Each week when I write a blog there’s a big part of me that wants to come up with a perspective that provides others with a new idea or viewpoint for their personal or team growth. Selfishly this time around I found myself using the blog for a therapy session 😃. While I’m finding it therapeutic, I’m also hoping others can benefit when they face a disruption on their path to their authentic success.
A few weeks ago, during a workout I felt a pop in my pec muscle. Fast forward through surgery to connect the muscle and tendon back to the bone and now a few weeks in a sling, I miss the way I was able to workout and challenge my body and mind. But shit happens. And injuries happen all the time so while I can sulk and feel sad for myself, I can also choose to find my new path ahead on my health and wellness journey.
The most important realization I’ve had so far is that it’s okay to accept my health and wellness process can be different from what it was. My process can evolve and adapt as life throws obstacles in the way. Although the process may look different right now, staying on my health and wellness journey, the journey is still able to move forward with necessary adaptations.
One of the most important adaptations I’ve uncovered is clearing out the noise in my mind to focus. It’s a waste of time and energy thinking about what I can’t do right now and such a better use of time and energy focusing on what I am able to do right now. What I can do is stay very active with my lower body. Extra walks with the dog, bike rides on the Peloton, body weight lower body workouts, core work, hiking, and whatever else I can do to move my body.
Coaching is giving me another spurt of focus on my health and wellness. While I can’t demonstrate as much as I used to, I still am so fortunate to be out on the court with my kids’ basketball teams along with in the cages with my sons’ baseball team. The process looks different from the past but continues ahead.
When we face hurdles where what we enjoyed doing is taken away from us, it’s difficult at times to not mentally zone in on what we’re missing out on. We’re hooked on an old way of how things worked and it’s mentally difficult to unhook from this anchor holding us in the past. It takes a lot of mental strength to find a new path over or around the hurdle we’re facing. But our hurdle gives us a great opportunity (and challenge) to reimagine the future. It’s not that something is taken from us, it’s the opportunity to redefine what the future looks like that can secretly be a blessing.
Keep in context the loss I’m working through is short term and insignificant. There are plenty of other losses that are much more difficult to rebound from. Losing a job forces us to adjust our process. A failed relationship creates the need to reshape the process for the future. And while the process may be different these and other difficult losses, it doesn’t mean we can’t stay on our authentic path of success.
The core message in mindset will remain focusing on what we do have to reimagine what the future can hold. The anchor of the past holds a heavy weight with each of us, but we can handle hard better by unhooking from that anchor of the past to reimagine the future.
Take your step: think of a recent loss (no matter how big or small) and take time to reflect on how your mind is doing, mitigating the time and energy focusing on the old and how much time and energy is being put towards the future. Be honest in assessing how heavy the anchor from the past is impacting you and challenge yourself to invest more time talking about what you can do. Keep your mind active moving forward with what you can do.
Big thank you to all the support recovering – especially my wife!
