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Why self-compassion might get you the consistency you’ve been looking for
Do you find yourself starting over often when it comes to your health and fitness goals? Are you feeling down every time you don’t achieve a goal you set for yourself, and wondering how to get off the hamster wheel of starting and stopping, failing and falling off only to try again, over and over and over? Well friend–I have some thoughts for you on how you can finally find a stable way to address your health and actually do this “long haul” lifestyle. One word-Compassion.
When you’re struggling with discipline
When you’re struggling with “discipline” or feeling like you’re failing, how you talk to yourself in those moments matters. Reminding yourself that you can still do hard things. Giving yourself grace on not hitting your step goal. Looking for the things that DID go well, amongst the things that maybe didn’t go as planned. There’s a big difference in “You still went for a 15 minute walk today” and “You missed your step goal, AGAIN. Are you even trying?”
Negative self-talk can change your daily mood and truly hurt your ability to be successful. If you’re consistently seeing the Three C’s of Negative Self-Talk, it’s time to have a conversation with your inner dialogue and change things. Those Three C’s? Comparing, complaining, and criticizing. Here’s a brief explanation of each:
Comparing
Comparing: Comparing your life to someone else’s and feeling less enjoyment in your own life. Often experiencing FOMO, and like your life experiences aren’t good enough.
Complaining
Complaining: Finding yourself often focusing on the negative aspects of situations or just life in general, but not doing anything to change it.
Criticizing
Criticizing: Judging yourself, putting yourself down, having very low self-worth and always thinking the worst of yourself and your situation.
In the age of social media
In the age of social media, it’s infinitely easier to get into these negative cycles, so I want to equip you with some ways to catch yourself before you wreck yourself, both physically and mentally.
Practicing gratitude
Practicing gratitude: A daily 1-2 things you’re grateful for can be a great practice to remind you of those positive aspects of your life. They can be related to your physical body, but also just life in general. It’s rare to find that every aspect of life is great at the same time, so finding ways to still see the good amongst the chaos is crucial. You can write them in a journal, or even save them in an ongoing note on your phone. That physical record can also provide something to refer back to when you’re feeling down.
Reframing negative thoughts
Reframing negative thoughts: Instead of saying you failed a task, like missing a workout, you can reframe by saying “I can push this workout to tomorrow instead when I have more time.” If you didn’t follow your nutrition goals today exactly, you can still reframe to include the things you did do well, like protein at each meal, or included fruits at lunch when you used to not eat fruit very often.
Explore grounding and positive self-talk techniques
Explore grounding/positive self-talk techniques: There’s a lot of ways that you can change your views on life, and it’s not a one size fits all. Things like grounding and meditation work for some, while for others, a walk outside might do the trick. Removing the stressor (like taking a vacation, or stepping away from social media) might be the thing you need. No matter the technique, exploring different options can help you find the one that helps you personally, the most.
Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend
Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend: Perhaps my most used technique in coaching is to have clients talk to themselves like they would their best friend. How often are you helping hype your friend up who doesn’t feel confident in a dress, or reminding them how great of a person they are? How often do you do that to yourself? (I would guess it’s not often). If you can look at your day as if it was your best friend’s day instead, find the good, and hype him or her up, you can do the same to yourself.
When you practice more self-compassion
When you practice more self-compassion, it becomes easier to keep going. Instead of falling into start/stop cycles, you begin to notice the good in each day and the value of simply showing up, at any capacity. You give yourself grace, knowing you can always try again tomorrow. That mindset supports long-term consistency, replacing the feeling of failure with progress, and reducing the days lost to negativity.
Over time, it’s this gentle, steady approach that creates the kind of lasting change you’re really after.
What would your life look like if you had an expert team fully invested in your health- designing your strategy, refining your approach, and leveraging advanced testing and analysis to keep you performing at your best? That's exactly what we do at LVLTN Health.
The first step is a free consultation call. You just need to fill out a short application so we can make the most of our time together. The call itself is a no-pressure conversation, providing you with all the details you need to make the decision on whether we are the best fit!
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