How To Turn Failure into Success – Re-setting the Calendar To Day 1

For those of you who’ve joined me in the Brilliance Within 90 Day Changing Habits Challenge, I reached Day 55 on Saturday – Wow – I exercised for a minimum of 5 minutes every day for 55 days. Most days I did much more than the minimum and I definitely felt better for it.

So why then did I reach day 55 and then fall off the waggon on Sunday?

I was tempted to ignore the 1 day missed and continue with my challenge as if I’d done it, but then who would I be cheating? Yes, the only person I’d be cheating would be myself. Nobody else would know that I’d fallen off the waggon, but I’d know and it would stay with me as a nagging voice in my head telling me every day I continued that I wasn’t being honest.

Therefore, as per the rules of the challenge, I’m re-setting my calendar back to DAY 1, because yesterday I didn’t do any exercise. I hit a block and I fell back into old habits that don’t enhance my life!

So have I failed?

NO – because the rules of the challenge are simple and they build on SUCCESS and not FAILURE.

Often in life, we beat ourselves up for not doing something and we forget all the good things we’ve achieved and the new things we’ve been able to learn. So what have I achieved and what have I learned over the last 55 days that will help me to overcome my 55 day block, the next time?

• I succeeded in my challenge for 55 days, which is an amazing achievement – I don’t think I’ve ever managed to exercise every day for 55 days, in my life previously.
• I learned how to change my mindset, to get me started and to continue with the challenge
• I learned how to ENJOY exercise
• I felt stronger and fitter as a result of the exercise
• I’ve learned that at my half way point – day 45, I could feel my motivation beginning to decline. I can pinpoint a shift in how I was thinking and looking back over the last week, I notice that I began making excuses, as to why it was ok to just do the minimum 5 minutes, rather than feeling the drive to do more.

So now I’ve learned that I need to have a new strategy to help me overcome my half way point block.

If I re-set my calendar to DAY 1 and then continue to adopt the same strategy as I adopted the first time around, it’s likely I’ll hit the same road block around my half way point.

“If we continue to do what we’ve always done, we’ll continue to get what we’ve always had”

What can I do this time to help me build on the success of my 55 days and overcome my half way point block?

I’m going to split my challenge into two phases.

Phase 1 – 45 days

Phase 2 – 45 days

Total = 90 days

At Phase 1 Day 45, I’m going to:

• Spend some time reviewing my progress over the first 45 days, to remind myself of:
  • My original goal and vision
  • What I’ve achieved and the benefits I’ve noticed
  • What I’ve found more difficult and how I’ve managed to still achieve my daily goal
  • Why I’m doing this challenge and of all the benefits of establishing a new exercise habit is bringing into my life
    • improved health
    • ability to play with my granddaughters more actively
    • supporting my diabetes remission
    • hey – better sex!! (sorry to any of my family who think over 50’s are past it!! )

At Phase 1 Day 45, I’ll also set myself a weekly review day. The first time I started this challenge, I passed 45 days, but my mindset started to shift. This time, I’ll be prepared for that shift and setting a weekly review as part of moving into Phase 2, will help me to notice if my motivation is dwindling. Reminding myself daily and weekly over the next 45 days, of all the benefits of continuing and give me the determination to keep going, to break through my blocks and barriers.

I’ll also celebrate the success of achieving 55 days in the first round challenge and now a further 45 days in this second round of my challenge. Moving into Phase 2 of my challenge for the next 45 days will be building on double success.

We often set ourselves some new goals and start off full of enthusiasm, then somewhere along the line, our motivation begins to dwindle, our nagging doubts and fears kick in and we give up. Then we waste time beating ourselves up for failing to achieve our goal. I’ve definitely done this on many occasions in the past. It’s time to ‘flip it’ and instead of focussing on the negatives of what I haven’t achieved, to remind myself of what I have achieved. We often give up on our goals and dreams, because we think of ourselves as a FAILURE, when we don’t achieve something and we push into the back of our mind, all the great things we’ve achieved.

Thomas Edison was asked what made him keep going when he’d failed to invent the lightbulb after over  thousand times. His response was that he hadn’t failed to invent the lightbulb, but that he’d learned how not to do something, that led him to eventually learn how to do it.

Imagine if he’d simply given up after his first attempt – maybe we’d still be using gas lamps……

When we set ourselves a goal, or we set out to develop a new habit, rather than giving up, because we’ve fallen off the waggon, it’s important, to take some time, to remind ourselves of all the positive things we HAVE achieved and to think about the lessons we’ve learned and how we can avoid making the same mistake the next time.

It’s also important to remind ourselves of why we wanted to achieve this goal in the first place and to re-commit ourselves, by reminding ourselves of the benefits that making the change, will bring to our lives.

This way, we’re building on success, instead of beating ourselves up for having failed. We’re learning new things about ourselves and using that greater awareness to drive us on to even greater success.

So today is my new DAY 1.

• I’ve already achieved 55 days of exercise
• I’m starting a new phase to complete a further 45 days of exercise
• I’ve learned that when I reach my half way point, I need to re-inspire myself and remind myself of the benefits of continuing for a further 45 days

Then I’ll be ready, to immediately kick into phase 2 and start my next 45 day challenge..

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, Try, TRY again!”

Having managed to exercise every day for 105 days (with the exception of just one day in between), doing another 45 days should be even more successful, because now I’ve learned some new lessons and developed some new strategies to help me turn my failure into success!

I’ve added my Phase 1 45 Day Review Date into my diary, for the 3rd December 2017.

I’ve committed myself, to build on my previous success!

How are you doing with your challenge?

If you’ve not started yet and would like to join the 90 day change a habit challenge, leave me a comment below and I’ll add you to the list.