Read all about our GoZebra adventures, achievements and updates here:  ​https://mailchi.mp/d42c70a2c8db/gozebrafit-newsletter-june2024
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1. Goal Setting: Establish clear, achievable goals, breaking them into small, manageable steps and gradually expose yourself to the task in a controlled manner. Be proud of your small steps and celebrate each milestone!
 
2. Positive Self-Talk: Recognise your negative self-talk, often triggered by fear or self-doubts. Remind yourself of your strengths and past successes and use them to formulate positive affirmations. Use those to stop a negative thought whenever it comes and overwrite it with your positive self-talk.
 
3. Visualisation: Regularly visualise yourself performing the task you are nervous about successfully. Imagine the movements, the environment, and the positive outcomes to build confidence and reduce anxiety. You can do this before getting up in the morning or before you go to sleep in the evening. Make it a routine!
 
4. Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Being able to regulate stress is crucial to return to activities you are worried about. Breath work can be incorporated easily into everyday life and can stop a stress cycle in its roots. Simply practice taking a few deep breaths whenever you start feeling nervous or anxious and notice the response in your body. You can also try box breathing where you take a deep breath in, then hold it for 3 seconds, breath out and hold for 3 seconds before breathing back in. These techniques can help you stay calm and focused and allows you to start thinking rationally again rather than reacting from your “monkey brain” responding to irrational fears in the moment. You can also keep a journal to reflect on your progress, thoughts, and emotions. Writing can help you process your experiences and track improvements.
 
5. Embrace growth: Use what happened as feedback and opportunity to grow. What has it made you better or stronger in? Use techniques such as reframing and cognitive restructuring to see things clearly and rationally. Also, reflect on past experiences where you overcame difficulties, see what strategies you applied and what worked and did not work so well, build on them and you will also build confidence that you can do it.
 
9. Let your body take over: we all know the slogan “Just do it” and this is an important part of bouncing back after setbacks. It is about stopping to overthink and letting the body take over and do what it managed to do before so well, rather than your brain limiting it with fear. So switch off those fearful thoughts, do it, and enjoy the feeling!
 
Viewing coming back after setbacks as a process and by incorporating these mental skills, you can enhance your resilience, build confidence, and bounce back easier, faster and stronger!