There are days that feel like I have found stride, and then there are those that are just messy. There is no such thing as perfection. Life is supposed to be messy. I find there’s many areas of my life that seem on track, but there’s others where things can seem blurred and unclear.

We as humans naturally see change as a negative. It doesn’t matter if the change is big or small, our brains are hardwired to see the negative. This is known as the negativity bias. It means even when we have a good or positive change in our lives, it can make the change feel uncomfortable or to cause anxiety. We all have different levels of resilience, so the way we react to a change can differ from person to person.

Sometimes we can see someone struggling to handle a change that wouldn’t phase you. In these circumstances, it’s very important not to be judgemental or dismissive of that person. Try to remember compassion. We’ve all faced change in life, and I am sure we can all recall a time when we struggled.

I have encountered both positive and negative changes in life recently. Achieving a huge personal goal, whilst also suffering a significant set back.

After a year of consistent effort, I finally hit a significant personal health goal: dropping below 76kg and achieving 30kg of fat loss. I achieved this with the guidance of a personal training and coach.

That feeling of seeing your hard work translate into a tangible result is truly rewarding. It’s a powerful testament to the value of showing up for ourselves, day after day, even when the finish line feels distant. But this has not just been about numbers to me. It’s easy to focus purely on the data, but at the same time I’ve developed body confidence and found enjoyment in the process. I’ve developed a passion for developing my boxing skill and had a lot of fun. But one of the biggest positives of this change has been the improvements to my mental health. My anxiety is reduced and structured exercise with goals has become a significant positive way for managing my mental health positively.

It all sounds amazing doesn’t it? Yes this has all been a great process and outcome. But it’s not the only part of my life. Life isn’t perfect (and it’s not meant to be).

Despite that achievement,  there have been setbacks. In early January I suffered an injury to both my shoulders. This has been a setback, as I had to stop boxing training and avoid certain movements in the gym to allow healing to occur. In the past, I may have considered stopping exercise training fully. But with the encouragement of my coach and my personal trainer, I simply adjusted my goals. The ultimate goal has been to keep training, and it took no encouragement for me to switch my focus to new goals, whilst actively working to heal my shoulders.

This injury still had negative impacts. Some lower mood to accept I needed to stop certain things I enjoyed and also sleep disruption.

Finding a positive in change can be really hard. I tried to embrace a negative angle focus on what I can do, rather than a temporary limitation.