Wake up! It’s training day!

Every now and then, one of those weeks pops up where no matter what you try to accomplish or achieve, things just don’t seem to work out the way you expected.

For me, this week got off to flying start with a bad back, the type where nothing you do seems to give you any relief. It disrupted my sleep, constantly niggled at me, and left me feeling really grumpy and tired. Throw in a few family challenges, a decent traffic fine, and all I felt like doing was crawling back under the covers and going to bed.  

A good mate of mine has this great analogy: whenever things are going a little sideways, we simply treat it as a training day. By training day, he simply means that pear-shaped days present us with an opportunity to sharpen our tools and do the work.

What does he mean by ‘do the work?’. It’s simply practicing using the things we have learnt in our lives that help us to stay calm, grounded and keep things in perspective. For me, some weeks ‘the work’ has been to slow down and create a little space in the middle of chaos to allow myself to think and simply be. Other times, it’s been finding simple acts of self-compassion through rest, clean eating or whatever else I need to give myself at any particular moment. 

This week has presented me with plenty of training days when it comes to controllables and uncontrollables. Put simply, I’m practicing the art of focusing on the things I can control and influence and letting go of the things I can’t.

Training day is a core component of developing a growth mindset. It’s such a great way to reframe challenging days or experiences by treating these moments as an opportunity to do the work, build tools and methods, and practice being a little kinder and compassionate to ourselves.