Sticking with the theme of finding better ways to measure your success than analysing yourself in the mirror or standing on the scales, here’s another idea:
Focus on your actions, rather than the outcomes.
Of course, we’re usually looking for an outcome from the effort we put in to our health and fitness.
But ultimately, we cannot absolutely control what the outcome will be.
We know that by getting fitter, improving our mobility and eating more healthily, we’re going to head in the right direction – in fact, I’d argue that it would be impossible not to!
But, we cannot control the exacts, or the speed that things happen – and sometimes it can be a bit demotivating if your results don’t live up to your expectations.
If this feels like you, my advice in this situation is to focus on the things that you DO know exactly – i.e. the actions you are taking.
This might be knowing what you’re eating for each meal, whether you’ve been to the shops to get the ingredients you need, what days you’re going to exercise this week, what time you’re getting to bed, how much water you’re drinking….
You can’t control exactly how your body is going to respond, or how quickly – but you DO know that you’re heading in the right direction (especially if you also track your energy, performance and sleep per my last message).
Having this sense of control and success is hugely encouraging.
And when we feel like this, we’re much more likely to stay consistent with our routines – which hugely increases our chances at reaching our overall goals!