Have you ever met or been that person who commits hard to something - fitness challenge, diet, new habit, routines, etc., only to come crashing down either right after your goal has been accomplished or half way through?

Me too, I’ve been there.

About 6 months ago, I started Coaching someone who had struggled with commitment and follow-through despite good intentions. What we worked on - besides identity, purpose, and getting to the root of the issue - was the action plan. 
 

Often when we take on a new challenge, we think of the outcome; what we’ll look like, our bank account, what the new habit will do for us, etc. which gives us the energy to get started but we underestimate the journey and it typically takes longer than we expect.

We’ll take on these challenges and a new way of life as the same person who struggled with commitment in the past. By doing so, we’re setting ourselves up for failure which leads to a whole host of other problems. The goal then is to slow down in order to ultimately speed up. If we go too fast too soon, we’ll crash and burn as some of us can relate. This means that we’re constantly starting over and that slows us down over time.  

For the bigger improvements we want to make in our life, one way we can slow down to speed up is through creating self-discipline, studying/researching prior to the commitment we’re about to make, putting a plan into motion, getting to the root of why we’re doing it, partnering up with a coach or friend to help hold us accountable, etc.

Another way is to ask ourselves the following question;

What is one small action step that you could take to make progress towards the best version of yourself?

With this question in mind, the person I was working with was able to simply start by putting their running shoes beside their bed at night so that in the morning, they were staring at them in the face.  The goal was to walk, not sprint and slowly create an identity of being someone who was disciplined and healthy. 

We started by going through why we’re doing this, put a plan into motion, and I was there to help hold them accountable. Now, they identify themselves as someone who is consistent, disciplined and healthy.  They don’t feel deprived of junk food or too much rest because they are prepared to trade those things off for who it is that they’re becoming. 

The best part is that this has had a positive impact on their confidence, performance at work, and energy levels.

What’s something that you’ve been striving to improve but struggle to commit to? 

Maybe try going slow, taking it one step at a time and create a new identity for yourself in the process for lasting improvement.

You got this!
 

Brandin