How to Keep Growing When Life Gets Hard
I’ll be blunt – this week was a rough one.
Multiple things went wrong. Very wrong.
When Everything Seems to Go Wrong
On Tuesday, I sat through the Colombia World Cup game at my neighbors house (she’s from Colombia and after the US was eliminated, my next best chance at being the fair-weather fan I am), distracted by feelings of hurt, resentment and shock at the behavior of someone I’d let into my world and had quickly insulted & betrayed me.
On Thursday, I spent an hour on the phone with doctors & insurance and was in the waiting room of a doctor’s office & pharmacy for another 2 hours.
Thursday night night, my husband & were both troubleshooting technology issues and cursing Facebook and Instagram’s name.
That’s not all of it, but all I want to share today.
Finding the Wins in a Difficult Week
But you know what ? It was also an INCREDIBLE week.
Personal and Running Wins
4th of July 10K was a blast. I absolutely crushed my speed workout & had a great call with my run coach about fall marathon training. And I got back to my pelvic floor strength program after 3 weeks of inconsistency.
Business Wins
I had 4 run coaches from my business coaching program sign on to work with me for another 6 months.
11 more female runners joined Run Fuel (and I started sending voice memo welcome messages which I’m loving!) and I officially filled my 1:1 coaching roster (on a waitlist til September when I can make sure I have the time to dedicate to more athletes).
Family Wins
My daughters spent 3 days at my mom’s house and my husband and I got 2 date nights (and the house was clean!).
Big Brother started up again (I’ve been watching this show since I was 18 and my girls love it now too, it’s my ultimate guilty pleasure show – anyone else!?).
I spent most of Friday at the beach with my kids and a friend, and ate amazing tacos for lunch.
The Story You Tell Yourself Matters
A past version of me would have focused on all the hard and bad things that happened.
But the person I am today?
I told myself a different story: these are all tests to help me grow and become an even better coach, mom, mentor.
The Upper Limit Problem and Personal Growth
The concept that when you move into a new, better version of yourself, you hit major roadblocks is called “The Upper Limit Problem”. It was coined by Gay Hendricks, Author of “The Big Leap“.
Why Growth Often Feels Difficult
Whether it’s your next PR, your first ultra marathon, losing enough weight to warrant a new set of clothes, a promotion at work, a difficult situation with a family member…. growth doesn’t happen on the easy road.
How to Grow Through Life’s Challenges
These struggles, challenges and sometimes even downright disasters, force you to choose:
Will you let these things shrink you back down to your comfort zone and stay safe (and stuck)?
Or will you grow through them and build something you’ve never had before?
Well, I’m choosing to grow.
Happy running,
Nicole Dobransky
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