Mindset Monday - How to make hard easy

This is episode 123 of Empowered Team Podcast. Welcome to the Empowered Team Podcast where we explore how to optimize your performance in career, sport and life. And now your host, vitality and peak performance coach, Kari Schneider. And today for Mindset Monday, we're taking a look at something that as achievers, we do all of the time. And today's the perfect day to talk about this because everything seems harder when it's cold, snow type rain, really dark and cloudy. So most things that even the things we might like to do might seem a little harder in this kind of environment or we've got the pressure of Christmas, or maybe some people find this is lifting them up or all of the changes with COVID going into red zones in some areas, getting things taken away that you'd normally do. A lot of things might be really, really hard right now. So the topic today is how to make hard easy. Sounds a little crazy, right? Well, if I think back in many, many years in the gym, I used to say all the time that talent only takes you so far and that it's really the hard work that brings you to the next level or gives you that edge, how hard you're willing to work. And then there's that quote that many of us might have heard a whole bunch of times, especially if we're in sport, that. And this applies to business, this applies to all sorts of things. But the quote that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Now here's the thing that is a whole other layer, a whole nother level from those elements of working hard. And it's that simple. Sometimes we're working so bloody hard, but we don't actually have to. And the analogy I'd like to give is what I see in the gym all of the time. I've seen this in this past week. I've seen this for years. I've seen it in athletes, I've seen it in non athletes. And it's that we fight our own bodies. For instance, if somebody has a tight shoulder and they try and move through that range and do a exercise on a weaker muscle group, they might find that their own body is the biggest resistance, that the pecs on one side of the joint is really, really restricting the range of motion. So they might be trying to do an external rotation or a reverse fly. And those little tiny shoulder muscles just can't do much against the restriction in the front, the big tight pec muscles. So what happens in this analogy in this scenario is that you're fighting your own body, you're getting in your own way, your own body is the greatest resistance. And this applies to life as well. So sometimes when we're working so hard, it's not that the work itself is very hard. It's not that the thing is very hard. It's that we're making it harder than it needs to be. It's getting in our own way. And that's the thing that, that this is all about, how to make hard. The things that we're making harder than it needs to be, how to make it easy. And this might seem like a crazy concept, especially with what we're experiencing. I have friends who are in the UK where Covid is crazy, who are in a scenario where they're delivering vaccines, they're physicians. I have people I know in the US who have Covid. There are people in my family who have to isolate. So there are so many scenarios that I know how really hard it is. So I'm not taking this lightly. I'm not trying to say, hey, oh, everything can be easy. What I'm trying to say is that sometimes we have the ability to really make things a lot easier than we're making them and that we are getting in our own way. So I'm going to give you three steps, three things that you can do to make the hard easier. Because sometimes the hard we're making is from ourselves. And number one is recognition. It's the awareness. It's recognizing where you're getting in your own way. Is it that your workout every day suddenly because there's so much pressure on the world or in the world that you're making your workout harder than it needs to be? Is it that there's conversations with a co worker that are becoming harder than they need to be? What is it in your life that feels hard? And just take a moment, ask yourself, why does it feel hard? Is it something I'm thinking about this scenario? Is it something that I'm affiliating with the other person that really doesn't need to be there? What is the thing that is hard in your life right now? So recognize where you might be contributing to that hard. Recognize where you might be getting in your own way in something that's challenging in your life? Number two, recognize what is not in your control. What bucket does it fall into? Does it fall into the category of no control? Because if the thing that is challenging in your life is falling in the category of your no control and you Keep trying to control it. Well, guess what? It's not ever going to get any easier because it's not in your control. If it's someone else's behavior not in your control, if it's Covid not in your control, if it's something, if it's the weather not in your control, if it's falling into that bucket of no control, then that is the thing that you can't even worry about. So it's not going to get any easier. It's something that you don't. You stop worrying about, stop getting in your own way in that realm. Does it fall in the bucket of some control? If it does, then perhaps it's something that you can do to make something better. And if it falls into the bucket of complete control, then you know that if it's hard, if something is hard in that area of your life and you have complete control over it, then you have the ultimate ability to make it so much easier. So that is the second thing. Decide where this thing is really hard in your life. Does it fall into the no control, some control or complete control bucket? And that's number two. And number three is what are you going to bring? What are you going to bring? How can you make it fun? To make something fun? Think of wrapping presents. Most people don't like wrapping presents, but they put the Christmas music on, put a Christmas movie on. They do it with some eggnog. They have a do it together with a family, make it fun. So how do we make something fun? And here are the ways that I think can really make a huge difference to add some lightness and maybe even fun to a scenario. And number one is the energy that you're bringing bring your best energy. And what does it take to bring your best energy? Is it talking to a friend that you really love to be with? Is it listening to some music? Is it having a little putting on your favorite? Like what is it? Is it getting a workout in first thing in the day? What does bring your best energy? Whatever it is, do it. Is it a cold shower in the morning? Have you tried that? Because that works. That works for almost everybody. I can't even say almost everybody who's been researched with cold water. It works. It brings the energy. So number one, bring the energy. Number two, check the attitude. Is the attitude something that's bringing the lightness? Is it bringing the fun? Bring that attitude of enjoyment. If you bring the attitude of playfulness, enjoyment, lightness, then you're going to be bringing and adding a little more, more Fun. And definitely fun is going to be the thing that makes it easier. And number three, contribution. If you have the energy and you bring a playful attitude and you start to contribute, I can promise you that not only will everything feel easier, but you're also going to be adding something amazing to somebody else. Whoever you're working with, whoever you're training with, whoever you're doing anything with. And if you don't have those people to do things with right now because you've been separated from the groups that you normally would engagement with, maybe it's your sport groups, your peer groups at work, your friends or family. If you don't have those people right now, bring it on screen. You can do it over zoom, you can do it on a little dance party on your own and share it with other people. Be the goofball, be the light one, be the fun one. Because I promise you, you bringing that light, lightness and fun will bring the ease in your life as well. So whatever it is, add those three elements, the energy, that playful attitude, and that contribution will make a huge difference. So the three things to recap on this, how to make it easy for yourself. I don't care what it is, apply these things. Number one, see where you're getting in your own way. Number two, check that thing that's really hard. Is it in the no control, some control or complete control bucket? Whichever one it's in that, that is where you can really see whether you should even bother paying any energy to it. And if it's in that complete control, that some control bucket, then here's what you can bring. The energy, bring an attitude of playfulness and definitely some contribution. Add something to the scenario that's really going to make a difference. Those are the ways that you can bring some easy into hard scenarios. And because most of the hard scenarios are coming from ourselves, we're bringing something to it that doesn't need to be there. So I hope this finds you well and I hope you're staying safe. Please, in this time, at this time of year, in this time in the world, be your best. If you keep filling your cup, if you keep keeping your health on track, doing your workouts, adding what you need in your life, you're going to be able to show up for the people who need you. And I know the people in this, you're all achievers. That's why we're doing this topic, is because we all tend to work really hard, but sometimes it doesn't have to be so hard. So if you're one of those people. Make sure you're filling your cup as well because people need you. People depend on you. Have a safe and amazing, incredible Monday and let that carry through into the rest of your week. Fill your cup. Do the things make it easier than you think it needs to be. Take the hard and shift it. Just a little shift. You can do it. Have a wonderful rest of your week everyone. Happy Monday. I'll see you next time. If you enjoy listening to the Empowered Team Podcast, you'll love being on the team. The Empowered Team runs year round. It is our group coaching and accountability program where we take mindset and physical performance concepts and break them down to usable action steps that optimize results. To join, email us@info powerconditioning.com with subject line team. That's info powerconditioning.com we can't wait for you to be on the team.