Weather The Storms

The Navy SEALS have a great saying, "Nothing lasts forever." Simple and right down to it. Everything ends at some point. Whether it's a high point in your life or a low point, everything eventually will pass.

This is something I constantly try to remind myself of as I go through something that, at the time, sucks. I try to picture myself hours later chilling on the couch or relaxing having beers with friends. Because that time eventually comes and it comes a lot faster than it seems at the moment. It's important to work on and practice having this type of perspective as you go through perceived hardships. Nothing lasts forever. Everything ends.

Learn to talk to yourself whether that's out loud or in your head. Work on telling yourself to hold on and not give in for another 5 minutes, then make it to the next 5, and the next, and so on and so forth until eventually, it's all over. It's not rocket science. But you do have to practice and train your mind to think like this. The second you start to have the oh no woah is me mentality is the second you start down your path to quitting. The human mind wants what's convenient, safe, and comfortable right then and there. So, of course, you're going to encounter resistance the second you do something hard. That's a given. That's where the mental training comes in. If you can learn to deal with your thoughts and control how you react then you can become unstoppable. But once you start to get emotional and lose control of your own mind is when you start your own downfall.

Most of the time all it takes is holding on for 5 more minutes before your mind calms down and you're back in the race. Other times it takes longer and other times it's shorter. But it always happens. All your mind needs is a distraction or a reason to believe that you can do it. Once you distract it from your present discomfort is when you start to build that belief in yourself and your mindset improves as a result. But it all starts with that 5 minutes or 5 seconds even. Whatever amount of manageable time you pick for yourself that you think that you can chip away at. What do I mean by that? I mean if you think that without a doubt you can push yourself 5 more seconds, then do that. And then do it again and again and again until you start to feel better and you start to believe. Once you stack enough of those little 5 second efforts together you'll start to see that you've made significant progress and that will trigger a "feel-good" response in your brain. AKA you'll start to believe in yourself.

The storms are inevitable. They're going to come and you're going to face hard challenges and events almost every day. Let them come and let them go. Remember that they're temporary and that they don't control you, you control them. Everything passes at some point. Work on holding on for that extra 5 minutes and see where that takes you. If that's too long then start with 10 seconds and build your way up from there. Picture yourself in the future relaxing and looking back on the challenge you just endured. Temporary pain beats regret every single day of the week and twice on Sunday's. Don't forget that and don't look back on something you had total control over with regret that you caved in at that moment. Push through and remember that nothing is forever.

You can do it.

Get After It.

Up Before You.