Going Backward

Have you ever made progress towards a goal only to regress backward? You work so hard only to feel crushed by a setback. You feel as though your goal will never be met and you lose motivation to keep pushing forward. Maybe you gained some weight back, lost some strength at the gym, or aren’t excelling as much at work. You feel as though you are down on your luck.

We all have these moments. I remember after having 5 brain hemorrhages and brain surgery, I was in therapy working hard to regain as much mobility as possible and experienced either a setback or plateau in my progress. Or more recently, I went through an incredible clinical trial (spinal cord stimulation) where I was moving my left arm and hand in ways I haven’t in 9 years only to have the trial end and lose all that mobility along with it. It is defeating, discouraging, and unfair to have a blessing bestowed upon you only to have it ripped away. I feel your pain, friends.

But something I challenge us all to do is work on our mindset. I talk about this more in my book, how I set my mind for success and even through the setbacks and stayed focused on my goal. You can too! What if when you experience a step backward, you look at how far you’ve come? You have to move forward to be able to move backward. What if when you regress, you use that frustration to motivate you to try even harder? You have come so far, don’t give up now. The challenges only make the success that much better.

Keep your mind set on your goal(s) and keep pushing forward. Even if you don’t see the whole path, all you need to see is your next step! You got this. Now go and achieve all your goals!