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| Coping With and Overcoming Setbacks |
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In pursuit of your goals and an overall healthy lifestyle, you will
experience situations that appear as setbacks. The important
thing to know is that a setback does not mean that you have to start
all over again or give up on your goal or dream. All setbacks
are opportunities to learn. This makes it easier to
cope. We need to recognize what caused the setback and then
have a plan for the future. Most likely we will keep being
exposed to the same setback until we learn to do things
differently. Remember with every obstacle comes
opportunity! Be prepared for setbacks and obstacles that may
interrupt the pursuit of your goal of living healthy.
- Be aware when you are out of balance: mind, body or spirit,
this can cause setbacks. Take the time to be aware of your
thoughts, walk and take care of your body and pray and
meditate.
- Time is your greatest asset. Make the most of
your day. Be aware of distractions that may tempt you to lose
your focus and balance. Refer back to your daily
plan. Make a commitment to have "no more bad
days". If you have a setback in the morning, it
does not mean that you have lost a whole day. Pick yourself
up, brush yourself off and make needed adjustments. For
example, if your goal is weight loss and you make an unhealthy food
choice, re-balance, focus and make better choices throughout the
day. Another example is if you eat one or two cookies avoid
statements such as "I blew it" or "I will
start again tomorrow" and then eat more than you originally
intended. Remove yourself from the situation and
re-balance. Go for a walk to regain balance, burn the excess
calories and then modify your choices for the remainder of the
day.
- Negative thoughts such as "I
can't" or "this is not happening fast
enough" focusing on what you do not have or your limitations
can set you back. Challenge the thoughts
immediately. During the first 30 days of changing a habit,
you may find yourself challenging negative self-messages throughout the
day. As you re-train your brain for success, the negative
thoughts will become less.
- Physical or emotional pain can also be a perceived
setback. Have a plan to overcome and address feelings of
pain, emotional or physical. Remember HALT -
hungry, angry, lonely, tired. If you are feeling these
feelings, halt and take the time to address the thoughts and feelings
and regain your balance. Be aware of the tendency to want to
feed the feeling instead of hunger.
- Limit contact with people that are not supportive of your
efforts and offer negative verbal feedback. Words both
positive and negative will impact your progress. Learn to
cope with the impact. Surround yourself with others that are positive
and living healthy. If you do not have anybody like that in
your life right now, you have God.
- Commitment, self-discipline and patience will help you to
stay focused on your goals and cope with setbacks. Develop
and learn to apply these traits in your life today.
- Speak positively to yourself throughout the
process. Be your biggest fan. Believe that you can
achieve. Visualize yourself daily achieving your goal.
- View setbacks as a learning experience. If you
fall down, get back up, work through the emotion and regain your
balance. You will have to make mistakes in order to learn.
- Find your balance and enjoy the journey, one day at a time.
Do not let anything get in your way..After every storm, the
sun shines again.Keep on keeping on.God believes
in you, I believe in you..DON'T GIVE UP!
Dr. Susan
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