Do you need a hammer?
Barriers, walls, roadblocks, blockades, obstacles, obstruction…..we have many different names for the things that get in our way.
The things that stop us.
The things that define achievement of a goal and failure.
The things that we let get in the way.
I love them, ok I know that’s a bit weird but I love them, those little challenges because to me they are something to smash through, a little puzzle to solve.
Because I don’t think I have yet to come across one that I can’t bulldoze, or simply get around, I challenge you to try me!
But that’s not to say I don’t have my own barriers that stop me achieving my goals, oh yes I have loads.
Most goals do.
If a goal didn’t have barriers that stop us from having them right now then we would have everything at the click of a finger.
It’s the difference sometimes between achieving a goal or not.
Did you solve that little problem or did you let it get in the way of having what you really want?
I’ve been hearing this a lot lately, that there are some things getting in the way of progress, when we set out to achieve something the first few weeks are the easiest as we have all that enthusiasm. Then a few weeks in reality hits.
“I had a stressful day and someone handed me a bounty bar, of course I ate it!”
“I was feeling stressed and just needed a glass of wine, I knew I shouldn’t but didn’t know what else to do”
Then there are the barriers that lie in the future.
“Half term is coming up and I know that without a routine I won’t get to the gym”
Little problems, that get in the way.
Little things that worm their way into our heads and then there they are blocking the doorway towards achieving our goals.
Some of it is about attitude, some strategy and the rest is knowing why you are doing this.
So here is my guide to bulldozing those barriers, it’s a hammer just for you to use whenever you need it.
Why?
Remember why you are working towards your goal. There is a very strong reason that you set out on this path. Sometimes thinking about all the things you will achieve when you have your goal is enough to let willpower take over.
What’s stopping you?
Write a list of what is stopping you. Sometimes it is clear “When I am stressed I eat too much”. Sometimes it’s not so clear, “I’m just not getting very far, I keep letting things get in the way”. The important thing is to get some paper and a pen and jot it all down, It doesn’t matter if it’s a list of 10 things or 2, all that matters is acknowledging what it is that is getting in the way.
What could you do instead?
Now you have made that list go back and look at each barrier, each thing that is getting in the way.
It is probably a negative and we don’t really want it anymore so cross it out, put a big red line through it (it feels good right?).
Now you want to replace it with a positive, something you do want.
This is where you need a new list, your strategy so that you can change the behaviour or the little problem.
When I am stressed I reach for chocolate
Becomes….
I will regularly prepare healthy snack so if I am tempted by chocolate I have a snack I enjoy that I can eat instead.
I don’t have time to exercise in half term
Becomes
Half term is a challenge so I will exercise for shorter times at home so I don’t need to go to the gym.
Set yourself an aim of coming up with 20 things you can do instead, let them flow, let them be bonkers, get creative. Then look back at the list and choose the one or two that will really work for you.
It may be the bonkers one, if it is that’s great!
Now off you go, use that hammer with care. If you are struggling to think of 20 things to write get a blank page and write down 20 things you can do with a hammer, go on, it helps get the creative juices flowing.
Let me know what number 20 is, it will be the most bonkers use and probably the funniest.
As for the barrier.
Find a swap.
Think of a strategy that works for you, like a picture of you looking the way you want to look or a list of the reasons you set the goal in the first place.
Get the hammer and smash it up, you don’t need that negative barrier, you need a shiny new strategy instead.
Now, where’s my dustpan? I seem to have made quite a mess!
Kirsty xx
p.s. if you like this you will love my FREE email series - 5 Strategies to get you fit in minutes you can sign up here.
