Typically when people just start on their fitness journey they hit a speed bump, which quickly becomes their excuse for quitting by making it out to be much worse than what it actually is. But the paradox of success in anything is the ability to negotiate your way through failures to achieve what you want. So here is a guideline of how to make challenges work for you: 

• See things as they are, not worse than what they are. Nothing is impossible to change so don’t make it so in your mind.
• Instead of letting things get the better of you, understand that every time you fail, you actually get closer to the goal, as you are growing.
• Change your immediate objective, so instead of worrying about the end goal (for example lose 5kgs or get fit to ride), rather focus on doing your abdominal stability sessions 3 times a week, for example, this way you still win.

There is no magic pill when it comes to wellness, only magic processes. Neither is their one silver bullet – you have to do all of them as nothing works in isolation. Now as common sense is not common practice, I have listed 4 tips below that you actually know but probably don’t do:

1. HAVE A GOOD BRAIN DIET – Eat for performance and/or recovery. You are what you eat, so what you eat matters to your brain. Eat plenty of avocados, blueberries, broccoli, coconut oil, eggs, salmon, turmeric, walnuts, spinach, and kale.
2. ELIMINATE AUTOMATIC NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. So no more complaining, as it is so easy to get addicted to moaning. Remember you wire your brain to whatever you are rehearsing in your mind because all behaviours are belief driven.
3. ANALYSE YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS – Who you spend time with is who you become. We are always imitating people: their habits, their thought patterns, their behaviours. If you hang around 4 unhealthy miserable people, guess what, you will become the 5th
4. GET QUALITY DEEP SLEEP: When you sleep you consolidate long term and short-term memory which cleans out the plaque that can cause dementia or other age related issues. Also, don’t sleep with the phone on near you. There is an electromagnetic field around your brain which electronic devices interfere with.

Then lastly, don’t blame other people and things for your situation. That means you have no control over your thoughts or feeling, meaning you are a victim to your environment. But when you change your thoughts and feeling first, you become the creator of your life.