I don’t know about you, but how many times have you been told to be patient when it came to hitting your health and fitness goals? Have you ever looked up the definition of patience? Patience. the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. The ability to tolerate discomfort.
What is it to be patient?
Be patient in the results you are working towards.
To have patience in the process. This had me thinking about this because some things came up in my current summer program with new clients. They wanted just a meal plan given to them to follow and they will do it! But wait. That is what we USED TO DO, not what we do now! We used to think a meal plan would give us a magical transformation, and BOOM. That is not how it is?
A meal plan is not Amazon Prime. It is not going to give you the transformation you want, so instead, what if you shifted your focus to making little changes that you can do and then, have patience.
Transformation is about patience.
Look at where we have been for the last year and a half. For most of us, we can’t go from almost a year in a half kind of sorta, to being ready to hit the ground running in 3.3 seconds. THIS is not how our bodies work. Like it or lump it our bodies don’t just turn on the dot. I wish it was an Amazon prime situation, but it’s not. Let’s be honest. NOW is the time to really focus on patience. Can we slow down for a hot minute and really make this happen’
Let’s dive into what you have to do before getting started. First, you have to understand what your motivation is. Why are you resistant to the change? What comes up for you that makes you feel uncomfortable that you have to pump the brake on?
Why is it so important to change right now, vs. 3-6 months from now? We live in an instant gratification world, so it is your responsibility to move past that and get down to your why so that you can be clear on what you want your outcome to be.
Get clear with your outcome. Define it, be clear on that definition so that everyone knows exactly where you are coming from.
Now, back to patience. The definition is your ability to tolerate discomfort. Losing weight and doing something different can be the definition of discomfort for some of us. Waiting for something we desire does bring up negative feelings because we don’t want to wait! You want to lose weight, why can’t it be right now?! And then you turn to negativity when it doesn’t come as fast as you would like it to. Not sure who needs to hear this, but your weight did not come on fast, so losing it is not going to be fast. It is going to take time, and that takes patience? See how we are always coming back to patience’ 12
Our patience is greatly developed throughout our lives. Some of us have patience for one thing but not for another thing. It took me 6 years to get the patience that I have now.
But it had to be shaken into me that I had to have a path and a process, or I’d be repeating the same thing over and over again and get frustrated. So, in order to find that patience, I had to create a path, know my why, my motivation, and create a process.
So why do we need patience anyways?
1. Well first, patience is amazing because it lowers our stress levels. When we develop patience around areas of our life, it helps to reduce the stress around those areas. (Being on high alert isn’t something our bodies are used to so it’s not good to be that way all the time. )
2. When you have patience, you don’t go to that negative place. You stay positive and on the right path to continue to your outcome.
3. When you have patience, you make improved decisions, not radical decisions.
4. When you have patience you have more control and resiliency and that helps you to in turn make educated decisions.
5. When you have patience, you are not continuously future-casting or overthinking.
This quote from Arthur Ashe has helped me when I find myself in that overthinking mindset.
Start where you are, do what you can with what you have.?
Start where you are and do an assessment of where you are when you get started.
How is my sleep?
How is my stress?
How is the food I am eating?
How are your workouts doing?
What is not in alignment with you getting to your goal in the next 6 months?
Now, If you are someone just getting into working out again, you are not going to get to where you were back then right away. (This also goes for those coming out of the Rona-haze.) So, start with where you are, commit to 2 days a week of working out, have a salad for lunch every day, and try making sure you are going to bed on time and sleeping enough.) Believe me, it is much better to commit to a few things instead of ALLLL the things. Because when we do that, we will get pissed and lose patience!
Think about.
What causes you to be impatient with your goals? Are you triggered by social media?
What triggers you? Comments by others? A random person or from a doctor? How do you move on to get started? How do you slow down to speed up?
There has to be a plan because how you get to your goals is how you keep your goals. Why do we feel like we need to get to a goal by a certain time? Why do we feel that pressure?
Decide.
What is the GPS address to your destination? Where are you going? What are your goals? What are the regular obstacles that come up? When you are trying to achieve this goal, what are the obstacles that regularly pop up for you? And how do you get through them? Do you need support for getting through these obstacles? (And please believe that this is not a sign of weakness) Stop letting your perfectionism hold you back. Ask questions and get the help and support you need in order to get to your goals.
Decide that you can’t have it overnight, but you can have this! It is accessible to you! And it will come when it comes!
Then, decide on those 1-3 things that you can do every single day to get you closer to your goals. Your non-negotiables to help you build your long-lasting habits.
This is about how you sit in discomfort… The discomfort of waiting. How do you sit in it? Because that will help you to make better decisions. Patience is a choice?
You decide that it’s worth learning or you decide if it’s worth repeating the same patterns over and over again.
This is why I created Lifestyle 66. It is a way to show you how you build your own particular habits. Take meal plans for example. If they worked for everyone, everyone would have 1 meal plan for the rest of their life, and it would work magically. Meal plans only work until they don’t. With a meal plan, you go on vacation and you’re like crap!
So, this program helps you to create a habit over 66 days. This will give you a visual representation of how to do that. Pick any habit you want to accomplish over 66 days and you have me to help you and guide you through that. I will help you get through obstacles, as well as brainstorm strategies and tips on how to get you through the first 66 days of that habit.
If you are interested, shoot me a message on social media or send me an email and we can set up a time to talk to help you get through Lifestyle 66!!! I look forward to seeing you there!
LINKS
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/
Website: https://www.kimbarnesjefferson.com/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661
