Discomfort often comes first
Starting something new is uncomfortable.
Walking into a gym for the first time is uncomfortable.
Meeting new people is uncomfortable.
Moving your body in ways you haven’t moved it for months, years, or maybe ever is uncomfortable.
Even that first post-workout soreness can feel like your body is personally victimised by your life choices.
But here’s the thing: discomfort is not always a sign that something is wrong. Sometimes, it’s the sign that something is finally changing.
And deep down, you already know this.
Because you’ve done hard things before.
You didn’t get to where you are in life by avoiding discomfort. You didn’t build your career, raise your family, grow through challenges, or keep showing up when life got messy by doing only what felt easy.
You know what it means to put time, energy and effort into something that matters. You’ve done it for your work. Your kids. Your partner. Your home. Your family. Everyone and everything else that needed you. Now it’s time to shift some of that focus back onto you.
So many women wait to start until they feel more motivated, more confident, less busy, less tired, or more ready. But that magical version of life where everything is calm, easy and perfectly aligned? Never actually comes.
Life will always have curveballs. Work will get busy. Kids will need you. Stress will happen. Motivation will come and go.
This time is going to pass either way.
You can be uncomfortable now while you build strength, confidence, routine and momentum.
Or you can be uncomfortable six months from now because nothing has changed and you still feel stuck.
I say this as someone who has to remind herself of the same thing.
I get out of routine too. Life gets chaotic. Training gets pushed down the list. And when it’s time to start again, it feels hard. (and I’ve usually only had a few weeks off) I don’t always feel motivated. I don’t always bounce out of bed excited to do the thing.
Sometimes, I have to force myself to start, not because it’s easy, not because I’m always in the mood. But because I know how much better I feel when I keep showing up for myself.
The starting part is often the hardest part.
The first session. The second session, the third.
The first step through the door. The second step, the third.
THE CHOOSING YOURSELF AGAIN!
But you do not need to feel comfortable to begin.
You just need to decide that staying stuck is no longer the easiest option.
Progress starts in the uncomfortable, and you are more capable of working through it than you think.