I said I need to “sit in the celebration.” I was talking to Mary, who was coaching me, about the reason I made a chart to track my workout regimen and other wellness routines that I wanted to accomplish each day. I was realizing that seeing what I accomplished each day helped me to really experience the joy and sense of accomplishment from what I had done.
As Mary continued to coach me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been determined to meet my exercise goals. And I have been SUCCESSFUL and I have noticed RESULTS, but I have also been DISAPPOINTED that it hasn’t looked like I wanted it to.
I have been working out regularly again for the last year. This is the longest regular exercise I have gotten since my youngest daughter was born, almost 4 years ago. And I dreamed that after this consistency in exercise my body would look and feel differently. So I was feeling disappointed that my reality was different than I envisioned.
For a moment, I sat in the disappointment. But then Mary prompted me to continue on. I knew that I could either feel discouraged and get stuck there and it might sabotage my workout and motivation to continue on or I could find a way to move past it. Mary had me draw attention to how the discouragement was being experienced in my body as physical tension and change it. Then she prompted me to go back to the celebration.
What does celebration mean to you? She suggested that along with my wellness routines and exercise that I might want to add celebration to the to do list on my chart. That was an “aha” moment for me. The celebration takes away the burden of the workout, makes the workout a joy, and provides motivation to keep the momentum going.
Celebration, for me, means:
1)Being grateful for how my body and mind are capable of working out
2)Cheering myself on before and after each workout for what I accomplish
3)Setting up rewards for myself for my goals met
4)Giving myself grace and brushing it off when the result doesn’t look exactly as I envisioned.
5)Sharing the joy with someone else when I meet a goal
In coaching, I start off each session by asking my client to share a celebration or something really positive from the last week. We start off that way because it starts off our session with a positive focus and feeling of accomplishment. This gives life and energy to our conversation and provides a positive launching off point for whatever change the client is working on in the session. Do you need to add celebration to your to do list or chart? What does that look like?
