I think often when we’re struggling, we feel like we’re failing.

But that honestly isn’t the case.

To succeed, you have to face struggles head on and keep on going.

If there are no struggles, you’re probably not making the changes you need. And you’re probably closer to failure than you realize.

Because change is hard. Doing what you “should” isn’t always fun.

Success IS struggle.

Life will always do its best to try to get in the way and we’re constantly going to be fighting those excuses.

Learning something new too is a process. We’re going to have to embrace being bad at something, at making mistakes if we want to grow and improve.

Because often the only way to fully learn is by doing and making those mistakes.

I mention all of this because often at that first sign of push back, at us being bad at something, we climb back into the habits we are comfortable with.

Especially if results aren’t immediate, which often they won’t be.

If you’ve found yourself wanting to go back to what is easy and instinctual and COMFORTABLE, it may be time to give yourself a little wake up love tap aka a SLAP.

If you want a new and better result, get ready for things to be challenging and uncomfortable.

Get ready to embrace the struggle.

Here are 3 tips to help…

Tip #1: Take Time Each Day To Celebrate The Wins – No Matter How Small

It’s easy to focus on the negative. To let it even “consume” you. But the best way to keep yourself moving forward is to remind yourself of the positives. 

Create a more positive mindset to help you keep on driving forward by recognizing even a small win each and every day.

Even say it out loud to yourself to really make sure your brain HEARS the positive.

What our mind believes, our body achieves.

Allow yourself to see your hard work paying off by recognizing those habit wins as you go through the learning process.

Even give yourself a mini challenge for the first week you’re doing something new to BRAG about a positive each day…even if that positive isn’t even really related. It will still improve your mindset!

Tip #2: Break Things Down

If you feel like you’re hitting that overwhelmed tipping point, that point of feeling super negative, take a step back.

Remove one challenge to focus on making a smaller change.

Don’t be afraid to admit you’re doing too much at once.

The most sustainable habits are the ones that require less willpower to replicate. And sometimes that means doing less to start so ultimately you can do more!

Tip #3: Get Help.

There is nothing wrong with asking for that outside perspective. Sure could you do it on your own? Yup!

But why not get a cheat sheet to help you do it faster?

Why not use someone else’s knowledge and experience to your advantage?

Why make mistakes you could avoid?

Why not have support to keep pushing forward while also having someone there to teach you the WHY behind things?!

When we’re struggling it can be nice to have that person to give us perspective and even help us focus on the positives and embrace the process.

SUMMARY:

Just remember…just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing…actually it means the exact opposite.

Change requires change!

Keep on going this week despite the bumps in the road and challenges you’ve faced.

YOU’VE GOT THIS!

AND shameless plug for my One On One Coaching if you need that extra support and accountability!

–> LEARN MORE

It’s so easy to fall into the “more is better” attitude.

Because taking action, “doing more,” allows us to feel like we have more control over our results…like we can get things to happen faster.

But that’s simply not how things work.

We can’t out exercise or out diet time.

So often doing more creates unsustainable routines and habits not to mention pushes us the point of training or dieting so hard that we see diminishing returns.

Our hard work actually backfires. 

That’s why I wanted to talk about how less is often more. How you can DO LESS AND ACHIEVE MORE!

Here are 4 tips to help you dial in your diet and workouts to be efficient and effective. Because really often it isn’t that we don’t have enough time or enough willpower…we are just too focused on doing MORE over that consistency!

#1: Design For Your Current Schedule

I often get asked about the best training schedule for (insert any goal here).

My reply is ALWAYS…

“What’s a realistic, not ideal, but REALISTIC training schedule for you? Because the key is designing your routine based on that!”

There are so many ways to design a training schedule based on specific goals. But the one that will pay off is the one you will do consistently.

So if you can realistically do 3 days? Design for that. 

Maybe you do more full body or anterior-posterior workouts over body part of hemisphere splits.

If you have 6 days, maybe you do the opposite or lower the volume per day or change up the types of moves.

You can always design for the time you have.

But better to plan for something you can do consistently than to end up not working areas because you miss workouts.

#2: Focus On Maintaining Things YOU Love

So often we start making changes by cutting out the foods we love. 

But this is also why we often fall off the new habits rather quickly….we run out of willpower to maintain the restriction.

We simply don’t like feeling constantly restricted!

While we always want to capitalize on that initial motivation, the more we can use it to create sustainable habits the better.

Because those habits, based off of even things we love, will allow us to maintain the new habits even during times our willpower is nonexistent.

It also helps with our mindset making changes and implementing new things.

The less you feel like you’re losing things you love, the better your mindset will be and the more open you’ll be to that learning process.

So find ways to plan in the things you love and work around them.

If you love dessert? Plan that in first and work backward from it to hit your macros.

Love your cardio but know you need strength training? Plan your cardio workouts first and then work in shorter strength workouts around it even starting with just activation work.

Love having a specific day off? Don’t plan a workout for that day!

Love having a drink on Friday night? Plan it in and work your macros around it!

Work AROUND the things you love even if you may want to cut them out eventually to start simply creating the healthiest version of your lifestyle.

#3: Make Small Changes As Things Become Habit

I know many of us feel we are “all or nothing” people, but so often making massive changes leads to us massively falling off our plan.

Because it just feels too different, too overwhelming and requires too much willpower to maintain so many new things at once. 

Make one small changed based on your current habits and routines. 

Because what gets us results is what we can be consistent with long term. And what is easiest to stick to is something based off our current lifestyle.

No one size fits all. Stay focused on your needs and goals and creating the healthiest variation of YOUR lifestyle – not on what someone else’s arbitrary standard of clean is!

Small changes lower the barrier to entry. They make it easier to mentally accept the changes.

And the add up to build momentum.

They also make it easier to create habits we can maintain even when we aren’t motivated…they’re just…innate! 

#4: Set End Dates

While we want to create a “lifestyle” we do “forever,” forever is overwhelming. 

No end date applies no pressure to start. It gives us no time to assess.

And it can lead to you trying to do more to rush things or feel like you need to switch things up when you simply need to stay consistent for longer for results to build.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is to set “end dates.” 

These give us a set point at which to assess. They allow us to feel like we can change then too if needed.

It doesn’t just feel like we’re stuck doing something forever.

Because we also have to realize we won’t do one thing forever. Our needs and goals are constantly evolving and so should our workouts and our diet!

That’s why it’s also so important we learn the WHY behind what we’re doing so we can make changes as needed.

But set those end dates to have points to step back, take that bird’s eye view and assess. 

Ready to make a change and dial in your workouts and your diet to match YOUR needs and goals?

Check out my 3-Step Recipe to RESULTS…

–> The RS Recipe To Achieve LASTING Results

I did a podcast a while ago about “how long does it take to achieve (insert result here)?” since I get that question a lot. 

And I said in that podcast that the annoying answer is… “Your entire life.”

Often we equate what we are doing RIGHT NOW to the results we have RIGHT NOW.

Even though we do know results take time to build.

The simple fact is, our current results in life are truly an indicator of our past hustle. Ryan shared that statement with me and I thought it was a great summary.

What you did a year ago? Is part of the results you’re seeing now.

It’s why, we can’t just diet the couple of days before vacation and expect abs to pop through. And if they do? Well it’s probably because they were basically there from what you did the 4 months prior at least. 

It’s that whole thing of “one healthy meal doesn’t make you healthy just like one unhealthy meal doesn’t make you unhealthy.”

Things are cumulative whether we like to recognize this or not.

Like many of the things we simple write off as “getting older.”

We attribute often aches and pains or struggles to lose weight with old age when, sure there are changes our body goes through as we get older, but also part of what we’re seeing now is due to our past “hustle”…or lack thereof haha

Everything really does “build” off of everything else we’ve done in life…both good and bad.

And at any time we can choose to make a change. But the time is always NOW.

Not Monday. Not in the New Year…

But NOW!

Because in life there is no starting over. There is only moving forward.

And that’s why I wanted to share these 3 tips to help you start hustling today to create the life you want….

#1: Suck it up and learn. Stop searching for a fad diet. Start TRACKING.

Trust me…I know people hate tracking. Hate committing the time to being bad at something. They just want a quick fix. Myself included.

And if there was one, I’d be providing it to all of you. Trust me. It would make my job easier at times.

But I refuse to lie to you about what success takes. And it’s often a sucky process filled with being bad at things as you LEARN.

However, through actually learning the why behind things and focusing on tracking what you’re doing, you give yourself control to make a change and build a solid foundation.

You can help maximize your long term results. Because as tempting as those dramatic quick results are?

They’re often why we’re ultimately looking for that next quick fix! It’s why things haven’t added up the way we’d like from all of the “hustle” we feel like we’ve put in.

So this week, start tracking what you’re doing. Start creating a clear plan. Start learning about each component of what you’re implementing and embrace the fact that you may suck at some new stuff to start!

#2: Focus on the daily habits. Set habit goals.

I’m oddly a horrible goal setter, but the one thing I do set, is habit goals. I very much celebrate those daily habit wins.

Because I realize that by implementing those daily annoying, tedious habits at times, I’ll achieve the results I want.

And the motivation of knowing you’re doing something successful, and if you’re a list person, getting to cross it off your list? 

Can help you stay motivated through the ups and downs that are bound to occur.

While we want to remember our ultimate goal, as humans, we don’t do well with the idea of doing something FOREVER. We don’t do well without deadlines. It’s easy to slack or not even get started if there is nothing pushing you.

Especially when results don’t happen fast enough, which they never do.

So set habit goals, mini challenges, daily things you can do that will build toward your ultimate goal but also help you find a “win” in each day!

#3: Create minimums.

Success and results occur by us moving forward even when life is sucky. Plain and simple. It’s easy to be committed when things go perfectly.

But A. Life often doesn’t work with us. And B. Those times are short lived.

That’s why success is truly achieved by finding a way to move forward even during the worst of worse times.

This means recognizing that sometimes progress means simply not losing ground on our goals. Even just losing less than we would have in the past.

But also finding ways to do enough to move forward even if the progress is painfully slow.

That’s where MINIMUMS come into play.

If life is doing it’s best to hold you back?

Find a way to do a MINIMUM amount to maintain your current results. Even plan ahead to do the minimum. You can always ADD!

But by doing just enough to maintain what you’ve already done, you A. Do achieve a win by not digging yourself a hole which goes a far way in long-term results. This also can make you feel less stressed which leads to you then wanting to do more 

And…B. You may find you do still move forward and build momentum for yourself. Because often we can still do the minimum effective dose for results…even if they happen even slower than we’d have liked slow results to happen.

Progress though is still progress no matter how small.

So if life is busy right now, think of just doing 5 minute workouts. Just track without stressing a macro ratio. Do SOMETHING, do the minimum, but just enough that you can mentally handle it, to keep moving forward!

I was thinking about what most often leads to a client being successful…and honestly it never boils down to the fact that they really have more willpower. Or better macros or better workouts.

It boils down to the fact that they truly take OWNERSHIP of the process. They focus on finding a way through the ideal, and not so ideal times.

And they recognize the power of their mindset.

Because so often we try to search for a perfect diet, a perfect workout. A perfect supplement or move. When really, it comes down to the fact that…

“What our mind believes, our body achieves.”

That’s why I wanted to share 4 things successful people DON’T DO with some tips to help you avoid these pitfalls.

#1: Blame things outside themselves

No not everything that happens in life is within your control. But recognizing you can ALWAYS control your reaction to events ultimately is key.

Because that puts you in a position of power to move forward.

Blaming the sucky thing that did happen may make you feel like it wasn’t your fault, but it does nothing to move you forward.

It makes you a victim over a victor.

We have to remember that we can’t control what we can’t control. And dwelling on it doesn’t change it.

If we instead see each situation as an opportunity or chance to learn and move forward, we can then find ways to achieve success even if the path isn’t what we initially envisioned.

Blaming something outside yourself may make you feel less bad about the situation, but it does NOTHING to move you forward. It does nothing to empower you so that you realize that you can CHOOSE to make a path forward.

So today if something happens, instead of making an excuse or blaming the event, focus on finding a solution. A way to move forward regardless!

#2: Focus on Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda 

Hindsight is always 20/20. You should always want to learn and grow so that you look back on the past and would have done something differently.

But the simple fact is…you can’t go back and change anything.

You can only move forward.

Reflect and learn from the past but stay focused on the future.

When you’re tempted to start moping about what you coulda, shoulda, woulda done, instead tell yourself, “I won’t make that mistake again!”

Find an action item out of the learning experience that you’re going to implement moving forward.

See everything you do as a learning experience. Even a new program.

So what if it doesn’t work out? So what if you weren’t able to be as perfect as you would have liked?

What did you learn so you can keep moving forward?

Take one positive from it and remind yourself of it!

#3: Give up.

Honestly success is about being punched in the gut and standing right back up. Rarely have I had a client say “Well life just went perfectly the entire time I was training with you and that’s why I got results.”

Actually often I have clients say, “I got results DESPITE (insert all the stuff that happened there).”

Failure is really not the opposite of success. It’s a part of it.

And the more we see each setback as a learning experience, the more successful we will ultimately be.

Instead of trying to forget your mistakes, remind yourself of them but with the key things you now know BECAUSE of them.

We can often learn even more from the things that didn’t work than the things that did.

So as you even start a new program, remind yourself it will be a learning experience. Track and make note of not only what does work but also what doesn’t!

That allows you to do more of the good while avoiding the bad.

But just remember there will be ups and downs.

And success is most often defined, not by what we do when times are perfect, but by how we continue on through the times life works against us!

#4: Expect immediate results

We all wish results happened yesterday.

But change takes time and there is often a learning process full of ups and downs we first have to go through.

And as cliche as it is, I think it’s key we remind ourselves at times that anything in life worth having takes work.

However, during the day to day grind it can be hard to keep your eye on that long-term prize.

So the more we can set goals that do provide the motivation of seeing immediate results as often as possible? THE BETTER!

So if you’re starting a new program, consider ways to celebrate those habit goals as wins. Set mini challenges for yourself even so that you can see progress in different ways more consistently to keep doing the things you know will ultimately lead to success.

And when you feel discouraged, remind yourself results are building and often when we want to give up? Well that’s the time to push even harder!

Listen to More

Guess what? 

You’re human. You’re never going to be perfect.

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true.

And honestly, if you ever look back at a project you’ve done and there is nothing you would change?

You’re either…

A. Not being honest with yourself…

Or…

B. You’ve stopped learning and started standing still.

Because as we learn and grow, we will always find flaws in earlier plans.

And it’s key we realize this because so often we hold ourselves back from ever getting started because we want something to be “perfect.”

We have to recognize that perfection can actually hinder progress!

If you’re ready to make a change, check out my RS Recipe for results. These 3 steps are key… 

–> Learn More About How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off For GOOD!