Life is full of situations that will put us in difficult positions, and many times because of fear of failure, we do not take opportunities that are right in front of us; opportunities that might not come ever again. It sounds extreme, but is the truth. It’s okay to be prepared and have plans since it keeps us focused on our goals. However, we cannot be ready for everything that life throws at us. Sometimes we either have to say yes, or no (let's not be reckless) without having the chance to think too much about it, and even when you do have it, things can change from one second to the next and the scenario we thought of, is long gone.
With that being said, something that cannot change regardless of the situation is that you must be truthful to yourself and others. This means being honest with yourself and your surroundings in terms of thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas. However, there is a fine line between being truthful, and disrespectful.
A person can be honest and give their own opinion on something without letting it get distorted by others, but always take other people’s feelings into consideration because oftentimes it can come off the wrong way. Coming across as rude or insensitive has nothing to do with what we say, for the most part, but with how we say it; that’s where being respectful comes into play. Being respectful is as important as being honest since if we are not, even when our intention is to help, the person will feel attacked and might close up, which is the opposite of what we want. We as individuals do not have to agree with everything we hear, neither we have to give an opinion on everything. However, something we can always do and have total control over, is how and when we express ourselves, and that is with respect and truth.
What does this have to do with our training journey? Well, by keeping ourselves truthful we can have a more joyful fitness journey and a better understanding of our body. If we are missing sessions and/or if the quality of our nutrition is deteriorating, then the first and most important step toward improvement and toward the prevention of reinforcing bad habits is being honest with ourselves. We cannot expect results from sessions we do not do, or fall for the thought process of “that was not a good meal, but oh well, cannot harm that much” because it actually does if we do it repetitively. These behaviors have us looking only into the small picture and making us forget what our “why” is, which can lead us back to where we started.
If this happens to us at some point in our journey, we have to stop and say “I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do”; recognize it and embrace it. This, however, does not mean to punish or petty ourselves harshly, that would only do more harm. If we are honest, though, we can catch this behavior quickly and take action. We all know there are no easy ways or shortcuts for hard work. Goals aren’t achieved out of anywhere, so stay honest, and we can continue on the right path toward our goals.
Jesus Vicente
jesus@phoenixacoaching.com