Do you ever feel like you could use a mindset reset? Or is that a silly question? I feel like I could use a mindset reset each and every day! I’m guessing you feel the same way.

When you look at creating the life of your dreams, without the proper mindset it’s impossible. Acknowledging that got me thinking.

Are there building blocks to having a great mindset? If so, what would they be.

Let’s look at creating the life of your dreams. The building blocks would consist of the five fundamental attributes that each of us possess. You may not feel like you possess these. But even if these attributes have been dormant, you do have them!

These are:

1. Courage
2. Perseverance
3. Self-discipline
4. Adaptability
5. Resilience

Let’s be honest. All of us have some hardwiring to contend with if we want to make change. The filter through which you process information and experiences is determined by the combination of your inborn attributes and the inner dialogue/self-talk that strengthens or diminishes them.

Each attribute is a superpower that, with practice, can be maximized to help bridge the gap between who you are today and who you want to become. In other words, present self meet future self!

Many of us have grown accustomed to routinely analyzing these five traits in the context of our careers, but rarely do we examine their role in creating and executing a wellness plan.

Underdeveloped fundamental attributes are one reason you may have struggled in the past to follow a plan and achieve your desired results.

The good news is that YOU CAN manipulate the attributes fueling your underlying operating system any way you’d like!

It takes practice! Practice using the right superpower at the right time, and you will feel the freedom that comes from synching up your current and future selves.

COURAGE

Courage is your best defense against the discomforts of change. Tolerating change requires a whole lot of letting go. A whole lot!

Letting go of old, limiting beliefs, tolerating improvement, understanding that hunger is not an emergency, and recognizing that working out is a privilege, not a burden, despite the challenges.

It’s time to stop tolerating being upset about the results that you didn’t get from the actions you weren’t courageous enough to take. Without fear, there is no courage.

To amplify your courage, you must embrace your fear. Welcome your fear with open arms.

Fear is not the enemy. Instead, it provides us with fertile soil for nurturing courage.

Often when people talk about fear, they focus on the fight, flight, or freeze response. These are primal responses. But there are other approaches to fear.

The very thing that you are avoiding is often where your power lies. This includes both thoughts and behaviors.

To help you work on constructively facing your fear think less and execute more. Taking that first action step often sets momentum for feeling the fear and doing it anyway. You’ve heard of the acronym FEAR? It means False Evidence Appearing Real. It’s often very true!

When facing fear reach out to your community for help. Are you afraid you will fail? Get a teammate on board. Call a friend and tell them what you’re afraid of. Commit publicly to your goals and ask for support. You’ll find power in community by teaming up with others.

Or work to support someone else in similar endeavors. Have you ever noticed that often you follow through on promises to others faster than you do for yourself?

When you’re feeling less than strong, draw upon the strength of those around you. Remember that a meaningful life is not a fearless one but a courageous one.

PERSEVERANCE

Perseverance is the ability to execute on a task or plan despite its difficulty or delayed gratification.

First it’s important to get clear on what you want to achieve. Your goals could be strength, weight, or longevity-related. They could include self-imposed hard physical challenges.

But each must be defined by measurable targets.

Perseverance means acknowledging that you will fall, likely multiple times, but you will keep getting back up.

Patience and self-compassion are necessary for perseverance.

We all go through periods when we struggle to execute the plan.

Practice perseverance and let it show you its magic!

SELF-DISCIPLINE

While discipline is externally regulated, self-discipline relies on internal oversight. It’s all about resisting temptations, controlling emotions, and overcoming weaknesses.

I’m sure you’ve known highly disciplined people who are successful in terms of finances, friends, and family yet lack the self-discipline to consistently take the steps necessary for their health.

The quickest way to improve self-discipline is to plan for your weaknesses. This may sound counter intuitive, but it’s true!

Don’t allow yourself to be surprised by your own human nature.

You know your typical failure points. Be honest with yourself.

Where and when does your self-discipline drop out?

When someone brings sweets to the office? When you reach for a glass of wine after work, telling yourself tomorrow will be the day you’ll stop?

Without planning strategies for outwitting your human nature, you’ll wind up chasing short-term pleasure/relief/gratification over long-term health.

The fastest way to overcome this self-defeating cycle is to implement consequences in advance. The right penalty will help you meet your objectives.

One client of mine went foraging through his kitchen every night after his family went to bed. Not until he held himself accountable did he finally quit late-night snacking. He decided the next time he broke his promise to himself, he’d have to jump into the cold ocean near his house. It took just one frigid ocean dip for him to learn how to uphold his commitment 🙂

ADAPTABILITY

Controlling your environment can help you prioritize and plan for proper nutrition, exercise, and self-care practices. But you live in the real world, right?

This means you know all too well what happens to the best-laid plans.

To work with the inevitable unpredictability in life, prepare yourself to shift gears using your powers of adaptability.

Here’s an example from my own life. When my travel writing career started demanding more and more travel, I wound up eating and training a bit haphazardly. If I couldn’t keep my routines intact, how could I expect that of my clients?

Now, before departure, I research local gyms and parks to find out where they are and what equipment they have. I also schedule my training time into my travel schedule. My commitment to working out at those times is nonnegotiable. Whether or not I want to that day, I train according to my plan.

Travel days can make me hungry. And my sleep schedule can get upended. Knowing that all these factors have the potential to lessen my resolve, I plan for them in advance.

I bring along food, protein bars, or a low-carb snack to eat en route. When I arrive at my destination I find a grocery store to pick up the food I’ll need during my stay and for the trip home.

Routine disruptions call upon us to adapt.

I used to let the idea of perfect execution get in the way of adaptability, but by now I’ve done enough internal work to strategize around my own personal pitfalls.

You can do this, too!

Work-arounds and adaptability are 100 percent necessary for those caring for others. Caretaking is filled with unexpected situations that require pivots.

Sick child keeping you from the gym? Time to break out that home workout you have on tap for interruptions like this. Even a set of resistance bands and maybe a couple of kettlebells can give you the tools you need to stick with your training goals for the day.

When the unexpected derails your plans, make the commitment to yourself that you will be willing to find a solution rather than an excuse.

Perfectionistic ideals are a slippery slope, especially when it comes to wellness plans. Adaptability is your best defense.

Out to dinner at a restaurant that can’t accommodate the precise meal from your nutrition plan? Make the wisest choices you can from what’s available.

All the gyms closed during your beach holiday? Fill those packing cubes or your backpack to use as weights.

Roads too snowy to make it to the gym? Time to get out that shovel and get in some lifting.

The only limit to finding ways to achieve your goals is a lack of imagination. There are a million ways to execute your plan.

RESILIENCE

Resilience is the ability to return to baseline after a setback. This tricky yet essential trait involves cultivating your emotional intelligence.

We all know emotions are messy.

Over and over, I have seen people fall off the wellness wagon when faced with a life challenge and never get back on.

Disruptions come in all shapes and sizes.

Some constitute overt crises, while others stem from subtle insults to our daily emotional well-being based on our interpretations of the world around us.

The key to successfully returning to your baseline is to do so quickly.

Maybe a vacation, an illness, an injury, or some other interruption to your routine sets you back, and you fall out of rhythm.

This moment can leave you extremely vulnerable to defeatist thoughts that can easily fuel self-defeating behaviors.

The faster you get back to an empowered emotional state, the higher you are on the resiliency spectrum and the more successful you will be at reaching your goals.

For example, maybe after finally reaching your body composition goals, you return from a month of travel to realize you’ve gained back all the fat you lost. You didn’t plan for this.

What now?

A partner can help. Know who to call. Which friend always has your back? Which friend always brings you positive energy? Reach out right away to avoid wasting time feeling bad about yourself. Instead, make a game plan for how to move forward to get back in alignment with your self-standards.

Another fast-track way to increase resilience is to add in humor.

Vitamin H is your best friend!

In all things, vitamin H can be a super supplement. The humor you find in a tricky situation can lessen the blow and help you regulate your emotions.

Recognizing how incredibly disempowering negative thoughts are, resilient YOU will find creative ways to switch your mindset from victim to victor, and fast.

The best part about vitamin H is that it’s not a hard pill to swallow :))

Do you find humor in life’s upsets or take yourself too seriously? If you’re having trouble joking about yourself, give me a call, and I will help!

The second most effective way to return to your baseline is to snap yourself out of negativity. If you cannot do this by reining in your thoughts, your body can help. All it takes is a few intervals of running or bike sprints, push-ups, sit-ups, or air squats for time.

This allows you to use your body to control your mind. When you push your body hard into the zone of fatigue, you’ll find you’re no longer fighting against yourself. Instead, you recognize the freedom you have to choose what you think. If you cannot move your mind, move your body instead.

I hope discussing these five fundamental attributes helps you see their importance when creating your health and wellness plans!