#85 – Progress Doesn’t Have to Feel Like 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
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Episode Summary:
In this episode of Sport Is Life, Ian Hawkins breaks down the natural oscillations of personal growth—why progress sometimes feels like one step forward, two steps back, and how to shift your mindset to maintain momentum. He explains how to navigate plateaus, avoid negative thought spirals, and use setbacks as springboards for acceleration. By adopting the right habits and staying mentally strong, you can turn every dip into an opportunity for growth.
Tune in to learn how to maintain consistency, control your thoughts, and keep moving forward—no matter where you are in your journey.
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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Transcript
Does your progress sometimes feel like
Speaker:it's one step forward and two steps back
Speaker:that you find yourself sliding into dips
Speaker:that take you way too long to get out of?
Speaker:A simple shift in your mindset will
Speaker:allow you to continue on an upward
Speaker:trajectory in a much more positive way.
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:Nothing is ever standing still till
Speaker:they're moving forward or it's moving
Speaker:backwards. Everything is energy
Speaker:oscillating, moving.
Speaker:I like how dull Bowman, a business
Speaker:coach, talks. You
Speaker:are the green and growing
Speaker:or you're ripe and rotting. So if
Speaker:you're going to be always moving, you
Speaker:might as well be moving in a forward
Speaker:direction. One of the challenges is
Speaker:because there is a oscillating
Speaker:path, there's ups and there's downs.
Speaker:When the down comes you can get stuck
Speaker:in a feeling like here we go
Speaker:again or. Or allowing yourself to
Speaker:be dragged down with the
Speaker:downward momentum. And
Speaker:staying in that hole for longer than you
Speaker:need to. The great
Speaker:Jim Rohn talked about enjoying the.
Speaker:When we grow, it's not
Speaker:just a constant line there. There are
Speaker:times where you might have a rapid period
Speaker:of growth from a mental perspective,
Speaker:then the rest of your loss almost got to
Speaker:catch up with it. But that's when
Speaker:everything can slow down. And the
Speaker:important thing is to be able to hold
Speaker:your hold your thoughts, stay in a
Speaker:positive mindset where it feels like
Speaker:things have ground to a halt, or like I
Speaker:said, if it feels like you're sliding
Speaker:down into the abyss. Even if it's
Speaker:just a little through, you can sometimes
Speaker:get caught in a negative mental space.
Speaker:And the way I like to look at it for for
Speaker:people who are on a growth path, which
Speaker:you all that are listening to this are,
Speaker:is that that.
Speaker:Oscillating line, like imagine it like a
Speaker:like a radio wave going up and down.
Speaker:That's an upward trajectory. So if you
Speaker:could imagine that up and down line,
Speaker:that wave on an upward
Speaker:trajectory, the down
Speaker:line is actually more like a straight
Speaker:line. It's more of that plateau. So
Speaker:you're going on a steep curve, and then
Speaker:the down is more of just a flattening
Speaker:line because of that upward trajectory.
Speaker:But how often are you getting caught
Speaker:in and feeling like that? Everything
Speaker:'s paused, Or do you
Speaker:feel negative or and you're and you're
Speaker:not?Staying strong.
Speaker:You're allowing yourself getting caught
Speaker:in negative spiral of thought
Speaker:of behaviours that take you
Speaker:further backwards. And you needed to.
Speaker:That's why sometimes it can feel like one
Speaker:step forward, 2 steps back. Not because
Speaker:you're doing anything wrong, but instead
Speaker:just because you're allowing yourself
Speaker:getting drawn into to negative
Speaker:thinking or overthinking that's dragging
Speaker:your back. So sometimes just as simple
Speaker:as just reminding yourself that this
Speaker:is temporary, this is a plateau,
Speaker:and the best bit is if things are slowing
Speaker:down. Or, you know, like it feels like a
Speaker:bit of a dip. How exciting. Am I about to
Speaker:go to another period of growth?And you
Speaker:wanted to write this down, you might need
Speaker:to make it somewhere visual. Because if
Speaker:you can hold your nerve through those
Speaker:times, if you can stay strong mentally
Speaker:through those times, your growth will
Speaker:accelerate, your output will
Speaker:accelerate, your consistency will
Speaker:improve, and your performance will go to
Speaker:all new levels.
Speaker:It's so much about your
Speaker:ability to control your thoughts, to
Speaker:control your thinking. To keep
Speaker:yourself on track.
Speaker:So if you look at where you're at
Speaker:right now, are you on an upward
Speaker:trajectory?Which
Speaker:means enjoy what you're doing and make
Speaker:sure what you're going up that you
Speaker:continue to stick to the habits that got
Speaker:you there in the 1st place. Because
Speaker:sometimes when things are good, we can
Speaker:stop doing the things that work.
Speaker:And that will take us back to the
Speaker:downward part of the wave quicker.
Speaker:So keep doing the things that got you
Speaker:there. And also remember remembering that
Speaker:as long as well as the down and the flat
Speaker:part being temporary, the up is temporary
Speaker:as well. Of course, it's there. Sure is
Speaker:not his day. Then we'll have these waves.
Speaker:So keeping yourself doing the things that
Speaker:got you there, keeping those good habits
Speaker:up. And then as things start to sort
Speaker:of, you know, you know, you're getting
Speaker:maybe the Crest of the wave and you
Speaker:haven't can't eat anything
Speaker:more out of that, that rise than just
Speaker:continuing to do those good habits, the
Speaker:things that got you there, looking after
Speaker:your health, eating right, whatever it is
Speaker:that works for you, meditation,
Speaker:journaling, all those things that high
Speaker:performers do. Continue to do those
Speaker:things whether you're on the upward
Speaker:trajectory or on the downward
Speaker:and again, keeping yourself at
Speaker:that same mental state. Because then what
Speaker:you'll be able to do is then
Speaker:keep yourself in a positive state and
Speaker:you'll start to be able to have the
Speaker:upward trajectory in a much faster speed.
Speaker:You might even start bringing those waves
Speaker:closer together so that you, you know,
Speaker:almost every day you've got to rise and
Speaker:then you might have a bit of a dip and
Speaker:then you're going to rise again. And you
Speaker:get, you're constantly on that state of
Speaker:rising. And sometimes particularly if you
Speaker:haven't been on. A much of A growth
Speaker:incline. For a while it might feel like
Speaker:you're accelerating because suddenly
Speaker:you're learning all these new things.
Speaker:They're working. It can be a sense of
Speaker:where's this stuff been all my life? Like
Speaker:I can't believe the progress I'm making.
Speaker:Yeah, that's living. And
Speaker:if you think back to where you've been or
Speaker:maybe even where you are now at the
Speaker:moment, where you're thinking I need
Speaker:more, I want more of I've got to take
Speaker:more action. Well. By by
Speaker:following this thinking around the ups
Speaker:and downs is going to help you to to not
Speaker:only stay on track, but yeah, start
Speaker:accelerating the growth.
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty's
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes.
