As humans, we should naturally believe in our abilities to set goals and conquer them.

One accomplishment or award gives us the drive to achieve more and more. Then, suddenly, you’ve filled your entire life with so many races to finish, you forget you can only run one race at a time. It’s hard to find balance when you are trying to juggle more than you can possibly handle to achieve perfection. Stop.

No one is perfect but everyone is enough. You don’t have to win every race. It’s okay to just know you are brave enough to even try.

I’ll gladly admit that I used to be a “yes” person. I used to over commit to the point that I had to half-ass (sorry for the lack of a better word) all of my commitments just to get them done.

Question is, do you really make your mark or truly achieve any real accomplishments by just getting things done? You become mediocre, at best.

This way of life spilled over into how I viewed my fitness routine as well. I’d beat myself up for placing second in my age group at a 5k. I’d often look around the gym and think I had to be the strongest female in the room. I couldn’t be that great of a strength coach if I couldn’t even deadlift 215 pounds, right? I even thought I had to nail the perfect handstand in order to be a true yogi.

I overcommitted myself in order to try and be the best at everything. But who was it all for?

In the past few years, I’ve learned that none of those goals truly reflected who I truly am as an individual. I just needed a few moments to breath and refocus on what I truly wanted accomplish above all things.

The only thing that matters to me now is that I’m inspiring. Be inspiring in the things you do and you cannot fail. I know that no one really cares about my fastest mile or how much I can squat. If they do, maybe they need to step away and refocus too.

Sometimes, it’s okay to see that you need to let some things go. When you try too hard to be everything to everyone, you can’t give 100 percent to anyone. Same goes for our inner self-approval. You can’t be everything. Just focus on being you. That is how you truly find inspiration and purpose. Once you are aware, balance comes naturally.

Namaste.

 

Vivianne Khounlavong-Vallance is a personal trainer, health coach and yoga instructor working in Lawrence County.