Often times when we choose a new goal to go after, we assume our progression will be linear. We think that input will equal output. That there will seldom be setbacks or bumps in the road. Anyone who has tried to do anything knows this isn’t true.
Whether your goal is improving a relationship, your credit score, your standing in your company, or your health, there are going to be setbacks and those setbacks are going to be frustrating.
A few years ago I suffered a back injury playing basketball that left me in pretty rough shape for more than a year. I constantly battled back pain. I would get closer to being able to exercise like I once could and once again experience a setback. The setbacks were frustrating, especially when they came during times when I was focusing so intently on staying healthy and improving the strength of my back.
Over the last 6-8 months, I have been fortunate enough to maintain the health of my back and even get much stronger in that area allowing me to ultimately return to exercising the way I like to and doing the things I love like playing basketball.
After months of linear progress and getting back to doing the things I love, last night I yet again experienced a setback. A sprained ankle from playing basketball. Now I will admit that a sprained ankle is nothing compared to a chronic back injury but regardless, a setback is a setback and frustrating nonetheless.
When the sprained ankle occurred, my first reaction was frustration and self-pity. Being a lifelong basketball player with many sprained ankles, I knew immediately when I turned the ankle that I was signing up for at least two weeks of not being able to play basketball or exercise at a high intensity and several days of hobbling around in pain while working to get my mobility back.
In the midst of my self-pity, I realized that I didn’t have to feel this way. I caught myself. I realized that like my whole health journey, and any other journey in which I have set out to achieve something, that my progress has not been linear. That I have countless times faced setbacks and that is simply part of the process. It is a requirement for getting better in any area of life.
Maybe you were doing great with your diet, stringing week after week of good nutrition together, and then you gave way to temptation and binge ate junk food all weekend. A setback. Maybe your last few doctor’s appointments have shown continued progress in a certain health marker but this time that marker got worse. A setback. Maybe you have been going to the gym every day and getting stronger at a certain lift and today you could barely pick up the weight. A setback.
The setbacks are inevitable. They are almost a guarantee. What is not a guarantee is your mindset and how you respond to these setbacks. Can you realize that your progress will not be linear and that a setback should only be followed by you getting back on the horse and back on track with your goals? Can you realize that the attitude and mindset you take into recovering from a setback will ultimately determine your personal individual outcome? Can you realize that when you signed up for whatever goal it is you are chasing that you also signed up for setbacks so there is no reason to be surprised or frustrated?
As it goes in life, there are few things we can control. Yet we can always control our responses to adversity and trying times. That doesn’t make it easy. That doesn’t mean you are wrong for feeling frustrated and upset with a setback. But regardless, how you respond to these feelings and this adversity will ultimately define you as a person.
Thanks for reading,
Chris Irvin
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