Most of us have been there before. "We were doing so good! What happened?" Whether you're on a no-sugar kick, workout every day grind, or write a blog post every day schedule, we're all susceptible to 1 or more days of being "off-track." The key is to limit our days off and fast track our way to being back on.
In my past I expected perfection. If I didn't go 30 straight days of PERFECT calorie counting, or PERFECT anything, then I deemed myself a failure.
For example, after 2 weeks of discipline and action, just ONE day of "weakness" or saying yes to a break or a candy bar, meant complete failure. Then one day of this turned into two days, which eventually turned into my lifestyle.
I KNOW many people can relate to this cycle. The 2-weeks-on-2-months-off cycle.
In my case, I didn't post a blog for 7 days. I also said yes to junk food and candy bars. I also smoked weed! I also watched porn! I also did nothing! I also showed up to my life coaching sessions unprepared and unfit to coach at my best level.
I'll be real, I'm not proud of those decisions per se, but I do own them. None of that happened by accident. It was a choice. I do not cover it up. It is something I will own up to to the people who deserve to hear it.
So...to answer the title of this blog post more directly, when you lose momentum do the following:
1. Accept that you made the choice to lose momentum. You could have kept going if you really wanted to. And it's not that you didn't really want to. But, you did choose to take a break. You did choose to eat a candy bar. You did choose that. The point of this is to understand that losing momentum didn't happen by accident. There's no confusion or upsetness over the reason why. We know the reason why, we chose! That's where power starts.
2. Remove the wrongness from your choice to lose momentum. You're not a bad boy or girl. You haven't sinned. All is not lost. You're not a failure. Just as quickly as you lost momentum, is as quickly as you can gain momentum back! Now that's seeing opportunity!
3. Learn from your experience. If you could go back what would you do differently? Maybe it is the case that you needed a break! And you wanted to eat a candy bar! Create space so you can have a break and eat a candy bar. Or maybe in your heart of hearts you wish you would have just stayed discipline. Figure out what had you fall out of discipline, then figure out a way to make sure that doesn't happen!
4. Once you feel the negative energy of "losing momentum" has dissipated, shift your focus to what it is you originally wanted. Whether it's six pack abs, a growing audience, or a sense of discipline, let that be your inspiration and motivation for taking action again.
5. Take action! Recall that when you first started your journey, it was not necessarily easy. Although it should be easier now, you may still experience a slow start or a resistance to taking action. NORMAL!
Final Message
It's funny how what we want in the short-term sometimes completely goes against what we want in the long-term. Most of what we want, the money, the body, the accolades, they exist on the other end of short-term discipline and long-term consistency.
And, for damn sure, the high of achieving a long-term goal is far superior to the high of eating a snickers bar. One is earned and in alignment with our best self, the other is...a cheat code...a little hit of dopamine to get us by.
Choose your path to happiness mindfully!
Much Love,
Gabriel Santos
