It’s always fun at the start. It’s exciting!!!
You’ve turned a corner and decided to make a change. You’re feeling encouraged, energetic, and enthusiastic.
Of course, you would be! It’s exciting to think you’re going to make a change and achieve your goals.
But what happens next?
The honeymoon ends!
Now that may sound strange but let me explain.
The ‘honeymoon period’ is a term Matt and I use when describing the effect on people. The effect of starting strong and enthusiastic, but fast forward to weeks in and those feeling start to change.
The feelings of excitement and encouragement start to fade.
You start realising it’s hard work. It’s not very fun. Your body is sore and you’re being held accountable for your eating habits – the good and the bad.
This is the honeymoon period ending and the start of the rest of your life.
Frustration is often the first emotion to fill the space left by excitement.
Frustration over changing bad habits.
Frustration because you feel nothing is changing.
The list could go on and on.
It’s a very confronting time. To think just 6 or 7 weeks ago, you were on top of the world. So, excited to get started on this road to a better you.
But now – now you’ve been struck back down to earth with the realisation that this is really hard work.
First, I want you all to know – this is totally normal.
This happens to almost everyone at one point or another. When you’ve lived a certain way for years and years, to think you will be excited and enthusiastic the entire time you’re working to change it – well that would never happen.
You also can’t plan for how hard it’s going to be. Everyone deals with change differently. Every one of you are coming from different staring places. Different experiences.
You can’t know what it’s like until you start.
The big point here is that these feeling are normal. You are going to find it hard to keep going, especially when you’re putting in all the hard work, but haven’t noticed the changes yet.
These changes will come – its inevitable if you’re doing all the right things.
When you feel your honeymoon period has ended – make sure you remind yourself why you stated in the first place. This is what I did. I reminded myself of why I started and of my end goal. I reminded myself of these over and over again.
For some - the best action to get over this feeling is to quite simply not think about it. Focus your energy on other things. I know this is true for Matt. He focuses his energy on his hobbies and interests to distract him from feeling negative. This keep his mindset positive and focused on achieving his goals.
It's also important to remind yourself - you're doing all you can. Just keep going and you will see your reward for all your hard work.
People often say that starting is the hardest part.
That may be true for you – but I believe the hardest part is after that honeymoon period. After that initial excitement wears off and is replaced with frustration and pain and doubt.
This is when you must be able to fight the negative thoughts.
Always beware of the honeymoon period and don’t let it derail your progress.
Stay positive! :)
Court
