Episode 90 – The four stages of recovery

Hello loves,

I get asked all the time “I want to get better, but why do I sabotage myself? I think I know what I need to do, but I don’t do it”. Variations on this are lacking willpower, unmotivated, even scared.

It’s not as if the internet isn’t full of solutions to google. If you want to lose weight or increase your fruit and veg on a daily basis, there’s a ton of suggestions. If you want to try increasing your steps, or feel ready to try running, there’s plenty of plans that are a variation on couch to 5k.

Once you choose, you then go through four stages dictating what we do. 

When it comes to recovery from a chronic illness, we have the exact same four stages, and that’s what I’m talking about today. 

You probably don’t have a lack of ideas of what to do to make your health better, what you need is someone to tell you WHY you don’t do what you know to do.

As someone who has gone through quite a few relapses of M.E., and restarted running even more times, you can expect these four stages every single time it feels like you’re starting again. What I help my clients with is when you know the thoughts that come, you will also know what to do to keep going and keep moving forward.

Stage one – anticipation.

The shiny and new day oneness of it all. The excitement, the hope, and a little bit nervous.

You’ve done the planning, you’ve got the people on board, you’ve possibly even created a tracker to fill in. And you know you are ready to do this. 

These are the weeks you feel free and easy and this time you’re going to succeed.

Stage two – reality.

It’s not so new now. It’s becoming a lot less fun, because in truth, you still feel hopeless, exhausted, and because it’s not moving as quickly as you hoped, now you’re unmotivated.

This is when you start trying to cut corners, because why try so hard when it’s taking so long. 

This is also the silver bullet stage, where you start to wonder if you picked the wrong idea to try and that there has to be a better one out there.

Take heed, because this is the stage that can stop you in your tracks. And will stop you if you let it. 

Everyone gets to this stage, and everyone has to move through it. Unfortunately, there’s no skipping it. You have to find a way to keep pushing through. You get to choose. It’s your job to replace the negative thoughts that are causing you to lose motivation, momentum, and excitement

If you’re an overthinker like me, this stage can feel even harder, because it’s more about what we’re thinking than what we’re doing. Knowing this, and coming up with new more empowering things to think of is what moves you onto the next stage. 

But, before I get to stage three – gaining momentum, I want to share that I am creating a free mini course, a mini SHIFT. It is a taster of my SHIFT to Alignment 8-week experience designed to take you from drained to sustained, chaos to calm, uncertain to confident, into the most aligned, powerful and magical version of yourself.

My SHIFT to Alignment programme is more than just coaching. 

It’s nurturing, expansive, guidance, and strategy rolled into one, and you will literally have me at the other end of the phone cheerleading you as you progress, grow, and SHIFT.
In SHIFT to Alignment we work through your mindset blocks, and we work through ways to work best with your body, flaws and all, and see it for the powerhouse that it truly is, and much stronger than you think, as you find balance with energy and hormones with a chronic illness. 

And now you can have a taster of that in this free mini SHIFT. Five bite-sized units that you complete at your own pace. Doing this work has such a profound impact on my life. Not by giving me all the answers, but because as life changes, new things come up, and as we heal one thing it makes us stronger to take on the next. The work I put into SHIFT gave me the potential for massive, focused action that I had inside me to create change. And that potential resides in you, too.

You can get on to the waitlist at lifeinalign.com/minishift. I hope you check it out because everything on there is something that I have personally tested to deal with my illness, and as I worked through my childlessness grief, and have seen great results with clients.

So, to stage three – gaining momentum

They say that in two weeks, you’ll feel it. In four weeks, you’ll see it. In eight weeks, you’ll hear it. So don’t give up! 

If you choose to push through stage two and create a new reality, stage three is where habits start to form. You’re starting to feel a little more comfortable, confident, it’s beginning to feel a little more natural and you’re more open and responsive to learning from your mistakes, so to speak. 

Nerves have given way to determination. You’re getting the hang of it. 

Stage four – cruise control

Your new lifestyle is in full swing. You’re winning the mental game and it’s only a matter of time until you reach your goal, and feel you can take on whatever life throws at you.

That’s the game changer. Difficult things are always going to come up in the future, but once you have succeeded with one thing, when you have to start again, she says in quotes, you’re not starting from the beginning. You are truly starting with experience

And that is it for this week. Everything I mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes at lifeinalign.com/link-me. You will find the link in the podcast notes too.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Life in Align podcast. 

And remember – you are worth it, and you get to choose. 

Have a lovely day.