Getting back on track.

Today is just a quick one. I want to share a story about one of my clients that I'm sure will resonate with so many you.

Over the past couple of years my client has built some really great habits and created a routine that works for her. Usually she trains with me twice a week and in between she'll train at home. She's usually consistent with drinking at least 2 litres of water a day, has control over when she chooses to consume high calorie, sugary foods/drinks and trains at home regularly in between our sessions and her sleep is generally good.

Today we had a chat and she said she's been feeling pretty tired - mainly due to work. For the past 3 weeks she's been struggling with her home workouts, food and nutrition. She hasn't been drinking her usual amount of water during the day, then on an evening she has found she's been snacking more on the high calorie food and drinks and she also hasn't been doing her home workouts.

Habits that she thought she had nailed on, have gradually fallen by the wayside. It's so easy to let habits slide as complacency creeps in without you really noticing it. It's something I can completely appreciate as I'm 54 days into the 75 Hard. Too often I'm getting to 8pm still needing to drink a litre of water (as I pause typing to take another 10 gulps!).

At first my client said she would get back to it on Monday. To which I responded - why wait until Monday? What can you do today that will make it a better day than yesterday? What's stopping you from doing a home workout tomorrow instead of starting on Monday? To which both comments were greeted with an eye roll and a protest of 'because it's just what I do - I think, what's the point, I've messed up now so I might as well start again on Monday - I wish I could change the way I'm programmed'. To which I of course replied 'you can change the way your programmed - starting today'.

If we resign ourselves to the fact that 'it's just what we do' then we are reinforcing these beliefs rather than challenging them. By tweaking one little thing - for example restarting the habits on a Friday instead of a Monday - we start to reprogramme our mindset. It makes it easier to get back on track when we slip up and we're less likely to have those f**k it! moments.

After our discussion, my client left the gym with an action plan to take 10 gulps of water ever time she finished an appointment today and to set her alarm for 5.45 tomorrow morning to do her home workout. I'll be checking in to make sure she does it ;-). She has a strategy and she has accountability - two key things that will give her the best chance of restarting the habits that she had lost.

Strive for progress not perfection!

This is a story I hear so many times and it's a situation that I've found myself in too. I think it's important to remember that it's fine to slip up, we're only human and we'll never be perfect. What matters most is what we do after that, how we can learn from it and move forward in the right direction.

Here's a few questions you can ask yourself:

- Are your current habits in line with your goals?

- Do you have a clear goal (s)?

- Do you have strategies to keep doing your habits consistently?

- Who/what keeps you accountable?

Remember.....

“Success is the product of daily habits, not once in a lifetime transformations…..A very small shift in direction, can lead to a very meaningful change in destination”. (J.Clear)."

A book recommendation:

I'm currently reading Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey It's a great read and is really making me think about where and how I focus my attention, how productive I'm being and how much I get distracted form doing what's actually important!