And I say bring it on!

It happens almost every time without fail.
I’ll begin working with someone and in the first few weeks there’ll be a big old curveball that will come along.

It might be that their child brings home a sickness bug from school.
A work project suddenly requires travel abroad.
Or the builder accidentally knocks the ceiling through into their bedroom (yes really, as you can see from the picture my poor client sent me!)

But actually, the unfortunate reality is that for busy, high performing people – trying to juggle work and home life – these curveballs come along all the time.

It’s how life is, it just doesn't play ball!

There’s no such thing as a standard week because something will always happen.
Good intentions and best laid plans will get blown by some kind of unexpected drama or stress.

It’s why I like Jack Reacher’s motto, ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst’

When life is like this, the way to still make positive changes to your health and performance comes down to three things:

1. Accept this is just how life is

Don’t try to fight it.
Don’t pretend things won’t go wrong, because they will.
And don’t get disheartened when they do.

When you accept that your life is unpredictable and things won’t go as planned, you can then start to do something about it.
And it helps remove some of the frustration that accompanies each drama.

That frustration might come from the fact that previously that’s put an end to whatever progress you were making.
But the new approach is to expect and anticipate the curveball.
Which means that progress doesn’t stop, we just roll with it.

It’s the same reason I always encourage clients to just get started, rather than waiting for ‘things to settle down’, because they won’t.
So it's important to accept that and just get started and learn to deal with challenges as they come along.

2. Build realistic habits that can survive whatever curveballs come along

People are always super motivated at the start which is great.
But it often means they try to do too much.

If your plan is too optimistic then the slightest obstacle that comes along is going to disrupt things.

I prefer to start the other way, with the low hanging fruit.
With the smallest changes we can make that when done consistently will have the biggest impact.
Start small and build from there.

So this might be a 5 minute walk at some point during the day, drinking enough water, putting your phone away for 30-60 mins before bed.

Even if the craziest curveball comes along, we want these to be habits that can still happen.
Which means we can continue to make progress.
You still feel like you are still doing something positive for your own health.

And even better, these positive habits can help keep you in a good place to handle the latest curveball as well as you can.
Rather than it knocking you for six, and anything remotely positive to do with your health and performance falling by the wayside.

3. Be okay with adapting things

This is a big one because when people are doing well with new habits, they often feel like any deviation is a failure.
It’s not at all.
Being in control enough to adapt things when needed is a really positive sign.
It shows awareness and discipline.

Maybe you don’t make it out for your 5 minute walk.
But you do spend a few mins outdoors getting some fresh air and taking some deep breaths.
For me this represents a win.
You’ve still done something.

And ultimately that’s what managing drama, obstacles and curveballs is about.
Focusing on what you can do and feeling good about that.

Bring on the curveballs!

We’ll knock them out the park!

P.s I'd love to hear the ridiculous curveballs you've encountered over the years?