Adaption is vital to survival. This age old adage is most tangibly expressed in nature but also in business. Change is the paragon of life, it promotes growth and encourages renewal to ensure strong foundations which support diversity and resilience.
Defining women in one light is an antiquated percept, as the modern woman embraces the ethos of change with evermore inventive and ambitious strides. Adapting first through mindset what it means to be a woman, then practicing the art of adaption through thoughtful and creative means to express their authentic self.
Commanding this character takes patience and strategy, as Performance and Health Coach, Laura Moore explains.
In recent decades we have seen a big shift in women’s mindset and their priorities in life. When once the ultimate success was to have a happy family and be a good wife, that is no longer enough for the modern woman with her career coming out way ahead of wedding bells or pattering of tiny feet. It’s undeniable that women have come a long way in terms of their achievements, but with stress levels continuing to increase (as stated in a study by the Australian Psychological Society) along with the impact that this is reportedly having on mental and physical health, is this progress coming at a price? The interesting thing is that we are constantly trying to combat the effects of stress by external means, like trying different diets and exercise programs, but actually stress is simply a response from the brain so if we truly want to get to the root of the cause we must look into the way we think.
I realised just how true this is when I experienced first-hand the impact that mindset and living the lifestyle of a modern woman can have on the body. I put on weight (even though my health and fitness regime hadn’t changed), I had periods of extreme fatigue, low mood, anxiety, my monthly cycles were non-existent, my digestion was shot with constant bloating and my brain was consistently foggy. Although I’d been in the health and fitness industry for years, this was a whole new level that I’d never been aware of, so I embarked upon a journey of discovery to find out what was happening to me.
For me, the key to recovery was understanding. Until I was able to make the connection between the way I was thinking and behaving, and my physical state my progress was very slow and misguided. Our brains and our unconscious minds are unbelievably intelligent, but they haven’t evolved at the rate of our external world. So when we’re constantly on the go, thinking all the time and being hard on ourselves our brain thinks we’re in danger and sets about trying to protect us. Since we’re not in real danger however we’re left with excess hormones swimming around in our bodies which usually results in low energy, weight gain (particularly around the belly), poor mental clarity, inefficient digestion and inconsistent periods.
Typically we blame these symptoms on our lifestyles, and although this does play a part it is often just a small piece of the puzzle. I would like to share with you some of the common mindset issues us modern ladies experience so that you can start to understand why this is.
Fear of failure
In a series of interviews I conducted with a range of driven women, 90% said fear of failure was one of their biggest causes of stress as it fiercely governs their behaviour and consumes their thoughts, leading to extreme working hours and further fears of making wrong decisions and not being good enough.
No boundaries
With this insatiable drive to be the best and technology now allowing us to be connected 24/7, it is extremely difficult to have boundaries – how many of you check your phone while sat on the toilet? If we can’t have peace for even those few minutes when can we! What all this does is keep our minds ticking constantly and in a state of unrest, which makes a work/life balance extremely difficult and encourages unresourceful behaviours in a bid to ‘switch off’ and relax.
All or nothing thinking
This is one of the most common mindsets of the modern woman, especially when it comes to health and wellness. I can’t tell you how many times a day I hear women say they’re being ‘good’, and then a few days later they’ve been ‘bad’ and everything is thrown out the window. This keeps us stuck in a perpetual cycle of emotional torment, which then effects our confidence, self-worth, satisfaction and drive.
Unrelenting standards
These are rules we subconsciously set for each situation we encounter and if they are not adhered to perfectly we consider it a fail. Generally they are unrealistic and it is impossible to meet all of them, which creates an enormous amount of pressure and again makes it difficult to slow down.
Self-Sabotage
Anything that creates a problem or interferes with long-term goals is considered self-sabotaging. It frequently presents for modern women in the form of over eating, excessive alcohol consumption, over-working and procrastination. Usually we know this behaviour isn’t serving us but we just can’t seem to stop doing it, which brings up the same emotions and behaviours mentioned previously.
Beliefs
Most of our behaviours can be linked back to our beliefs, or the stories we subconsciously tell ourselves: “I’m not good enough”, “In order to be loved I must achieve”, “I will only be respected if I look good”. These form the building blocks for how we interpret the world and help to dictate the way we think and behave. Often formed from a young age and reinforced throughout our lives, these stories can be extremely deep rooted, however with awareness and a willingness to consciously accept it we can create new stories that are more resourceful and will take us to where we want to be.
This is just a very brief overview, but as you can see mindset plays a huge role in who we are and subsequently how we feel and perform. Throughout my journey I found that while there is support on the market for women to develop professionally there is a distinct lack of support on a personal level alongside this, which is integral if you want real results that last. So I created Uppy, a performance and health program for modern driven women that helps them remodel their approach, giving them more time, energy and freedom to achieve what is really important and accelerate them towards their ultimate goals.
Laura conceived the program after experiencing first-hand the effects of a high achieving mindset and lifestyle on the body, the peak of which was when she opened her first business and then watched it burn down to the ground as a result of a neighbouring fire. Her journey of discovery working through body issues, unrelenting standards, perfectionism, self-sabotage, over working and trauma (to name a few), combined with her valuable experiences with hundreds of clients, has given her a unique perspective on all of the factors that can effect performance and indeed health, and the strategies needed to overcome them.
Uppy will be available in June for more information please visit www.uppy.com.au
Our review of Uppy will feature in a future issue, modern women grab your mag!
