5 Ways You’re Holding Yourself Back - Part 1

At Pursuit, we understand how we can be our own worst enemies. In fact, we probably understand it better than anyone you know. You may look at our certified personal trainer team and see a bunch of people who have it all together, but we’ve struggled and wrestled with our own demons. In fact, we still have to work hard to get out of our own way every day. That is why we called our gym Pursuit. We believe that we don’t have to have all our struggles laid to rest in order to thrive in the pursuit of health and fitness. We’ve surrendered to the journey, and part of that is forgiving ourselves for every step backward while celebrating every step forward.If you feel completely overwhelmed by your own inhibitions, you aren’t alone. You aren’t a hopeless case, either. In today’s blog, we are going to identify five ways you might be holding yourself back without even realizing it. Don’t worry; we talk about how to fix them, too. Read on!

Feeling reluctant to learn

When you’re young, learning is just part of life. You have teachers to remind you that you can’t learn things overnight, that learning is a process. Once we reach adulthood, however, we have a lot more control over how we run things, and it’s easy to forget that learning doesn’t always go at the pace we want. As a result, a few unsuccessful tries are enough to convince us we simply can’t succeed. Our frustration (and, let’s be honest: embarrassment) shut us away from breaking through.

• The FIX: First, understand this happens to everyone. Take a breath, practice laughing at yourself, and shift your expectations to first gear. Give yourself space to fumble and miss, and embrace every step as growth rather than a sign of impending failure. Aggressively exercise patience and self-kindness, understanding that you’ll be more successful some days than others.

Failing to take breaks

Our culture is industrious but ultimately exhausted. We glorify sleep deprivation and judge people who have firm boundaries. Take a look at last month. Did you have to push yourself through every day? Did you say “yes” to a bunch of things you really should have refused? Now assess how you feel now. Is your mood low? Did you have a barely-productive day at work? Do you feel resentful of all the demands on your time? These are all signs that you’re driving full-steam-ahead into burnout. Stop it!

• The FIX: When the inevitable pressure comes to do something, force yourself to pause, even for a few seconds. Ask yourself how you would advise your best friend to act in this situation. If you would cry “hell no!” for your friend, you should do it for yourself. We know that saying “no” doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people, but that is what practice is for (and life will provide you plenty of opportunities to do so).

Well, we have more, but we’re out of time today. Check back for three more ways you may be holding yourself back, and in the meantime, contact us for a free consultation or free two-week trial in Windsor.