What to do when you’re feeling stuck

                    As I’ve written a lot in the past few months about my struggles, and now that I’m seeing some positive momentum forward, I thought I’d share how I’ve kept up with my training.

                   For starters, I wasn’t in a good place mentally.  Best way ton describe it, was I was stuck in a sort of limbo. I felt frozen with no direction.  Psychologically, this wasn’t a great place to be in.  I felt deflated, empty.  Which was hard enough to deal with in my personal and professional life, but in my training, it felt like there was no spirit or heart behind anything.  So what did I do?  Well, I kept training.

                  I may have felt in a bad place, but I knew that I’d feel a lot worse if I stopped training.  My training, blogging, and engagement with the team was my lifeline, and I was hanging on white-knuckled.  I’m not saying that my training felt great, because it didn’t.  On the other hand, I knew not training would make my psychological situation that much worse.  The feeling of not training would’ve compounded the feelings of inadequacy and I would have no doubt spiraled.  I’ve been in this place before, and will surely visit it many more times in my life, and because of this, I know it will eventually pass.

                   Sometimes a person just needs a win.  This can look like a myriad of things.  It could be finding a loonie on the ground, acing that test, breaking that board, or sometimes, winning a medal.  It can do a lot for the ego and your mind to have a win.  Helps get you out of the pitying slump you’re in and gives you a direction again.  For me that win was Tiger Challenge, which was only possible because I kept training when I really didn’t want to do much of anything.  I didn’t even want to show my face, that’s how bad I was feeling about my self-image and self-worth.

                  What I can’t stress enough is the fact that I leaned on my team for support.  We all know there is no hiding.  Booking one-on-ones, my blogging about my journey, and most importantly, engaging with others online is what kept my focus throughout my emotional hurdles.  I was also doing my own work behind the scenes and talking to someone about my struggles.  Not to be forgotten, my wonderful partner who supports me constantly.