, dust yourself off, and try again—even if it’s for the 100th time, you have not failed. Period.
Stumbling Block #3. Real life
While we mentioned real life above, we think it deserves its own stumbling block status. We all have an “ideal” when it comes to achieving our goals: We’ll be able to get in all our workouts, stick to our nutrition plan, and achieve our goals. Plain and simple, right? BUT…and this is a big but…we often don’t take into account real life and how real life can affect our progress and our mindset. Here are some real-life things to think about:
- Sickness (both physical and mental), whether temporary or chronic
- Injuries
- Trips, whether for work or fun
- Family issues
- Work issues
- Financial setbacks
- Anything that throws us out of our routine
- Anything that is unplanned
- And so on…
Since real life is a reality, here are two tips for overcoming this all-too-real stumbling block.
Plan ahead.
We’ve all heard the Benjamin Franklin quote, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” and it’s totally true. Things that aren’t planned probably won’t happen. Throw in some unexpected things that happen in your life, and you’re pretty much doomed to fall before you even get started. So be sure and plan as best you can, keeping in mind that sometimes, our plans need to be flexible to accommodate unexpected things that will pop up from time to time.
- Schedule your workouts in your calendar and honor them as you would any other appointment, knowing that you can move them around your day when necessary. Take it one step farther and plan what workout you’re going to do each time.
- Plan your meals, and always have some quick and easy backups available for when unexpected things happen.
- Make your workouts real-life friendly: Save easy at-home workouts from social media. Keep a list of movements you can do without any equipment. Be willing to count any type of movement as a workout for that day. Because it counts!
Our Low Carb Meal Replacement Shakes are a great option for a quick meal on the go or at home.
Think outside the box.
We tend to get stuck in our way of doing things, so when real life happens (especially when these unexpected things are stressful), we might not even be able to think of any alternative ways of still working towards our goals, and our progress can stall. So, before unexpected things happen, put some thought into some ways you can still stay on track with your transformation goals that you might not have even thought of before. And some of these are repeats from the tips above:
- Keep a list of quick and easy meals and add to it regularly.
- Make that list of workout movements you can do anywhere.
- Look at what others have done to be successful, and then use what will work for you and your goals. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel, right?!
- Instead of thinking you have to get in that 30-minute workout at once, get in your workout a few minutes at a time throughout the day. Movement is movement, and any type of movement counts!
Once we get in the habit of thinking outside the box, it will be easier to make sure we’re still progressing towards our goals in spite of real life.
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When it comes right down to it, your mindset can serve as either a stumbling block on your transformation journey or as a guide to get you where you want to go successfully. And while it can take time and patience to create and nurture a transformation mindset, it can be done. Once you have that transformation mindset in place, you really can achieve anything!
Need additional assistance with creating and nurturing your transformation mindset? Our coaching program not only helps with nutrition and workouts, but our coaches also dive deep into helping you with your transformation mindset.
