I got an email from an acquaintance the other day asking my opinion about starting a fitness-related business. She asked some great questions and it reminded me of the days back when I was starting my business. To be perfectly honest, I still feel like I’m in the “starting” stages.
Anyway, when you start anything there is a certain kind of infectious enthusiasm that keeps you fueled for about 6 months until you’re well into your endeavor and you realize “this is going to be a lot harder then I thought.” At this point, you either dig in your heels or give up.
Support can be hard to come by
What I’ve found over the years of business
building is that it’s really easy to give up when you don’t have the support you need to motivate and inspire you to move forward. Sometimes though, it’s just as hard to find that support.
Something funny happens when you become happy and start to align your life with your dreams, desires, and values. Other people in your life are happy for you too OR they get really jealous and go all negative on you. They question everything you do, their tone is always filled with doubt, and they keep wondering (aloud) if you should be doing something else. They jibe in the name of “fun” even though they aren’t joking and it hurts.
Changing your life is no different. When you make the commitment to positive transformation in any area of your life, no matter how small, you will almost always encounter the naysayers. To some people this is really surprising and also really detrimental to forward progress. Until you can prove your naysayers wrong, which sometimes takes a really long time, you feel like you’re in it all alone.
But you’re not. The trick is to surround yourself with the positive people in your life.
Your cheerleaders may not be who you think they will be
Believe me, I know how badly you want your best friends and family members to support you on your journey, but sometimes they’re not ready for the changes you’re about to make because they’re uncertain how those changes are going to change their relationship with you. It sounds like nonsense in our minds, but it happens.
Your closest loved ones care so deeply about you that they only want whats best for you and oftentimes they’re not convinced that the hard stuff you’re about to take on is what is really best. They don’t want to see you suffer! Love them all you can, even when it’s frustrating and hard and then prove them wrong.
Lead by example.
The biggest obstacles to positive, healthy transformation
In my experience, the biggest obstacles to making serious positive changes in your life are finding the motivation and support to continue on. Sometimes, you can’t look to the people who you thought would be right by your side no matter what to get you through. You might need to make new friends to help you through this journey.
Have faith! Soon enough your friends and family will get on the bandwagon, and who knows, you might even start to inspire change in them. That is the ultimate reward for doing the tough work now in your transformation journey.
Let me know on the Facebook page if you’ve come up against resistance from the people in your life you thought had your back.
