The mindset motivation series is a way for us to think about how our dedication to the fit life can fuel a healthy mindset. There are lessons we can learn in the gym and there are habits we can take from healthy eating, which lend themselves to results experienced inside and out. If you’ve been an LG Sister for some time now, you know that we work towards strong bodies and, most importantly, strong minds.
Today’s mindset motivation is about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. You may have seen my posts from the H&M event in NYC last week. While working out during that event, I heard the statement: “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
It was easy to instantly apply that statement to the physical sense. Here I was… feeling cute dressed in the new H&M sportswear collection… hair curled in a high ponytail… face full of makeup… ready to see the new clothing line and get in (what I thought would be) a light sweat session.
Instead, I was 40 minutes into a circuit workout, watching the sweat drip off my face onto my mat while I was squat jumping up and down. For the first part of the workout, I tried to keep the cute look going by cutting corners during the workout; I won’t even lie to you. However, when I took in the statement “get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” it lit a fire under my booty, which at that point was burning beyond words!
Applied in the physical sense, if I was going to make the most of this workout, I had to feel okay with looking sweaty and disheveled: to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.
I know you know what that’s like… how many times have you been working out and learned to embrace the challenge?
Think back to the first few times you worked out. Can you remember weight training and the burning feeling in your muscles developing?
When you’re not used to that, you feel your muscles begin to burn and your initial reaction is to immediately stop the exercise. Now, however, you may be addicted to that feeling.
As soon as I feel my muscles burning, I give it all I’ve got to push out a few more reps. It’s a limit I’ve learned to push past.
While weight training, we know the real great results are made in the last few reps of an exercise. By pushing past our physical limits, we experience results like tight and sculpted muscles.
When it comes to applying this to our healthy mindset, it’s helpful to remember this fitness example.
We often talk about the post-workout high or endorphin rush. You get comfortable with being uncomfortable for the duration of your workout and then get to experience the unstoppable feeling that sets in right after.
The same is true for when we overcome fears, push boundaries and achieve in our personal lives due to our strong minds.
I love to use the example of my career choice to illustrate this because I know, for certain, that I would not have had the courage and confidence to go for my dreams if it weren’t for the role health and fitness played in my mindset.
If you’re not familiar with how I got here writing this to you, I’ll share a little bit of that story. I was as in-the-box as they come growing up. I was overly focused on academics, studying Biology on a pre-med path. I put everything into graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Biology. The time and energy commitment I devoted to preparing for, applying to, and getting into dental school is something that overwhelms me just to think about.
I thrived off of structure and security. I always knew I wanted a career path like becoming a teacher or a doctor not necessarily because I loved the field, but because it was a clear plan: you major in X, you take test Y and you become Z.
For me, it was a little bit robotic, but I felt “safe” inside. Until one day, I didn’t. The week before I was to start dental school, all my emotions hit me like a brick wall. I didn’t really want to become a dentist.
While I was an undergraduate student, I started a blog. I sold nothing. I made no money from it. But, I absolutely loved it. I shared my daily workouts, training tips, lessons I was learning and how I used health and fitness to become happier and more confident. I simply wanted to help others learn how to weight train and how to improve their lives through healthy living.
Somewhere in the mix of all of that, I developed courage I never really had. I was warming up on the treadmill one day before my workout and I remember saying to myself: “you cannot spend another 4 years in school, becoming something you don’t want to be. You’ve got to continue doing what you love and let the career path come.”
I’m sure you’ve had thoughts like that too…
You may be in an unfulfilling job, but it pays your bills, so how do you leave?
You may be in a relationship where you know you deserve better, but some days you’re happy, so is it worth seeing what is out there?
You may be in a town that just doesn’t excite you, but all of your family members live nearby, so is it worth the risk of feeling lonely to relocate to a new city?
You may have thoughts like “there’s got to be something more to life.”
I’ve been there! I was the only thing standing in my way. My fears were holding me back for so long.
Thankfully, the seemingly little lesson of “get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable” was something I could take from my healthy lifestyle and apply elsewhere like with my career decision.
I still remember typing my resignation letter to dental school. I recall the fear of telling all my friends and family, worrying I would let them down. Still, I couldn’t help but recognize the happy dance I did all the time when I pushed past the self-imposed limits I placed on myself.
I was going for my dreams. I dreamed of creating a health and fitness brand that could help women everywhere through weight training. I wanted to teach them the basics, so they could recognize their own strength. This strength would transpire into inner results that they could elevate their lives and go for their dreams. I went for it!
Let me tell you this… if you start small with pushing your own limits, it will snowball.
Maybe one day, you decide that you’re going to simply say “no” to something you always say yes to then regret later. =Victory
That small victory then leads you to take a spontaneous girls’ trip to the place you’ve always wanted to go to. =Greater Victory
That victory trickles into other areas of your life and before you know it, you have the confidence to live your life the way you’ve always wanted.
Here’s a little recipe I put together to help motivate us to make this mindset stick!
Comfortable with Uncomfortable Mindset Recipe
Ingredients:
Reflect on Experience
^Past experiences good or bad, beneficial or detrimental all help mold this mindset. We can look back on our past experiences to see how in moments where we put ourselves out there, we were able to achieve so much. They say you will always regret what you didn’t do more than what you did do. Let’s use our experiences to push past our limits.
Determination
^Once we know that we must get comfortable with being uncomfortable, we can stay determined in the pursuit of where we want that mindset to take us.
Hard Work
^Nothing worth having comes easy. We have to be willing to put in the effort to break down barriers, to push our limits, to overcome and to achieve.
Instructions:
1. Look for areas in your life and experiences where you allowed yourself to feel uncomfortable. What beautiful things manifested from that? Write them down!
2. Are there any areas in your life where you feel you could do more or be more? Write them down!
3. From those two lists, create 3 goals. Be specific with these goals and write them in the present form, so that when you read them, they feel as though they have already been achieved!
For example…
I am a certified personal trainer, teaching group fitness classes and training private clients by December 2016.
I am married to the man of my dreams by Summer 2018.
4. Don’t stop. Like I said, this mindset snowballs. Be on the lookout for areas where you can push past your limits. Instead of being directed by what you fear, run confidently and directly at what you do want.
I’m a sucker for a great message, so I was thrilled when I heard H&M’s new sportswear line had meaning to it. The line is all about For Every Victory: pushing yourself and your body to new limits. It encompasses this exact mindset!
On a girly note… here’s what I love about the clothing: it’s cute, affordable and performance quality, which is a hard combination to come by. The Swedish Olympic team actually gave their input on the performance aspect of this collection! So, we can get our squats on in style without worrying about booty sweat stains hehe. You can check out the looks (with my personal favorite gold and pink details) here.
This post is brought to you by H&M through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about H&M as always, all opinions are my own.
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