Firstly, I hope you’re well, in good health, doing what you can to help us all beat this virus.

There are still challenging days ahead but know that going through this there will be a huge amount of personal growth.

I wanted to share a few tips I know help me shift my mindset when I’m feeling a little frustrated with the world and hope they fill you with a sense of calm.

Here is my 5 Step Guide to seeing it through.

Step One: Realise You Are Awesome.

Before anything, first take a moment to kick back, reflect and appreciate that whether you realise it or not you are awesome and have shown more evidence of this than you realise.

We are surrounded by an incredible amount of negative energy. We see it daily in the news, we hear it in conversations, we can see it on the faces we pass.

Ask yourself this.

Where have you shown incredible resilience? Surprised yourself in the face of a pandemic? Where have you been truly awesome?

Focus on what has been achieved, not what hasn’t. 

Whether you have juggled raising a family, homeschooling and a full-time job. You have worked, trained and lived under the same roof. Have given up alcohol or gone vegan for January. Have given up your free time to volunteer or have been there for friends or family who have needed a calming voice.

Whatever it may be, please take a moment to appreciate yourself and worry less about all of the should haves and could haves because where you are right now is exactly where you should be.

If you find this difficult and sometimes it can be, write down a list of at least 20 reasons why you are awesome and don’t stop until you have 20.  

Knowing that with just a few simple questions and some time to think you will come to the realisation, you have accomplished more than you think.

Shift your mindset.

Step Two: Gratefulness.

Possibly the most effective couple of minutes you can spend time thinking about to completely shift your mindset.

When my emotions or internal chatter gets the best of me thinking about what I do have can be a great tool to calm and ease any frustration.

What do I have right now I can be grateful for? What is right in front of me that sometimes I forget to see? I have a roof over my head, my health, my friends, my family, a career that deeply inspires me.

The quality of the questions you ask yourself and the time you take to think about them takes practice. But I believe by changing our perception of ourselves, our environment and the lens we see-through, we can do more than simply exist through this.

Step Three: Seek Progress Not Perfection.

Know that perfection is an expectation none of us can live up to and when you slip up, you never fail, you learn, and then you go again and again and again.

Is that not the circle of life? To grow and to learn. To fall on and off the path. 

Tomorrow what can you do to start creating momentum for yourself? Where can you take a small percentage win in your favour that will positively impact you and your life? 

Like the other steps, write down a list of things you could do tomorrow to create momentum for you.

Would getting to bed 30 minutes earlier serve you better? Taking a break from alcohol? Starting the day with a walk and arranging a call with a friend?

Consistency is key. If you show up consistently time and time again doing things that serve you, the life you live will move in the direction you want.

And don’t worry if you take a detour off that path just no, you’ll always end up back where you need to me.

When you face a challenge, it is never in the way, it’s on the way. 

Shift your mindset.

Step Four: Your Values.

If the pandemic has taught me one thing, it’s what I truly value in life.

Coaching and training, my career and growing my business, my family, my friends, and travelling and seeing the world.

When I live my life congruent to my values, I have a purpose and feel fulfilled.

And as we move through life, our values change. My early 20s were all about rugby, drinking and socialising, and having a job that allowed me to afford to do both.

And I absolutely loved that, that at the time was what I valued.

What do you value? What do you spend most of your time thinking and talking about?

Unsure what you value. Try this https://drdemartini.com/values/

Shift your mindset.

Step Five: Vision Planning.

Vision planning, something I have never really taken the time to do until recently.

How do I want my life to look in the next 3, 5 and 10 years and even further? What shoes do I want to step into?

Why vision plan? Because spending time visualising how you want your life to look can be really fulfilling.

Not only that, but it allows us to understand better what action needs to be put in place today.

Don’t just consider the professional aspect of your life either, think about how your path looks.

Your professional life will always rise to the level of the aspirations and dreams you have for you and your life. And not the other way around.

Do you know what, once this is all over I believe life will be a better, more heartfelt experience?

I do hope this article has been of value even if it’s a super small take home.

Let’s keep doing what we can do help the NHS and help save as many people as we can as the vaccine is rolled up.

Stay positive, spring always follows winter and with it not just longer lighter days but also more positivity and opportunity.

If you liked this, please let me know as it inspires me to keep writing and any questions reach out. 

All the best,

Luke

Look & Feel Great.

Move & Be Strong.