We ALL struggle! But, we all don’t have to ride the struggle bus.
No one wants to be on that bus, where we repeatedly keep messing up, quitting, not following through, or letting others down. I also think it’s a bus that we accidentally get on, sort of like missing our subway stop. ( I’ve done it, and we get off immediately, instead of staying on the wrong line.)
The bus’s only destination is to the pity party, where no one shows up, but YOU!
We need to have strategies, tactics, and sometimes “hacks” to help us get through… That’s why we are here! It takes others to be able to help.
Here Are Three Simple Ways to Get Off The Struggle Bus
1) I respect David Goggins. He’s an ultra-freak endurance athlete and the epitome of mental toughness. He swears in his talks way too much, but hey, he just keeps moving forward. I relate to him because of my ultras and ironman’s.
David Goggins was asked at a conference “how do you keep going through your extreme races?”
He answered “what-if.” He starts to ask “what if I can pull this off?” “what if I can keep going and overcome?”
What-if
I’ve always said “what-if” never happened. Too often we ask ourselves “what-if” and there isn’t an answer because we are focused on the past and NOT the future.
Most of the time when we ask “what-if”, we are trying to re-create our own past. And it’s fantasy.
Google “what-if never happened” and see what pops up. Hundreds of scenarios that simply didn’t happen and the possible outcomes from these hypothetical events. (i.e. what-if 9/11 didn’t happen? OR what-if we caught that touchdown?)
But Goggin’s strategy of “what-if” is focused on the future!!
James Altucher asks us to wake up asking the questions of “what-if.” He states- When you start with “What if?” you start with questions instead of answers.
2) Jesse Itzler, who actually had Goggins move in with him for a month (Read: Living With A Seal) has a similar strategy.
He tells himself “remember tomorrow!”
Remember tomorrow how you’ll feel if you give up and stop? Remember tomorrow if you don’t finish and push-through! Focusing on who we want to be will get us off the struggle bus! It also helps with patience!
Remember Tomorrow!
Both of these mantras are focused on the future and who we want to become!
3) One of my favorite lines from the Rocky Movies (and there are a ton) is from Rocky III. Apollo Creed is training Rocky in this movie and while Rocky is dealing with the typical battle against himself, Apollo drops some wicked knowledge on him.
There Is NO Tomorrow
So true, because if we approach every day like it is our last, then we leave nothing to chance and seize this day and this moment for all it is worth…Perhaps we need to start treating everyone else like it’s THEIR last day.
- If we can help other people get off the struggle bus, then we will get off of ours!
- If we help others with patience, it helps us with our own patience.
- If we can help others with their confidence, it helps us with our own confidence.
- If we can help others re-focus, it actually helps us re-focus as well!
- If we can help others with their mental toughness, then it helps us with our own!
Repeat any of these mantras to yourself when struggling and need to get off of the struggle bus!
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. DRB & associates coach executives and professional athletes. Some clients have included three different winners on the PGA Tour, Indy Eleven, University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens.
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