Let’s be honest – November Sucks!
First and foremost, my apologies if your birthday takes place in the month of November. The fact that you were born in a crappy month isn’t your fault, nor does it identify who you are as a person. And besides, I’m sure somewhere in the world right now, the sun is out and the weather is beautiful. But here in Vancouver, British Columbia, the forecast for the next few weeks calls for rain, rain and…..well……more rain. Throw in the fact that Daylight Savings ends this coming Sunday, November 7th, causing us to lose an extra hour of sleep, and we’ve got what you call a real first class world problem.
Record Keeping
Every good Business Owner keeps records and stats of their business over the years in order to compare profit margins and upcoming trends for the months/years ahead.
Now I don’t think any of us predicted a Global Pandemic would occur, however if you’re a Business Owner who survived the Financial Crisis back in 2008 like I did, then I imagine you have/had a fairly healthy Emergency Fund set aside for real life emergencies such as the one in which we are currently living through with COVID-19.
Now if you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people here in Canada who were not financially prepared for this economic collapse, then hopefully this will prove to be a valuable lesson to save and budget accordingly for future disasters (both natural and man-made).
And if you’re like me, and don’t want to just “get by comfortably in life” then you know we still have a lot of ground to make up in order to climb our way back to the top.
Pandemic Problems
I, like many of you, have experienced my fair share of mixed emotions since Covid-19 first shutdown the world back in the earlier stages of 2020. The fear of losing my business alone caused me to lose numerous nights of sleep, experience a few panic attacks, have my appendix removed, and suffer a Grand Mal Seizure. Okay, so truth be told, we are not 100% certain that the events caused by COVID-19 led to my appendectomy. Nor can I say with complete certainty that my Grand Mal Seizure was triggered directly by the Coronavirus. I do however believe that the additional stresses caused by this Global Pandemic, did have a negative impact on both my physical and my mental health.
In addition to people dying, jobs being lost, and families losing their homes, one of the biggest losses I witnessed during this Pandemic were people being unable to exercise and workout. Now I know that for those people that do not lift weights regularly and train almost daily, losing something so meaningless as the gym, means very little to their day to day lives. But for those people who do actually care about their health and care about their fitness, losing access to their gyms was a significant loss to both their physical and mental health.
Fast forward almost a year later, and we as a society are slowly and carefully beginning to re-open our businesses (the ones that have survived anyways). No, things are not the way they were before. Yes, we all have to get used to “The New Normal”. No, it hasn’t been easy. But as the stats and facts continue to show, our strategy is working. My only concern is how long will our strategy continue to work? Are there other far more dangerous variants out there that we are not aware of just yet? And what happens if we as a society have to shut down once again? Can our economy handle the financial blow?
How I Stay Motivated
It’s completely normal for all of us to feel a little down at times. Considering that all of us are living through a Global Crisis with still lots of uncertainty ahead, I would actually be surprised if none of you felt depressed or even afraid from time to time. I myself would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. But I believe part of the reason I’ve been able to remain so laser focused and motivated to succeed throughout this Pandemic is because I operate well under fear. I learned a long time ago to not let my emotions get the best of me. Yes, I acknowledge feelings of sadness, but I don’t allow them to consume me. Yes, I feel depressed at times, but I don’t allow this feeling to control me. And yes, there have been plenty of times during COVID-19 when I’ve wanted to pack it in and call it quits. But my stubborn work ethic and resilience to quit and give up, would not allow me to do so.
You can’t teach someone how to become self-motivated. The person either has it or they don’t. I’ve always believed that if you want something bad enough, then you will find a way to achieve it. I do not believe in giving reasons or making excuses as to why I cannot achieve my goal(s). It’s actually quite simple. If I don’t achieve my goal, then I have failed. End of story. As harsh as this may seem, this is the same mindset in which I try to install in my clients when they are setting their target health and fitness goals. I don’t allow them to settle for mediocre results. Not if they plan on continuing to work with me anyways. After all, how can I be expected to take my clients goals seriously, if they aren’t taking their goals seriously themselves? It’s a two way street. I work with my clients by helping them problem solve and find solutions in order to help them achieve their goals. Whether that be in the gym with their workouts, or in the kitchen with their diets, or a combination of the two, I don’t take my foot off the gas until the job has been completed.
So How Do You Stay Motivated During A Pandemic?
Well for one, you don’t lay down and quit when life becomes difficult. Instead you look for new and improved ways to reinvent both yourself, your career and/or your business.
Secondly, don’t sit around bitching and complaining about being dealt a bad hand in life. I’ve always believed that disasters create opportunities. I suggest you look for these opportunities as there are plenty of them out there right now.
Finally, and most importantly – Stay Hungry! The hungrier you are, the more successful you will become. If you truly want to achieve something and are willing to do almost anything to achieve it, then you’re not going to let some damn Pandemic get in your way.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King Junior
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance