The newsletter last week was all about tackling a new challenge, and if you read that edition, you found out that my challenge for this year is to write a book (if you missed that edition, it can be found here: https://www.powerofonefitness.com/new-things/ ). Challenges can seem daunting at first, and maybe even a little bit of overwhelm may come into play. If the challenge is one that you chose to put yourself through, then you might have even thought, “What have I let myself in for?!” And that is where having courage is important.

Courage comes in all different forms, from the audacious and mind boggling to small, simple acts. And as author, Mary Anne Radmacher, says in her book Courage Doesn’t Always Roar, it is often the small acts of courage that make the biggest difference to our lives. Saying to yourself, “I will try again tomorrow.” is so simple yet so very powerful. 

Starting a fitness regime, or wanting to get stronger as you age, or deciding that you’d love to get down on the floor and play with the grandchildren without making old person noises, or whatever you decide is your new goal might seem daunting at first. But you’ll never make any progress unless you try (dsepite what Yoda says!). And if you don’t succeed on the first attempt, courage comes from saying, “I’ll give that another go.”.

The famous quote “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” popularised by William Edward Hickson in his 1836 poem “Perseverance,” is all about encouraging persistence despite failures, and it emphasises repeating your effort, and in turn that perseverance will lead to conquering challenges. So while many people at this time of year think they have already “failed” with their New Year resolutions, it is simply because they employed that old facet of our psyche, the all or nothing mindset: “I failed once, so that’s it!”, with its insidious subtext of “There’s no point in trying again.”. But imagine what could be achieved if those people shook themselves off, dusted themselves down and tried again! Hopefully you don’t fall into that camp.

And what makes having another go easier is having a framework or structure to hang your attempts from. Whether that is a gym programme or an outline for writing a book, having something in place as a frame of reference makes life a lot more palatable when trying something new.

Similarly, trying small things first makes success more likely. 

It was dismaying to hear the tale, just before Christmas, of someone who had never before set foot in a gym, being told that they needed to do barbell deadlifts straight out of the gate. Not knowing any better, they did so under the ‘supervision’ of the person(al trainer 😡) who had given that ‘advice’ and promptly injured their back. That was five years ago. They have not set foot in a gym since and still have problems with their spine. Not a good situation. If only they had been advised, as is my mantra, to start small and build from a solid base. Imagine how strong they could have been by now.

With that cautionary tale under our belts, it makes sense to not try and do too much, too soon. But rather, to take small steps and to do so consistently. And if on one of those small steps you ‘fail’, it is more likely that you’ll have the requisite courage to give it one more attempt. 

Success becomes even more likely if you have an experienced guide who can take you through the process, celebrate your successes with you, and make changes to the course of action should they be required, and so give you that little bit of courage to try again.

So, if you have challenged yourself to become fitter or stronger of to have more mobility, or not make old person noises as you get up out of a chair (let alone getting down onto the floor to play with the little ones), I’d love to celebrate your successes with you, and help you work your way towards your chosen goal. Click the gold bar below ⬇️ and let’s get a chat in the diary about how we could work together to give you that little bit more courage to challenge yourself. 💪