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Hey Reader,

This past week, I started going to the gym and doing some strength-training workouts again after taking a break for most of October to focus solely on running.

And though this may sound weird, I had honestly missed being in a gym environment.

The ironic thing is that as soon as I registered to go to the gym, I felt that same resistance that always appears when I know I'm about to do something hard or uncomfortable, especially after not doing it for a couple of weeks.

Once I got started with my workout, though, I quickly found myself "in the zone" and fell into my preferred workout routine, which seems to be embedded in my brain from all the times I have done it before, LOL.

The first day back, it felt like being in a playground. We were easily there for over two hours because with so many new machines, I felt like I needed to try them all, and then I noticed they had a sauna and could not (for the life of me) skip it.

I share this because I think it's easy for all of us to feel resistance before we're about to undertake something new or something we haven't done in a while. And so, we often believe this resistance means we shouldn't do it, that we're not prepared or motivated for it, or that something is wrong with us.

That's why when we're about to do something hard or uncomfortable, it's so easy to get caught up in all the 'reasons' why we shouldn't do it as opposed to the reasons why we should.

It's our minds trying to protect us from the "unknown".

What we don't realize is that the unknown doesn't have to be scary. The unknown is also where new possibilities, new opportunities, and new feelings (and yes, new workout machines you had never tried before) lie.

Maybe if we all started seeing going back to the gym, or going back to school, or doing something new for the first time, as the discovery of a new, exciting playground, we wouldn't block ourselves so much from trying the things we want to try.

If you, too, are working on something new or going back to something after a while, and you're feeling some resistance along the way, hit reply and tell me about it!

Drop the unnecessary fight

I'm not proud to admit it, but these past couple of days, I noticed myself being more reactive and getting easily annoyed about small things.

I don't know if it was the moon or my hormones, but a couple of times it felt like I was looking for a fight. And I didn't like it at all.

The thing is that when you get into silly arguments for small things, when you get easily reactive, when you're looking for reasons to get annoyed, what usually happens is that you're the one who creates the fight.

The truth about life is that if you're looking for excuses to complain or for something to be bad, you will for sure find it.

And though I was able to notice it when I was doing it, I was stuck on how to overcome doing it.

Until I heard this on a podcast while being on a run, and it unblocked it for me:

Whenever you are caught up feeling and spiraling over negative emotions, ask yourself:

"Is this helpful?" Is this feeling helpful to what I want to create in my life? And even more to the point, is constantly thinking, talking, and complaining about it helpful? To my goals? To my dreams? To my life? To my relationships? To how I want to show up in the world?

If the answer is a complete and definitive "no" (which so often is), let the unhelpful feeling go to be able to focus on feelings that help you move forward instead.

And it made me realize that being constantly annoyed by small, unimportant things; constantly giving my focus and energy to being mad about things that don't matter, that I can't change, or that don't improve my life, was not helpful at all to move forward in any area of my life nor was it helping me to show up as the version of myself that I want to be.

It was a good reminder that while we aren't always in control of our feelings, we can always choose which feelings we focus on and direct our attention towards.

Whenever you decide that a feeling is 100% not helping you move forward, improve a situation, or make you better, remind yourself that you can always choose to give it less "airtime" in your mind.

Instead, say to yourself, "This is not helpful", feel it for a moment, and then move along.

The price we have to pay for more peace in our lives is noticing and then dropping the unnecessary fights. Say‘no’ to the drama, to the small arguments, to the little things that don’t matter. Each ‘no’ allows you to create the space for the yeses that you truly want in your life.
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A question to take with you this week

Sometimes people won't understand why you do the things you do or why you want the things that you want. It's okay that not everyone wants the same things you want. Release the need to appease others and go after the things you want anyway!

P.S.: Want to manifest change and new things in your life, but feel like you're constantly blocking yourself? In my latest Podcast episode of Confidence is Overrated, I shared how you can challenge and unblock the limiting beliefs you may have to transform them into more empowering beliefs that help you create the life you desire, starting today! [Click here to watch the video now] Or listen on Spotify here or Apple Podcasts here.

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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