The power of powering through!

The art of ‘powering through’ refers to the ability to persevere in the face of challenges, obstacles, and adversity. It involves developing a mindset and set of habits that allow you to maintain focus, determination and motivation in pursuit of your goals, even when the going gets tough (and in life it often does!).

I thought about powering through a lot this morning. The alarm went off at 530am (it hasn’t gone off that early since I had to take a flight). It was as black as the night outside, because well, wasn’t it still night time?! I turned on my little reasonably eco portable heater before I dared to put a toe outside of the duvet, and thought ‘damn, I’m tired.’

I had a friend over for dinner the night before and due to the trials and tribulations of parenthood, she had arrived much later than anticipated at around 915pm. Consequently, by the time we had had our fix of updating each other, she ended up leaving after midnight. This meant that I then didn’t sleep until after 1am.

So there I am approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes later, turning off my alarm.

Sadly, I wasn’t catching a flight to golden shores. I was getting up to go to a personal training session. The 6am slot was the only mutually available time for both of us during an exceptionally busy week.

I thought about texting to say I wasn’t feeling well (exhaustion counts right?!). Then I thought about which figure below zero the air temperature was going to hit me with on the streets. And then, I thought about how my little body just didn’t have any fuel left to be lifting weights, so it would be a wasted session.

As I justified aborting the session, I started to play devil’s advocate, or let’s call this angel’s advocate. I started to think about how much more awake i’d feel after the session, and how |I’d feel accomplished starting my day. I thought about how I’d be one step closer to achieving my fitness goals. And finally, I thought about how rubbish it is when anyone cancels something last minute, and that wasn’t fair on my trainer.

So I went to my session and told myself I’m going to power through. And I did, albeit perhaps not oodles of power, but certainly I got through it. I felt energized. I felt pleased at my choice, and I knew in my head that I was literally a little bit stronger as a result (thank you deadlifts). 

Thinking about gratitude, I was grateful to my trainer for his early morning enthusiasm, grateful to be able bodied, and grateful for having so much of my day still ahead of me.

I was grateful for being able to power through.

Being grateful for the ability to power through can be a, well, powerful way to stay motivated and maintain a positive mindset when facing challenges. Here are some ways that you can cultivate gratitude for your ability to power through:

Focus on your strengths: Recognize the strengths and many skills that have helped you power through challenges in the past. You have survived everything that has happened to you. You are as much superhero as anything Marvel can conjure. We neglect this far too often, so take a moment to appreciate these strengths and be grateful for the progress you've made. 

Reflect on past successes: Think back to times when you overcame difficult obstacles and succeeded in reaching your goals. Reflect on the lessons you learned, and be grateful for the experiences that have helped shape you into the person you are today. Be grateful for the fact that you are a valuable commodity with the ability to pass on important life lessons to those around you. Anecdotally, you may have noticed that those who have experienced challenges and overcome them make for far more interesting dinner guests than those who have perhaps not been challenged in the same way.

Practice mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness can help you stay present in the moment and appreciate the small things in life. It’s a great way to centre yourself and shut out noise when you are feeling strained. Take a few minutes each day to focus on your breath, I find breathing in for 3-4 seconds and breathing out for 3-4 seconds repeatedly does the trick, and be grateful for the ability to power through challenges.

Express gratitude to others: In universal terms, life is short. Take the time to express gratitude to those who have supported you in your journey to power through challenges. Most of them probably have no idea of the impact they may have had on your life. Let them know how much you appreciate their help and encouragement - this gives them the positive mental health benefits of gratitude practice as well as you - a really great way for you to give back.

Keep a gratitude journal: A daily gratitude journal can be a really useful way to cultivate gratitude in your life. Each day document 3 things you're grateful for, including your ability to power through challenges, and think of why. You can use a journal to write this down, or maybe give our video gratitude journaling app a go. This will unlock the many benefits of regular gratitude practice for you - for example your mood will be better, your sleep may be better, your blood pressure may also be better! And of course, regular gratitude practice enhances our ability to power through situations in life.

Remember that gratitude is more than just about feeling good in the moment. It can have long-term benefits for your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. It can be a fundamental shift for the better in the way you perceive the world.

By focusing on gratitude, you can stay motivated and maintain a positive mindset as you power through challenges that will inevitably come along, and work towards your goals. It gets overused as a phrase but, you’ve got this!