I feel as though I am emerging from a fog – a COVID-19 fog! Eighteen plus months of feeling depressed, anxious, uninspired, and uncertain of the future.
My standards had slipped, and good habits eroded. Exercising less, drinking wine more frequently, sitting and sitting in front of the TV excessively and finding comfort in my stretchy tracksuit pants. Staying home for months of lockdown have taken a toll and it’s been challenging to reintroduce healthy habits or to reignite my zest for life. Now that we are allowed out and able to resume a semblance of normal life, why the struggle and why is it so hard? Hard to reintroduce regular exercise, to eat better, drink less or to get excited about pre pandemic goals and passions. What to do?
I started with what I know well and implemented step one of my coaching systems; I made a list of everything that I was putting up with? Everything that frustrated me, wasted my time, zapped my energy, made me feel sad or anxious, everything I was beating myself up for and that contributed to that not good enough feeling. This one action created awareness, provided a place to start, a focus to create change. When you know what you’re putting up with you know what you need to STOP, ELIMINATE, MINIMIZE OR LET GO OF. It gives you a place to start, one step at a time.
First item on my PUTTING UP WITH list was drinking wine every night. What I didn’t realize prior to doing this exercise was that this one toleration was the cause of almost everything was putting up with – not exercising regularly, not sleeping well, not fitting into my clothes, feeling tired and drained of energy, not feeling motivated to ride my horse, sitting mindlessly in front of the television, not reading, eating unhealthy snacks, disengaged from my goals and the list goes on. Everything on my list could be traced back to WINE. My nightly ritual of 2 glasses of red wine had become a negative habit that was severely depleting my energy levels, giving me an excuse to wallow in self pity and and numbing my zest for life. I realised that this my PIVOTAL TOLERATION.
When you identify what one behaviour, habit or even relationship you are putting up with that detracts from the quality of your life and it can be pivotal to making positive change in all areas of your life. Minimizing my wine consumption to once or twice on the weekend has been PIVOTAL in reinstating my daily habits for good health and wellbeing. This one change has increased my energy, increased my savings, improved my time freedom, and most importantly made me feel better about myself. I finally feel like my pre COVID self again and I am excited for the year ahead.
If you’re struggling to get back on track and live more consciously, I encourage you to explore what you are putting up with. What one PIVOTAL TOLERATION can you take charge of to free up more time, energy, and money. Enabling you to be better positioned to take action and begin your path to personal freedom.