It’s fairly safe to say that the last 12 months have taught us a lot of lessons and knocked us on our butt a lot. They have shown us both the best and the worst of people and situations. Above all, it has enabled us to meet some of the most amazing people we could ever dream of meeting and say goodbye to others that no longer fill our souls.
It has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions ending on a note of utter soul-crushing depression and a sense of lack of achievement. In the face of this, I still learned that I am strong, even when things are dark. It takes strength to survive the year we have had. I have learned to be more adaptable than I ever thought I was. I have had it reinforced that it is completely ok to fall apart when you need to. To own that you need to fall apart, completely fall in a heap and let yourself have the time to regroup and get back on track. I have learned that honesty is always the best policy even when it’s hard and that sometimes it is super hard to be an adult and own all the crap that is going on. I learned that when I do own all the crap I feel better for it.
We learned that support is always there even when you can’t see it. We learned that people will always show their true nature in times of pressure. The kind always get kinder the nasty always get nastier. We suffered a lot of losses this year, loss of freedom, loss of motivation, loss of goals, loss of dreams and loss of determination. And a few gains – mainly in the form of kilograms from the emotional eating that was undertaken to try and make myself feel better. In hindsight, it didn’t make me feel better, but the silver lining is that I have a new goal to be even more motivated to move in the coming year. I am not about weight loss but about owning who I am and being comfortable in my own skin.
In fact, the last 12 months (let’s be honest the last two years) have left me with some pretty amazing goals thanks to a couple of catch-ups with some seriously awesome people that I am so glad are in my world.
Goals are important! In fact, some goals should be so big that they scare you! I get scared by big goals and I am comfortable admitting that. We want the next year to be all about finding what scares you/challenges you/excites you or motivates you the most!
I hear you saying “yeah that’s great I have this huge goal that’s brilliant but how the hell do I achieve it? How do I make it happen?”. Agreed I believe that a lot of things are easier said than done. So, what can you do to not be terrified by the huge scary goal? To not be terrified by the overwhelming number of trees in the forest? The first step is to breathe! Yep, take a moment to acknowledge the overwhelmingness of it all and breathe.
Make a list – jot every single item down that needs to happen so you can make the big scary goal happen. Don’t put them in any order just brain dump out every single item that needs to happen, big, small and everything in between.
Take another moment to breathe. Remember, none of this is set in stone! You can always add things, remove things and change things, it’s all about the ability to adapt, grow and change! The next thing to do is put them in the order of things that need to happen. You can either start at the start and work forwards or start at the end and work backwards. What do I mean by this? Each task or item on the list should build on the last and move you forward towards your scary goal. Or, if you are working backwards it should work back to the easiest and first thing you need to tick off.
Essentially you want to break down all the steps into easy to digest, easy to tackle tasks. Things that can be ticked off and items that move you towards your big goal. Some tasks you will be able to accomplish by yourself, others you will need to get help for. Go through and identify all those items that you need to get help with. Start looking at how you will get this help. Remember there is always someone there to help you! Yes asking for help can be terrifying but it doesn’t need to be! Shout GERONIMO and ask!
When all the bite-sized chunks are laid out and you have an order that they need to be achieved in to make the ultimate goal happen one of the two of the most important things you can do to make them happen is set a deadline. Seriously write it in your calendar, in pen! Put a deadline on it, a firm I have to tick this off by x date. Secondly, make yourself accountable. Team up with someone that will check on your progress or that you can have in your corner to motivate you to complete the task or commiserate with you when you need to change or adapt the plan. Having someone to be accountable to helps me immensely – it might not be for everyone, but try it! It might just be your key.
We believe that your goals are yours! They are individual and personal to you. Your goal doesn’t have to be shared or you can choose to shout it from the rooftops. Your big goal and all your little goals are your finish lines. We want the next 12 months to be all about finding your finish line!
Your finish line might be the same as someone else or it might be as unique and as individual, as you are. We don’t care! We just want to support you in finding your finish line and support you to reach it. We want to be there to cheer and celebrate as well as commiserate when things don’t quite go to plan.
We believe that finish lines should always be celebrated, and you should feel supported no matter what your finish line is. We believe that what you put out in the world comes back to you and that your mental and emotional health is just as important as your physical health. We believe in shout outs, support, community and forward movement towards your goals. We believe in owning who you are – yep warts and all!
Because we believe in support, loyalty and community. This is why we are implementing a few new and exciting things this year. We are starting shout outs! Yep, if you have a goal or an event that you want to share with us get online and fill out the form HERE to let us know all about it so we can cheer you on, support you along the way and if need be commiserate with you if the plan needs to change. It will be your space to let us know if you want to meet with other Skin Strong Squadders at an event as well.
On socials on a Monday afternoon, we are going to start posting Mini-Goals Monday. This will be your space to let us know what goal you want to achieve this week. It can be as big or as small as you like. We will then check in later in the week to see how you are tracking with that goal. Remember support and accountability can help you achieve your goals.
On Friday afternoons we want to celebrate and end the week on a positive note because words and mindsets have power, so we want to celebrate the Friyay Wins! This will be where you can let us know your win for the week. This win can be super small like finding the perfect cup of coffee or huge like nailing your training sessions or getting a PB. Remember community means support and support means a cheer squad to celebrate your wins!
These are a couple of the things we want to achieve and do differently. We want to focus on our awesome Squad Members – this means you! Reward your loyalty and help you feel connected to something real. Give you a space to celebrate, commiserate and support. No matter what.
We want all of us to live by the words:
Find Your Finish Line
AND
Progress Over Perfection.
Remember to always be F@$%ING proud of who you are and what you have achieved!
Sa x
