Ep. 046 - How to Build Self-Trust & Avoid Backsliding

SHOW NOTES

Struggling with self-trust when it comes to health and fitness goals? You're not alone. 

This episode of Man in the Arena is a game-changer for men over 40 who are ready to take control of their health but feel haunted by the fear of backsliding. 

On this episode we discover the power of self-trust and why it's key to successful health transformations. 

We'll explore  fail-proof strategies to build self-trust: starting small, consistency over intensity, tracking progress, and celebrating small wins. It's time to conquer your fears and step up your health game. 

Next week, we're doing a year-end review, so stay tuned. Here's to living a legacy of good health and longevity!

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to man in the Arena, your go-to podcast for all things related to health and weight loss for men over 40. Here we discuss strategies that will get you off the sidelines and into the game so you can achieve your optimal health. It's time to lead a legacy of longevity. Hello and welcome to another episode of man in the Arena. I'm your host, craig Spear. I'm an expert men's health coach and a former professional athlete, and today we're diving into a topic that many men over 40 can relate to, and that is building self-trust for better health. I thought this episode would be perfectly suited for this time of year, because it tends to be a time of year when we give up on ourselves and we give up on our health. We stop exercising, we overeat, we overdrink and we just try to limit the damage until a new year and we get a fresh start. So why not use this time between today and the new year to build better self-trust?

It's a unique skill and it's something that will not only serve you just in your health, but in all areas of your life. I'm going to discuss four different strategies to overcoming the fear of not following through and how to cultivate better self-trust in yourself in this episode. So if you're neglecting your health and you're feeling uncertain about your ability to change, then this episode is for you. But before we dive into the four strategies, let's just address the challenges that men over 40 face when it comes to their health. Many of us have neglected our well-being for years, and the idea of making a significant lifestyle change is often intimidating. It's common for men in this age group to have a lack of self-trust. Maybe you can relate to this because maybe you've tried and failed in the past, which often makes you fearful of doing the work and ultimately backsliding. And that fear can paralyze us, preventing us from even trying to improve our health in the first place.

But there's hope, and it starts with understanding why self-trust is crucial for our success. So self-trust is a huge part of the foundation of any successful health transformation, and without it we doubt our abilities and we become less likely to commit to healthier habits. So let's discuss why self-trust matters so much. I went to Google and I asked what is self-trust by definition? Here's what I found Self-trust is the belief and confidence that an individual has in their own abilities, judgment and decisions. It involves having faith in one's capacity to make choices, follow through with commitments and handle various situations competently. So we know that self-trust is a crucial element of self-confidence and personal development, because it influences how a person approaches the challenges they face, how they set goals, how they achieve goals and then how they navigate lives up and downs.

But here's what's great it's never too late to work on and build your own self-trust, because self-trust is like a muscle the more you use it, the stronger it becomes, and when you trust yourself, you are more likely to set goals and stick to them. So let's explore the four strategies to build self-trust for better health. One thing I want you to keep in mind self-trust is developed over time, just like any relationship you have with other people. Trust has to be earned, so it's built through a combination of self-awareness, self-acceptance and a track record of making consistent and reliable choices. So with that strategy one, start small. Instead of setting overly ambitious goals, begin with manageable changes. I know some of you are going to discount this one. I've been there and I've done that. You don't like how you look and feel, so you want to make major changes now, thinking that it's going to fix it all.

But I encourage you to take a different path this time around. For example, if you haven't exercised in years, don't aim to work out five days a week, next week for an hour each time. Instead, I want you to start with a 10-minute walk each day and gradually increase the intensity and duration. It's not about the exercise at this time. It's about following through on your commitment, and starting smaller makes it more likely that you're going to honor your commitment, and starting smaller allows you to build trust in your ability to make and sustain changes. Starting small allows you to create a stack of undeniable proof that you have what it takes to succeed. Starting big limits you in being able to stack up small wins, one after the other. In fact, if you're looking for the perfect place to start small, I want you to go to thespearmethedcom backslash the arena, because in the arena I've created what's called the 10 by 10 series.

This is 10 minutes of mobility or 10 minutes of core or cardio for 10 days straight, and these programs allow you to compile the evidence you need to build more self-trust and just feel better. So that's a great place to start small. Strategy number two is consistency over intensity, and I love this one Consistency over intensity. Many men over 40 think they need to push themselves to the limit every time they exercise, and that's a misconception. Consistency is far more important than intensity, especially as you get older. So regular, moderate exercise has long-term benefits and this is sustainable. So I want you to focus on showing up regularly rather than pushing yourself to the brink and risking burnout or injury. Strategy number three track your progress and celebrate small wins. I've talked about this before in many other episodes, but keeping a record of your progress and acknowledging your small wins does so much to build your own self-trust. When we monitor our progress, this allows us to see how far we've come, even on challenging days, so it's a tangible way to build self-trust. Plus, you can help identify what's working and when you need to make an adjustment.

Now I get it. You've been your own harshest critic and you've been fearful that, if you're soft on yourself, that this would lead to complacency and disrupt your progress and your success. So you have set really high expectations. But let me offer to you that this approach is often backfilled with inevitable self-sabotage. Why? Because there's no end in sight and it's completely unfulfilling. So, in response to that, I want you to consider self-compassion. You cannot build self-trust from a place of criticism. I want you to ask yourself right now do you trust anyone in your life who isn't asks to you? No, you don't. So be kind to yourself on this journey and understand that setbacks happen to everyone and they don't define your entire journey. One thing I encourage you to do is to separate your behavior from your character. Separate your behavior from your character.

This is something I'm working hard on teaching my daughter, not only in herself, but in how she sees other people. So when you overeat or you don't follow your plan or you miss a workout, this does not mean you're a bad person and you're flawed. All it means is you did something that wasn't in alignment with your goals and your values, and that's okay. This is a really subtle shift, but it's going to make a difference. It's going to make the difference between you sort of sabotaging yourself all the time and getting right back on track. So with that, let's talk about overcoming the fear of backsliding. It's really natural to worry about slipping back into old habits, but I want you to continue to remember that setbacks are part of this process. Don't let them erode your self-trust. Instead, I want you to view them as opportunities to learn and grow and keep in mind it's never too late to make positive changes in your health. When you've genuinely developed a strong level of self-trust, you often don't have these thoughts or fears about backsliding because you know that if you do have a setback, you're going to trust yourself to take the proper action and reverse it. So if you do have this fear of backsliding, remember to integrate these simple strategies

Start small consistency over intensity, track your progress and celebrate small wins, and practice self-compassion. These strategies will help you regain the trust in yourself and pave a way for lasting health improvements. So that's all I have for you today. As always, thank you so much for showing up and listening to this episode. This, in and of itself, is a practice of building self-trust by virtue of listening to a men's health podcast. You are keen to improve your health and that's worth acknowledging that you care about yourself. So celebrate that, and I look forward to next week's episode where I'm going to be doing my year-end review, so be sure to tune into that. In the meantime, keep living a legacy of good health and longevity.