Starting on a new plan or a new challenge is never easy. The first step is always the hardest but we mere humans already knew that. I have been thinking about this topic for a while now. We all know the hardest step to take is the first one—- getting our finances in order, sticking to a budget, starting a new exercise routine, giving up bad habits and replacing them with better healthier ones. But why is it SO hard???

I truly believe we don’t want to bury our heads in the sand and ignore our challenges but WHY is it so hard to START.

I believe the first step is just thinking about our current challenges or the context of our lives and what we desire for ourselves and our families. That first step of identifying areas for improvement is a wonderful first step, but it isn’t complete until you take the first step in changing the behavior. But KEEP IN MIND the fact that you have identified them, MEANS you want to become a BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF and that is HUGE!!!!!

Recently my husband and I started a 30 day challenge where we each have to complete 30 minutes of heart pumping, sweat inducing exercise every day for 30 days. If we miss a day the next day we have to add that 30 minutes onto our current day’s goal. We both felt we needed to work on different areas of our bodies and coming up with a challenge helps to keep us accountable to ourselves and each other!

We all have the self-doubt voice in our heads particularly around sports or our fitness levels where we compare ourselves to others or talk negatively to ourselves  —-I am not strong enough to push through the strength training, I am not fast enough to win the race, I don’t have enough endurance to complete a (…fill in the blank…) Why do we feel it is ok to talk to ourselves this way, when we would never speak to our friends in this manner. If a friend came to me concerned about competing in a race I would encourage and support them…SO why don’t we give ourselves the same SELF LOVE that we give to others. I believe it is easy for the “self talk” to be allowed which discourages us because we feel it will SAVE us from OUR IDEA of potential failure, if we never begin we can’t fail. BUT GUESS WHAT…the fact is when we decide to show up in any portion of our life for self-improvement it means we CAN ONLY GO UP THE HILL AND IMPROVE!!!

Any day where you change even one thing, you get out of bed and meditate for 10 minutes, you make a conscious decision not to purchase the “want” and only  the “need”, you go for a jog and end up walking YOU HAVE BECOME A BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF!

Just by changing one thing you are making yourself a better person than you were before. We mere humans are meant to continue to learn, push, strive and improve ourselves. We all benefit from encouragement, support and accountability. If you are currently struggling with starting and would like more one on one guidance please reach out to me at 4pillarscoaching@gmail.com for your complimentary session where together we can come up with a plan so you can continue through this journey of health and fitness.

Life is full of challenges, make them lessons not obstacles !!!!