If we’re always looking back, we lose sight of what’s ahead

How many of us are guilty of looking backwards at things we’ve achieved?

How many of us are guilty of comparing ourselves to our past self?

A lot of us.

In my job as a pt I get shown lots of times over the weeks/months photos and numbers of where someone would like to be progression wise. More often than not it is a photo or a set of numbers that they have achieved in the past.

And that’s all well and good. It’s good to have a goal to focus on. It’s good to have an aim. So long as you don’t focus solely on where you have been previously instead of where you are going.

I’m totally guilty of this myself. I look at old photos and think ‘I wish I had those arms again’, ‘I wish my stomach looked like that right now’. When in actual fact I should be looking forward and thinking ‘My arms can look like that again, in time’, ‘My stomach will look different than it does now, in time’.

As humans we get so wrapped up in what we want RIGHT NOW, that we forget to focus on what’s to come. We are impatient.

Everybody has a starting point, however, most people start at the point of where they want to be at now, or at the point of what they want to have and then they look how far off they are and become disappointed or disheartened. This makes everyday ‘one step behind’ and provides a feeling of no progression or that they are lagging.

For example, if you start the beginning of a process focused solely on having some abs then you will be in the mirror every single day constantly dissatisfied, constantly wondering why you aren’t seeing progress. You will miss progress in other areas, you will miss what you are achieving right now!
It is a lot easier to ‘give up’ because you aren’t at where you want to be. It is important to understand that it takes TIME and to accept that. You have to be patient and accepting of the process and the hard work you’ve got to put in. That’s always the first step.

If we accept the point that we are starting out at, don’t focus on the past achievements and see everyday as a new progression and an extra step forward, we then become closer to what we want and start to see that we are getting somewhere.

This week I had a few Facebook memories pop up on my timeline and it was so easy to see the ‘old me’ and think of the new me as a failure, as a lack of progression, as a disappointment. I was quickly reminded that that was in my past, and if I dwell and put all of my focus into what I used to be and what I am comparing myself to, I will be missing out on the now.

And the now we unfortunately don’t ever get back 💔.

What is the point in dwelling on the past? Or being impatient because we ‘are getting nowhere?’

We get stuck.

We need to use our eyes and see the achievements that we are making in the moments, the small steps that are taking us somewhere bigger. Be proud of what we are doing at this moment in time 🌈.

Today I took part in the 10am circuit class at work. It’s only the 3rd time since last November I have done a class. I was really nervous incase I got dizzy, incase I hurt, incase my fitness levels were a pile of shite. Incase other members thought ‘Why can’t she do that? She’s supposed to be a pt’.

But I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

I wouldn’t have known if I had sat at the side focusing on what I ‘couldn’t’ do instead of trying to do what I ‘can’.

I didn’t get dizzy, I did hurt…but not as bad as I thought, I made adaptions, my fitness levels weren’t great but I ploughed through. And not one single person even looked like they cared about what I was doing because we were all equally blowing out of our backsides! 🥵

I moved forward.

I was in the present. Focusing on that very moment.

And that’s how it has to be.

Because that way…we are focused on where we are at, we have a clear picture of where we are going, a fresh mindset, a healthy and happy outlook on what we are rolling with.

And the rest then looks exciting 😃.

You’ve had it once, and even if you haven’t, you can’t get there without taking a few steps in the direction that your toes point…ALWAYS forwards, never behind 👣.

Think about that for a second ☺️.

Happy Sunday guys ❤️.