Accept & commit to success this year

A few years ago, I was experiencing an unusual amount of anxiety.

It started affecting my level of happiness, as well as physically- I had some minor health issues that were directly related to my state of mind.

And, I have barely told anyone about this until right now, but I went to a therapist to deal with this. And, despite my skepticism, it helped tremendously!

The therapist was skilled in something called Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT).

This is where you start with accepting something that may be bothering you.

Let’s say you are stressed out about money.

When you think about lack of money, you get a feeling.

What is that feeling?

Describe it in detail. Is it a pain? An ache? Butterflies? Where does it come up, your stomach? Head? Neck?

So the first part of this, acceptance, is where we started.

Many people, including me formerly, will push aside negative feelings. Anger, sadness, fear, etc. are buried.

And what happens when we bury feelings?

They come back to bite us. Every. Single. Time.

And this applies to every part of life.

Acceptance is the first step. Accepting the reality is the way to get to where you want to be.

Then, it’s commitment to a plan. But skipping that first step will destroy you in the long run.

Swimming is a great metaphor for this.

You can pretend you are “doing okay” in the water. Then you get to a race. Or even an open water session.

And BOOM!

Reality slaps you in the face, and the struggle is real. And this struggle could lead to emotions- like frustration.

And if you push down the frustration and try to pretend it’s not there…. this turns into a cascade of trouble and set backs… and you’re further behind than where you started!

Along with the starting with WHY that I discussed a few days ago, self acceptance is in the first part of our The Fit Triathlete Transformation course.

Remember that old saying. All the good stuff exists outside of your comfort zone.

A commitment now goes a long way to 2020 glory.

Keep on swimming!

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