Reaching Your Goals: How Doing Less Can Bring You More (Plus, Real Advice From Mothers In Our Community)
It’s week 3 of Joyn The Movement and it’s all about GROWTH & learning how doing less can bring you more.
In case you missed it: We’re starting 2023 by focusing on JOY. Why? Because it’s the secret to crushing your goals. Seriously, it's scientifically proven that practicing gratitude can improve your physical and mental well-being and make you more likely to exercise. Here’s everything from weeks 1 & 2 and find out more about the next 4 weeks here.
This week, we’re talking about blockers to your growth and how to overcome them so you can continue to crush your 2023 goals. Let’s get into it.
Reaching your fitness goals: how doing less can bring you more
If you are struggling to get into a regular routine with your workouts or finding yourself coming up against blockers to your progress, it doesn't mean that you will never reach your fitness goals or aren't really cut out to be an 'exerciser'. Everyone can exercise, we promise you that. All it really comes down to is regular movement that pushes your body outside of its normal day-to-day activities.
One primary reason people struggle to stick to their workout routines is because they've set goals or expectations of themselves that are too lofty or even unattainable.
If you haven't been working out for a while, the worst thing you can do is say "next week I'm going to exercise 5 days a week", because that's a big change for your body to go through and a lot to commit to. Even if you log 3 days of exercise that week (which is great!), you'll still feel like you short-stepped your goal, and that feels like failure. Feeling like you've failed isn't very motivating.
That's why it's so important to start by setting short-term, attainable goals when starting out so when you reach them you actually feel good about it and want to keep pushing for more! If you are feeling demotivated or blocked this week, it might be time to look back at the #GOALS you set and re-evaluate:
Are they still serving their purpose?
Do they feel challenging yet attainable?
If not, have a reset -- that's part of growing and succeeding in your 2023 journey!
Growth mindset or fixed mindset?
Reevaluating your goals and checking in with your intention is so important, but we also wanted to touch on your mindset. A key focus for us in 2023 is JOY — and finding joy in movement. If you can focus on how your body feels after exercise, then it will make it that much easier to stick to your goals.
There’s one other thing we want to mention about mindset though and that’s asking yourself do you have a Growth Mindset or a Fixed mindset?
Someone with a growth mindset views themselves as capable of improvement through effort. Whilst someone with a fixed mindset views themselves as unchangeable. Here’s how that can impact your fitness journey…
If you have a growth mindset:
You embrace challenges
You persevere in the face of failure & difficulty
You believe that your skills, abilities, and intelligence can be improved with effort
“I can learn to do anything I want”
If you have a fixed mindset:
You avoid challenges & may give up easily
You feel that your abilities are fixed and find yourself saying things like “I’m just not good at running”
“I’m either good at something or I’m not”
“I stick to what I know”
So which mindset do you have? Most people actually fall somewhere in between! Which mindset you have can depend on circumstances - like which skill or ability you are trying to improve.
If you said fixed or are leanign towards it, that’s ok — but we challenge you to start reframing your mindset as it will really help you on your journey to achieve your goals.
How to foster a growth mindset
Here are some quick tips from Better Up on how to foster a growth mindset:
Explore why you want to develop a growth mindset
What motivates you to change? Understanding this will give you purpose.
Change your perspective on failure
Start viewing it as part of learning, rather than a sign of inability.
Understand your limitations & set realistic goals
Start to see your challenges as opportunities
Start using the word “yet”!
When you find yourself thinking “I can’t do this”, add a “yet” into that sentence; “I can’t do this yet".”
Sticking to your fitness goals: Advice from real mamas
Finally, ask yourself: If you had the chance to go back one year and give the old you one piece of advice, what would it be? Looking at what you know now and what you might tell yourself can be a huge motivation for staying on track with your goals…
Here are some words of wisdom from our Baby2Body community that might inspire you to continue on your Joyn The Movement journey.
“Start getting healthy for pregnancy before you get pregnant”
“Don’t stop exercising, you can do it!”
“Exercise while you’re pregnant.”
“As far as working out: start small, but start NOW”
“Freeze some healthy meals before you give birth!”
“Ask for help more often”
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help and say when you need a break”
“It’s going to be really hard, but it will pass sooner than you expected”
“Embrace and love your body”
“Relax and trust the timing of things”
“You’ve got this!”
“Live in your truth and stop letting others dictate your direction in life”
Take this advice, re-evalute and continue on your journey this week! You can do it, mama.
Are you facing a blocker or struggling to keep up with your fitness goals? Let us know in the comments so we can give you the advice you need!
