What makes us keep on going when we face big challenges?

Today, between 3-4pm local time, the world will have the opportunity to participate in the hour of Sisu. In this hour, you are encouraged to do one thing that you know will benefit you but that you have been putting off - something that might seem a little scary to you, but that will help you to push out of your comfort zone in a really empowering way. 

Sisu is a concept that originates from Finland, used to describe the power that enables individuals to push through unbearable challenges. It is also a new term in the field of Positive Psychology which is being researched and applied to contribute to understanding other areas of the science, such as resilience, and post-traumatic growth. 

This whole year of 2015 is dedicated as the Year of Sisu, to spread the message that we as humans are stronger than the adversities we encounter and we can take action to move past these experiences, and break through to positive and empowered futures. 

From Sisu researcher Emilia Lahti:

"Sisu denotes extraordinary determination, courage, and resoluteness in the face of extreme adversity. It relates to an action mindset that enables individuals to take action against very slim odds and reach beyond the observed limitations of their present moment. Sisu begins where grit and perseverance end. As a construct, it is an integral part of the Finnish culture but it is also a universal capacity of humans all across the world." 

I wrote last week about defying your own limitations, and this fits so well with the concept of Sisu, as a means for breaking through barriers and tackling things head on. We all have so much potential inside of us, and so much strength and courage when it comes to the things that really test us. Sisu allows us to celebrate this and honour it. 

There is so much change that occurs in our lives, and if you were to look back on some of the things that you have experienced, you will probably notice that you have changed too. 

It is often the times that try us, that end up being the times that make us. 

How can you push out of your comfort zone today and participate in the hour of Sisu? 

Between 3-4pm in your local time, do something that pushes your boundaries - something that you know will benefit you but that you have been putting off. 

In preparation for our next Thrive Live event, I am going to dedicate my hour of Sisu to making my own vision board. This is something that I have done in the past and is something that I am ready to do again. We will be making vision boards at our Thrive Live event next week and I want to be able to share with everybody in the class to give an idea of what is possible, and heighten the co-creation in the group. 

Creative pursuits are often something that we know will benefit us but that we put off because we feel that allowing ourselves to be creative is something that is on the edge of our comfort zone. 

I challenge you to discover what it is that resides on the edge of your comfort zone, and choose to do that. 

With Gratitude, 

Niyc xx

P.S. I will be vlogging about creativity this week too, and so don't forget to check out the optimallyou YouTube channel to catch up with that tomorrow. 

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Defy Your Own Limitations

I had the idea for this blog a few days ago when I had got home from a run....a 50 minute run. It took me almost 90 minutes(!) to actually get round to going for that run. Not because I wasn't ever not going to do the run, but because I was procrastinating, putting it off, finding other "important" things to do first. It was my morning off, and I didn't have anywhere to be until lunchtime. I had a lie in until 7am and woken up naturally and knew that I had planned to run. The first hour was spent relaxing, catching up on news and doing a few bits for social media, then I thought that I would head out to run at 8am. 

8am turned into a few emails, a phone call, some more social media. I thought about having breakfast, then I realised I wanted to run first. So I decided to go out and run. Then I tried on a dress that I love and have never worn, I thought about wearing it to a party that I have been invited to. I thought about breakfast again, and then finally decided to get my running gear on and head out. I stopped and sat on a chair first. It was 9:30am. I grabbed my headphones. Found a podcast lecture that I wanted to listen to. Hair up, gloves on. Fiiiiiiiinally out the door. Why had it taken me so long to get out and run? I LOVE running! It chills me out. It's my thing, and I've worked as a personal trainer for almost ten years. I am a master of motivation! It wasn't necessarily the motivation to do the run that i was lacking (because I knew that I was always going to do it at some point that morning), but rather the motivation to do the run right then. Hmmmm.

It got me thinking. What was so bad about taking the first few steps out of the door? It's something that we all deal with.The umming and ah'ing about whether to take action, or to put something off. It can be likened to getting out of bed in the morning - do you jump up at the first sound of your alarm, or do you hit snooze again and again?! Do you make it to your workout raring to go, or do you put it off or start late and miss part of your session? I guess in this situation I wanted to relax into my morning off without the usual military precision that my day demands. It certainly provided pause for thought though, and I realise nobody is exempt from the tendency to put off creating action in the moment. 

I'm glad I went out on that run - it brought with it so many ideas and positive vibes. I do some of my best thinking when I am running, almost like thinking but not thinking. It was raining, but just drizzle, which was really nice, and I had chosen to listen a podcast about mindset. I always try to remind myself to listen to something valuable when I run, whether it be music to make me feel good, or a lecture to make me think. Sometimes just running without anything is valuable too, and it's nice to be immersed in the sounds of what's around you.

I ran through the park that I usually run around, and into the next park across the road, which has just been refurbished. I thought that I would just keep on running through the park, further than I had ever been, to see what I would come across, and I ended up coming to a gate which led into a piece of track that I used to run through when I lived in my last home, around four years ago. I was really surprised that the two parks joined and I kind of got a rush of memories of the old route that I used to run - with lots of hills and muddy paths, and a big long flat along the bottom. I ran along the flat and remembered running through there years ago and how it felt, and what I was training for, and which bit of the run I found difficult, and remembered doing sprint sessions running out along the flat as fast as I could and then walking back. The whole thing brought back happy memories and positive emotions - I'm sure I must look so strange running along with a huge grin on my face sometimes! 

I felt so grateful for those memories, and also for the fact that I had chosen to keep on running and see what was at the end of the path. If I had just stuck to the usual route and turned around where I normally would, then I never would have realised that the two parks join, and would never had ran through the old park with a new perspective. It offers such a simple example of pushing past perceived boundaries to see what is on the other side. 

I had created a perception for myself, that the edge of the park was the edge of the park, and it was only until I kept running, that I realised there was another gate, and in fact another whole park behind it. What you think is your edge really isn't your edge, and you can go so much further and experience so much more than you think, just by pushing past what you think is there, and by breaking through the perceived boundaries that you set yourself. 

Where do you impose limitations on yourself? Are these limitations real or only perceived?

What can you do to break through your perceived boundaries?

What might be on the other side of that gate?

The biggest limitations are the ones that we make up in our minds. 

Choose to defy them today. 

With Gratitude, 

Niyc xx


PS. The optimallyou video blog will be released on YouTube tomorrow so keep an eye out for that - it is all about feeling grateful :) 

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What you do every day matters

It seems an appropriate time to revisit the commitments I made at the beginning of January. New Years Resolutions - who has forgotten about them already?

I seem to have done okay with fulfilling the intentions that I set at the start of the year - to incorporate more spinning, yoga, and boxing into my weekly routine, to cook more and eat out less, to practice forgiveness daily, take one day off each week, and to read something and write something every day. 

Firstly my MOVE related intentions, I have been to yoga twice this month - I would like to do more of this, and can plan to include yoga once weekly going forwards. I would also like to work out when I can fit spinning into my schedule as yet I haven't made it to a spin class! I think a little bit of organisation will go a long way here. Boxing is something that has really been working for me, and I have been loving having a personal training session each week to teach me how to box. I've even found some anger in there somewhere and I'm getting better! Even with my background in exercise and having been a personal trainer for almost ten years myself, boxing was something that was a little out of my comfort zone. I've really benefitted from having an appointment to show up to each week, where I'm pushed and my fitness and skill level tested in different ways than I am used to. I've learned to punch from my hips, and to keep my back foot planted instead of lifting it off the floor like a fairy! Thank you Dan! So grateful for your teaching! 

My NOURISH related intentions involved cooking more and eating out less, and this has been going well, although I have seemed to still manage to enjoy a few meals out each week. I realise that eating out is my social time, and I really love to enjoy that space with friends. I have made the effort to eat breakfast and lunch at home a lot more, and have been cooking up my favourite green veg stir fry on many mornings as the perfect start to my day. Stir fried kale, broccoli, and mangetout, with beansprouts and a green juice! Stir fried with coconut oil, and also sometimes some chilli. It seems like a strange breakfast to have, but when your day starts at 5am and breakfast is at 10am, it's kind of like lunch time already anyway!

The final intentions that I set for myself for January and 2015 were FLOURISH related, and involved practising forgiveness daily, taking one day off each week, and reading and writing something every day. This has actually been one of the most impactful areas of my intentions, and I have really noticed new habits forming as a result. I have practised forgiveness every single day in January, and have made the effort to take notice of how this process has made me feel. The effects have been so overwhelmingly positive, that I am going to keep using this daily practice for February too. I figured that if I set an alarm to remind me to practice forgiveness, that I would make the effort each day to do so, and this has really worked. 

I have had one day off each week, and I am really looking forward to a day off again this weekend. Sometimes my working days have extended from 6am to 9pm, and so a day off each week to look forward to having no plans has been a really valuable thing. I love to cram as much as possible into my days and my life, but I also realise the importance of time to just be. To relax and be still, and be present and unwind. 

I would like to have written more this month, and whilst I have kept up to date with my blog each Tuesday, outside of that I have written little, other than notes and ideas, and to do lists. My February intentions include writing every day - and using a method that I found to be effective for my reading, which is to do just a little every day, even if it is 15 minutes, just to make sure that every day I am making progress. I will be discussing this in more detail in tomorrow's optimallyou vlog. I have noticed that just doing a little of something every single day means that so much more progress is made. 

For now I am going to continue with the commitments I have made, and build upon the habits I have begun to form. I will be focusing more on fulfilling my intention to spin more and write daily, and will see what February has in store! January has been an amazing month and I have so loved everything that has been brought into my life. I have worked with some amazing people already this year and am open and allowing everything else that is on its way. I will love to hear how your positive intentions are coming along for 2015 and so please get in touch by leaving a comment below, or reaching out on social media. 

With Gratitude, 

Niyc xx

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