Have you ever not been able to achieve a wellness goal because something got in the way? Whether it was a barrier or challenge created by another person or by you, you were never able to reach the goal.

How you respond to challenges when you are trying to reach a (wellness) goal can have enormous implications for your progress. It can mean the difference between success or not. It can even, more importantly, prevent frustration leading you to persevere through any challenges along the way.

This is another reason developing a growth mindset was a game-changer for me, and it will be for you.

So, let’s say the goal is to lose 10 pounds – the most popular goal I hear about almost daily.

Below are my top five tips for you as you continue to approach your 10-pound weight loss goal.

1. Stop fearing failure

• Stop assuming that imperfect is not good enough.

• What if you lose three pounds, yet you start to see definition in your arms?

• What if you gain three pounds, yet you can actually do 10 real push-ups?

• We don’t have to get everything 100% correct. This can lead us to stop trying anything new and prevent us from reaching our full potential.

2. Avoid placing blame on others

• Blaming others does not get you any closer to your goals! It moves you backward because your tension over others is taking valuable energy from what is truly important: your goal.

• Take accountability and ownership of your choices and actions.

• Not losing your 10 pounds is no one’s choice but yours. Others may invite you to participate in activities that don’t comport with your wellness program, yet you always have the option to say “no.”

3. Lose the excuses

• We all have barriers. Instead of listing to the reasons you can’t achieve your goals, try focusing on how you can achieve them.

• Stop saying: “I’m too busy with work and my kids’ schedules to exercise and meal plan every week; therefore, losing 10 pounds is impossible.”

• Start saying: “I have the choice to adjust my priorities and remove the nonessential items from my schedule each day, wake up 30 minutes earlier, and find time for planning healthy meals and physical movement despite my busy schedule.”

4. There are no mistakes, just lessons

• This may be my favorite of them all. Mistakes teach us so much more than successes. In part two of our Growth Mindset Series, I highly encourage you to approach all wellness plans in the following vein:

Do
Reflect
Learn
Redo
Reflect
Learn

• What worked? What do you want to adjust? What will you do differently?

• Things won’t always go as planned.

• So, you ate a decadent dessert? It is one dessert and truly will have little impact on your goal. Choosing foods that detract from your goal will happen. Move on. Lose the stress about it. Stress alone will keep the pounds on more than the actual sugar/carbs/empty calorie dessert.

• Learn from your setbacks and use this knowledge to adjust your strategies.

5. Ask others for feedback

• Asking those closest to you and who you trust for feedback is a key recommendation of my concierge program. Those who know you best and with whom you spend the most time will also want you to succeed.

• If they have your best interests in mind, their feedback can be hugely helpful.

• “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn.

• What can you learn from their feedback? What counsel will you keep? Will you get more curious?

• Instead of taking feedback personally, embrace it as another opportunity for personal growth and improvement.

Stay tuned for part five next week, where I will wrap up my growth mindset series. I hope it has helped you think differently about how you approach your wellness and your life!