When you’re struggling, sometimes another person’s over-the-top encouragement can be annoying, but there’s something to say about all that positivity. You may not want someone in your face telling you you can do it, but what if you were to strategically place that can-do attitude on achievable goals?
Positivity, when used properly, has immense power over your mindset.
How can you strategically place positive thinking?
Let’s dig into that right now.
Over-the-Top Positivity
First, let’s address the annoying encourager. That person doesn’t mean to annoy you, but encouragement outside of reality is a backwards step.
Let’s say you’re recovering from a knee injury. Your PT (that stands for pain and toucher, right?) is working, but slowly. You’ve been instructed that if something is too painful, you need to stop. Now, your over-bubbly friend is coaxing you to try hard, you got this, push through… Yeah, but you’re in actual pain so… not so much.
If you kept going, you’d be likely to injure yourself further.
The same is true for those recovering from mental ailments, like PTSI or depression. It wouldn’t help for someone to say, “Just get out there and be the life of the party. Go meet new people and try something new!”
When you’re struggling to be willing to eat a healthy meal or get to work on time, you don’t need that.
Reality
Positivity is great, but let’s face reality too.
Injuries, physical and mental, take time. Every body and everybody has their own journey to both recovery and any other goal set.
If you want to earn a black belt, but you’re struggling to get through a class, your first goal is making it through class. If you want to run a marathon but you’re struggling with foot problems, your first goal is addressing your foot health. No matter your end-goal, your first goal is the step you can achieve in the foreseeable future. Move on from there.
But, for some, that seems bleak. If the first step only leads to something mundane, where’s the positivity?
Strategically Placed Positivity
If you set your mind on the end-goal only, it seems out of reach and you can get easily discouraged. It’s important to strategically place your positivity on an attainable short-term goal.
I got to work on time today.
That was a delicious meal I cooked.
I finally called her.
Celebrate little wins, no matter how cheesy it feels. You don’t have to throw a party or make it public, but enjoy those micro-moments to yourself. Maybe it wasn’t so hard after all. Maybe it was and you conquered a small mountain. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t have a good day at work; you got there on time. Maybe she said no, but you finally called. Focus on the good and realize you can do it again.
It’s proven that a positive mindset increases both mental and physical health, and you don’t have to be prone to positivity to practice it.
If you need a little help, here’s 14 Morning Motivations to Get You Moving. If you feel stuck and can’t figure out what your next step should be, check this out.
Conquering the Can-Do Attitude
It’s all about that can-do attitude. When we strategically place our positivity on small, achievable goals, we have little wins. Little wins add up to bigger wins. Soon, those long-term goals seem closer. In time, they become the next goal.
What’s your goal? Is it a physical achievement, mental recovery, or relationship-based? What are the initial steps to get there?
If you have an annoying encourager, just be honest (and polite) and let that person know you have small goals to achieve first. Stay positive. Take the steps you need. And if you need some realistic encouragement, reach out to us.