This shit is really hard sometimes.
I know … you probably didn’t expect such a profound statement so early in the week ;).
But I’m not here to sugarcoat it.
Achieving your goals is not a layup.
In fact, it’s more like a never ending full court press.
March Madness references aside … it’s important to understand that some days are just going to flat out suck.
Even some weeks.
And probably some months.
Now, the good news is that, unlike in March Madness, if you take an L, you still get to keep playing.
And eventually, if you keep playing long enough, you get pretty proficient at breaking that full court press and scoring consistently.
However, I wouldn’t say it ever gets easy.
You simply level up and are able to take on new challenges.
Tougher opponents.
And even when you’re at the top of your game …
There will still be days that test the shit out of you.
And make you question if it’s all worth it.
There needs to be more transparency around this fact.
Some days require more sacrifices than others.
Yesterday was a shitty day for me, personally.
Not the greatest day in my personal life and it had a strong impact on my emotional state.
Combine that with the fact that I’m deep in my cutting phase and already pretty moody … and it wasn’t a great concoction.
Funny enough, I actually stayed completely dialed in on my plan.
Sunday is my lowest calorie day and despite plenty of thoughts to say fuck it … I made it work.
For me, I try to use my nutrition and training (and daily movement) as anchors during difficult times.
Old me used to get stressed or frustrated and would eat everything in sight.
But that never helped me feel any better.
Now, I try to use nutrition and movement as two things that I can control, even when everything else feels like it’s spiraling.
I’m not always successful with that approach.
But I’m light years ahead of where I was and that’s all that matters to me.
It has taken me a while to retrain my brain to respond that way.
It’ll always be a work in progress.
Even though I was able to stick to my plan yesterday, I barely slept because my mind was racing, and I woke up to a much higher weight.
That’s when the feelings of “why bother” creep in.
Are the sacrifices worth it?
It’s a valid question.
Probably something you should ask yourself quite often.
Achieving your goals will come with sacrifice.
Depending on your goals, it may require a lot of sacrifice.
Again, I’m not sure why more people don’t address this.
It’s baked into the very nature of pursuing something that you currently don’t have.
You want to make more money?
There will be sacrifices.
You want to lose more body fat?
There will be sacrifices.
You want to improve your relationships?
There will be sacrifices.
Anything you want to achieve that you don’t currently have will come with some inherent form of sacrifice.
So yeah, we should absolutely get real with ourselves about whether or not it’s worth it.
You might decide that eliminating carbs for the rest of your life isn’t worth it to lose weight.
Which I would say is a great conclusion.
You might decide that cutting back on dining out and drinking a little bit less IS worth it.
Totally your choice.
You might decide that you’re ok with progress being a bit slower if you get to include more flexibility in your plan with things like alcohol, social events, date nights, etc.
Totally valid.
It’s important to check in with yourself regarding these things because if you’re ok with taking it slow and steady, yet you get frustrated when things don’t move quickly enough …
That’s called dissonance.
Incongruence.
Of course we want our cake and to it eat it too.
But if you truly want lifelong results, you gotta play the lifelong game.
And yeah … this shit is hard sometimes.
Because there will be days where you do everything “right” and you still don’t see the progress you want.
And there will be days where you do everything “wrong” and you question yourself.
But remember, you get to keep showing up and playing your game.
This is not a one and done situation.
Be grateful for hard days and the lessons they offer.
We have the gift of being able to learn from a shitty day, shitty week, shitty month, or shitty year .. and use that to get better.
So lean into the hard days.
Be grateful for the lessons they offer.
For me, yesterday showed me how far I’ve come and that I’m still far from where I want to be with how I handle those tough situations.
It also reminded me of the sacrifices I’m willing to make in pursuit of my goals.
And yes, they are still worth it to me.
Today I have another four quarters to play.
Which is already a gift.
Quarter 1 started with coffee and writing, so I count that as a win.
Quarter 2 will include more work and back day.
I’ve already set myself up to be leading at the half.
I plan to carry that momentum throughout the day.
And if I happen to lose a quarter or two … I’m not concerned.
I’ll control what I can to bounce back quickly.
No … this shit is not easy.
But I love it.
I truly enjoy the challenge.
Embrace the change that you are CHOOSING to make.
And go win your day.
Hope this helps.
