How to be the boss of your wellbeing

As we approach that festive time of year, perhaps the first festive present that we receive is a winter virus, a common cold or simply just feeling run down and longing for the festive break. Have you ever succumbed to the dreaded flu just as you are going into a holiday period, only to loose all your time you wanted to spend relaxing and recharging and spend it in bed?

This used to happen to me frequently. It was awful as it not only affected me, but also my husband. There has been many an occasion where he has lost precious holiday time to looking after a sick wife! Indeed this time last year, run down by the unexpected mental and emotional stress that work and life threw at me, I found myself constantly off sick with a cold or sinusitis, recovering for a short period only to be off sick again.

I didn't want to spend my time constantly nursing a blocked nose, run down and exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally. I knew that life didn't have to be like that. It was time to take back control of my wellbeing.

Since taking back control I have not once had a cold or sinusitis. I've stopped needing to take the drugs that cluttered our medicine cabinet over the festive period. In addition to that since March 2017 I've lost 26lbs (12kgs) in weight and become the lightest and healthiest I've been in over 10years!

How did I do it? I became the BOSS™ of my wellbeing:

• I BELIEVED in myself that I could do it
• I OVERCAME the hurdles and temptations that decreased my energy levels and performance
• I SUCCEEDED in achieving my goals of being the fittest I've ever been
• I SOARED beyond my own expectations and have begun to inspire and impact other people's lives positively.

So how did I do it? Here's three simple steps you can take to become the BOSS of your wellbeing and get on that journey to recovery:

Step 1: Have belief in yourself!

We know from psychology that one of the most important things in achieving success in anything you do is BELIEVING that you can do it. Visualising not only achieving it, but also the struggles that you will have to go through to get there. Stop telling yourself that you can't and start believing that you can.

Write down what you want to believe - what you want to believe you can do and how you want to show up in the world. Look at that list every day and keep telling yourself you can! It's time to start believing in you.

Step 2: Overcome your excuses

Do you ever find that you keep making up excuses for yourself as to why you can't do things? e.g.:

"I'm not like her/him/them," "I'm not fit enough," "I tried it once before and it didn't work," "I'm not capable," "I'm not good enough," "I don't deserve it," or
"I'll start the diet tomorrow," "I'll start my fitness campaign in the New Year"... The list goes on.

Stop making excuses to yourself. Doesn't your body deserve better than that? Doesn't your mind deserve to have clarity of thought, your emotions to be under your control? Stop reaching for that quick fix, such as that chocolate brownie (my nemesis!), that large latte, that alcoholic drink (again other previous favourites of mine) - or whatever it is that you know won't serve your wellbeing over the long term.

Write down all the excuses you keep making to yourself and reframe them to what you will do - you must do along with the benefit it will bring, e.g:

"I must switch from having those large full fat caffeinated lattes to small skinny decaf lattes/water as it will allow me to generate a more consistent energy level throughout the day to tackle life's challenges."

Step 3: Success in small steps

Frequently one of the greatest failings in improving our wellbeing consistently over the long term is that we try to take giant leaps at the start of the journey and fail. Have you ever done that? The classic "bitting off more than we can chew" and then you give up at the first hurdle because it's too hard?

If you want to improve your wellbeing consistently over the long term you need to play the long term game. In the same way as we don't see sprinters running marathons, don't try and sprint off the starting blocks when you want to run the whole marathon. Take small steps. Tackle one excuse at a time. Celebrate the small wins - celebrate your successes. Track your progress and keep focused on the long term goal - never lose sight of it. Don't give up if you trip up. Celebrate the fact that you can get up again. Get up as Mo Farah does and you too can win your race. Stay focused on that dream.

If you enjoyed this article please share.

High performance coaching™ helps you achieve heightened and sustained levels of performance and potential in your life, so that you can feel more vibrant, energised, purposeful and fulfilled. If you feel you would benefit from high performance coaching™ to help you achieve these steps on a more consistent basis, contact us to register for a free strategy session!