The Thing You Won't See Coming

Can I tell you a secret?  When I set out to lose weight, I was not at all looking for help with my mindset.  I was not looking to read books or to learn more things.  I was not looking to change my life.  I simply wanted to lose weight.  I wanted to feel good about myself.  I wanted to like what I saw in the mirror.  That is all.  It was a very straight forward simple desire.  The transformation that occurred however, was MUCH bigger than losing weight and I didn’t see it coming.

It started very subtly with eliminating the excuses I previously used about why I wasn’t working out - “I didn’t have time” or “I can’t wake up that early.”  In actuality, there were several excuses I used - it’s a pretty long list.  Once I actually committed to making a change and paid money for a program to help me, I had no choice but to eliminate my excuses.

So I woke up early and got my workouts in and I changed my diet and started eating healthy.  And I started to physically feel better.  The amount of energy I had was astonishing (another thing that I wasn’t expecting actually).  My confidence was building.  I felt vibrant.  I started encouraging other people.  That is when my coach suggested reading from a personal development book for 10-30 minutes a day.  I was a little skeptical, but since my coach thought it was a good idea I went for it. 

And I got hooked.  As I read more and more books that were written to help me learn more and become a better human, my whole mindset started to change.  I was turning into a more positive person than negative.  I was turning into someone who believed in herself.  I was changing.  Combine the strength from what I was learning in the books with the physical transformation I was making by exercising and eating right, I really was a different person altogether.

I think that it is only in retrospect that you can clearly see the change that took place within yourself.  Even as I write this now, I know that the person I am right now is undergoing change and that this time next year, I will have grown even more (in what ways, I have no idea)!  So the big thing you won’t see coming when you start to move in the direction of your dreams is change - in your spirit, your energy, your confidence, your mindset.

Mindset is exactly the thing I want to dig into with you because it is a very important piece of the puzzle. Here’s the thing, I don’t expect you to believe me right now and I don’t expect you to even fully understand - this is because I sure as hell didn’t when I started out on my journey.  But if it wasn’t for someone else guiding me, I wouldn’t have even known to start so I want to plant a seed for you like someone else did for me.  I want you to look back and be like “oh, Marisa said this would happen.”

It is actually nearly impossible to make any real change in your life without changing your mindset. That is why I spend so much time focused on mindset and encouragement and inspiration.  It is encouragement and inspiration from someone else that ultimately gave me the belief that I could do it, that there was a path for me.  And with more confidence came that automatic growth in my mindset.  Now, when I am struggling to believe that I am capable of something, I literally will give myself the same pep talk I would give you.  This is the power of mindset. 

Here are things that you can start with to help strengthen your mindset:

1. Gratitude.  If there is one thing that I think I owe my biggest mindset shift to, it is implementing a gratitude practice.  Each day (or close to it!) I take time to give gratitude for small things in life that bring me joy.  Like coffee.  Definitely coffee. 

2. Setting goals, taking action.  When you set out to do something tactical like losing weight or getting out of debt or running a marathon, you automatically strengthen your mindset.  Just the act of committing to something - and here’s the key - following through on that something - gives you confidence and helps you to believe in yourself.  Even though I was well established on my journey by the time I decided to run a marathon, I can tell you that training for and completing a marathon was one of the most transformative experiences I have had yet.  

3. Learn.  No, I don’t mean in a formal classroom.  I am talking about books & podcasts and blog posts like this.  Even YouTube videos!  I have a whole blog post with my favorite books I will link to here.  Reading personal development books and listening to  podcasts is exercise for your mind.  Just like you would grow your bicep with bicep curls, you grow your mind by filling it with the good stuff.

4. Meditation and Visualization.  Two different things but both involve slowing down and taking space.  I was pretty resistant to meditation at first if I’m honest.  I didn’t understand what it was and I thought it was woo-woo. I don’t even remember how or why I first tried it but it was so wonderful. Like, SO WONDERFUL.  We are in a fast paced world and our minds never actually get a chance to chill.  So this practice of allowing space for my brain felt like a vacation.  Visualization is the act of experiencing something all in your mind.  I love this tool as a motivation hack to stay focused on the end goal and where you want to go.

5. Move YO body!  This doesn’t need to be training for a marathon.  I go for a lot of walks and they really rejuvenate my soul.  Whatever movement you are able to do and feels good - focus on that.  Moving your body instills confidence and gives us energy.  The one thing I will say about this - stay off your phone.  I think one of the keys to allowing the movement of your body to be transformative for your mind is allowing your mind to be fully present in the movement you are doing.  

Now to talk about the thing that doesn’t get talked about enough: hormones.

As a woman, our cycle can play into our mindset and I think it’s really important to point this out.  I’m going to talk just a minute about hormones because it’s so important to know how this can play into our mindset.  Your cycle starts on the first day of your period.  Your estrogen levels will start to rise and peak at ovulation.  After ovulation, progesterone starts to rise and is highest the week before your period is to start.  This week before your period begins can be a very difficult time for a lot of women. Diet and exercise, as well as making sure your gut microbiome is in a healthy state, will help balance your hormones, but even still hormones are very much in play with how we feel.  My general rule of thumb is I try not to make any major decisions or act out of emotion during the week before my period.  You also will likely be more tired during that week and your body will require more rest.  I am telling you all of this to say that if you are feeling badly about the state of your mindset during this week - let go of the guilt.  Let go of the shame.  Increase meditation and rest, and purposeful exercise but within the easier range of what you are capable of.  

Strengthening our mindset is not about being this happy go-lucky, positive all the time, really annoying individual.  While that would be cool if we could always see the positive in everything without a moment’s delay, I haven’t found that to be the reality of my life.  It is about making progress each day. It’s about focusing on our overall health - emotionally, spiritually and physically.  Strengthening our mindset is about helping us to grow as individuals to create the life we dream of. <3