Episode 123 - How to Stay Motivated During your Alopecia Healing Journey

TRANSCRIPTION

Welcome back everybody to the Alopecia Angel podcast. I am your host Johanna Dahlman. Today we are going to be talking about how to stay motivated during your healing journey, during the healing process of your alopecia. Many times during my own, as I reflect back, it was very arduous, it was 4 years and many ups and downs, many trials, many failures, and of course success at the end of it. But staying motivated is extremely hard and I think one of the ways in which I personally stayed motivated is the end goal. Is why I started the journey to begin with.

The end goal was my hair, the end goal was I wanted my hair back and I would have done anything and I did do everything in order for this to happen. But at the same time that doesn't mean that I didn't have times where I was crying in the corner or crying myself to sleep or just crying all day because of it. It doesn't mean that there was elements of my healing journey that aren't similar to yours as well and in the same vein or in the same fashion, it was very difficult. The difference here is that I never had a mentor, I never had any guidance. I never had a support community, so to speak. Yes, I had support for my husband, but at the same time, when you're going through this, it still feels a very, very isolating.

It still feels like it's you against the hair loss, it's you against the world, it's you against the doctors, it's you against everyone else, because everyone's telling you all this other, you know, rhetoric and noise about your healing journey, about your goal, and almost dissuading you about it. But at the same time, I knew deep down I could have it.

And so I wanted to talk today about motivation because motivation comes up in every area of life, not just in hair loss, but in the motivation to get out of bed, the motivation to go to the gym, the motivation to get back to work when you just got back from vacation or the motivation to just get things done and accomplish it. And so how do we recoup our motivation? How do we reignite this? I found a few steps that helped me and that also researchers in general believe to help as well.

The first thing is to develop a routine. In general, it takes an average of 66 days for a behavior to become a habit. So staying motivated is a skill you must develop like any other being patient and adhering to your routine is key. Structuring your day will ensure that you will work efficiently and stay on top of things, which in turn will keep the momentum going. I would like to add to that, that when you schedule things in, it makes things a non negotiable.

So for example, if you schedule and working out first thing in the morning, it helps so much better to just check it off your list and be done with it instead of, you know, having the full day. And then. You know, after work, you come home and you're like, Oh, guess what? I need to go to the gym. And then you don't feel like it, you're tired. You had potentially a bad day at work and you feel even more unmotivated to go. But if you focus on you, the first portion of your day, then you're able to check things off, whether it's sending out those emails or calling back friends and family, or doing any other routine that you need to do to fulfill your cup and your needs.

This is key, not just in healing your alopecia, but just in life in general. So, you know, just like they say on the airplane, you put on your mask first before you put on the mask of your loved ones that are sitting with you or traveling with you. So the same thing here, we need to fill our own cup first. This is a big one and, you know, it affects us all, including myself. I'm guilty of it too, of attending to other people's needs before, before my own. This happens also in parenthood and we need to find a balance of what we can do for us of what we can do for our families of what we can do for others. But at the same time, not taken away from us, not taken away from the, the needs that we have intrinsically for ourselves and for our healing journey.

So developing that routine, scheduling things in, I'd say would be also very, very helpful. I know for me. I made it a point to schedule anything and everything in, and I still do. I schedule things in because it's easier this way to time management. It's easier to manage my time when things are scheduled in and then I can see how busy the day is and how flexible I am within a day. So that's huge. Another tip or point would be to surround yourself with a positive support network. I talk about this on and on and on and on, not just on the podcast, but also to my clients inside the Hair N' Heal program because surrounding yourself with a positive support network allows you to boost yourself, boost your motivation, boost your wants, your desires and reignite you.

Negativity weighs everyone down, no matter how driven you may be. This can lead to self doubt and negativity is something that you want to squash and take out in every aspect in your life. It drains you of motivation and it makes it difficult to gain it back. Immersing yourself in an environment with people who understand and support you makes all the difference.

Practicing positive self talk is another great way to boost your mental state and connect with positive people around you. When you're going through alopecia, you already have either full blown depression and anxiety or signs of it, or maybe even just mild cases. For me I definitely felt the depression, I definitely felt the anxiety and I knew it was that because I had never felt it before. And so this is really critical to be aware of but also to manage because as you heal, as you get better, this all comes off. Almost like it just comes off like a veil. And so in the same manner, when we are hanging around negativity, that depression, the anxiety, the angst is going to heighten versus decrease. And so in order to decrease it, we need to switch out the people who we hang out with, because this is huge. This is really, really big.

Another point I would like to add is to find a mentor expanding off of that last tip mentors and coaches greatly help maintain ambition because they see what you can't see, if that makes sense. So for example my brother had a coach, an Olympic coach coach him in water polo and in swimming. I know that that coach was seeing much more of what was possible in my brother versus him and himself. And many times it is that way. If you start looking at athletes, if you start looking at, at, at people who have achieved greatness and success in many areas of life, that they've had coaches and mentors.

And guess what that coach and that mentor can not just see their blind spots, but can also help them and fuel the fire of where they need to put in their work or where they need to add in more efforts. It could be something so small as a tweak. So for example, if we were going to use swimming again, it could be maybe a certain stroke or maybe a certain movement, or maybe even a certain exercise to create that effort effortlessly, or to create that momentum or extra pusher of performance that they would need, and it could be something so small, but it could also be very big.

And so it just all depends on what each person needs, because not every athlete is the same, just like every person going through alopecia is not the same. So the needs, the desires, the wants may all be very similar. But the actual blind spots, the actual work, the actual effort and also to see what's possible in each person will look very different to each person as well. So finding a mentor who can help you, who can coach you, who can help maintain that ambition and working with people who have been there and done that. Working with people who have been where we are at that time with hair loss and emphasizing with our struggles and worries helps people to feel motivated and encouraged. They can be teachers, coworkers, coaches, counselors, et cetera.

Providing motivation is a staple of great coaching because it's, it's so needed. It's It's feeding and fueling life and breath into our next steps, into our next path into the route that we're going. And I will say, like, this is exactly why I created the Hair N' Heal program because I needed guidance, I needed a coach, I needed someone to tell me I was on the right path. And again, I look back and I'm just like: Hmm, it took me 4 years, it shouldn't have taken me this long. It could have taken me a lot less time. And again, that's the caveat to all this. Because now I see the fruits of my labor and I see that others are healing in less than 8 weeks.

That's a beautiful gift to others. It's, you know, out of the struggle to make things easier for others. And that's the exact mission of why I'm doing this is to make sure other people can reduce the amount of time of pain and suffering in order to boost the performance, boost the hair growth in less time. It's huge. Motivation is crucial tool to bring about positive changes in our lives. We believe that everyone deserves and is capable of change. And when we know ourselves better, especially through a coach and through like an outside unbiased perspective, we'll feel more empowered with the decisions we make and the paths you take towards your healing journey.

This is big because again, it's not a one size fits all, it's all going to look very different. Even though I like to use the metaphor of we're all traveling to New York, for example,

but wherever we come from, it's going to look different to how we get there. And so the idea is we all want to get to hair growth, but that those routes for all of us, it's going to look very different.

Another tip I would expand upon would be to continue to review your goals and progress. Reviewing the goal is key, but reviewing the progress is even more key because then you can see exactly what you've done, what you haven't done, where you've gone wrong, where you potentially need more effort, more input, or even just more help in and take time to look back and see how far you've come.

This one sentence is the epitome of the healing journey. "Take time to look back and see how far you've come" and many times we're very motivated, right? We're very motivated at the hair growth results of getting our full hair growth back. But let's say you're starting from zero, from complete hair loss and if you've already accomplished 50% of that hair growth, look back and say, acknowledge that 50% that you've already achieved, be grateful and then continue. And looking back and seeing how far you've come and maybe even gamifying it and saying: Okay, how can I make this quicker? How can I get to the end result in less time?

Cause sometimes within the hair growth journey you also may find yourself where you're stuck. Yeah, you've seen hair growth, but then all of a sudden it's slowed down. All of a sudden it's stopped. All of a sudden it's not progressing. And this is key because the thing is, it's like if it's not progressing, then something's wrong. Something is amiss. And potentially you still have more blind spots. So this is also something else to review and to look at. And so keep in mind that potentially more than likely you have more than one blind spot and I'll say that because I've always said that healing alopecia is like a recipe, It's like a thousand piece puzzle and we got to put it together.

Many times it's not just one or two things, it's numerous things for all of us including myself that you need in terms of blind spots that are holding us back. And you'll see this at every stage of the healing because the healing process isn't linear. It can be for many who have that roadmap as in the Hair N' Heal program and who know exactly what to do each week and how to get there and how to fast forward their, their growth, hair growth results. But at the same time, if you're doing this on your own and you're listening to this podcast episode, you'll know that it's not linear, it wasn't for me either. It was definitely like ups and downs until you actually got a rhythm and you're like: Okay, this is it. This was like that last blind spot to uncover and boom, you know, all this hair growth started coming back and no more worries from then on.

And so, definitely something to continuously do is to review your goals and review the progress. And I would say, give yourself some ample time. So let's say you are on this healing journey, I would say, take copious notes. You know, journal about what you're doing and about what you're not doing and to see what more you can be doing, because sometimes more is needed. Sometimes it's not just what you think it is, sometimes much more is needed. And I'll say that I've spoken to many people who've told me: Oh, I've done everything, but then when they joined the program and I see their intake form, I see that they have done many things, but not everything.

Sometimes again, it's one or two things that need to be tweaked in order to boost your performance in order to get you over this hump of stagnation or to get you out of this mode of not seeing more progress. And so that's what we're aiming for and that's what we're looking for. So reviewing, reviewing, reviewing the goals, the progress and to see how far you've come. Journaling is a great way, as I mentioned before, to track your progress and remember how far you've come, but to also see exactly what you're doing on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, because all these things add up.

And so when you start tracking everything with metrics, then you're able to see exactly how far you've come, where you've grown, and what you could be doing to repeat that progress or to repeat those performance metrics and to continue to uplevel, not just in your hair growth, but also your mental health, your physical health and everything else. Because as you know, it's all connected. So what more would you like to add to this? Those are my few tips on how to stay motivated. I'd also like to add that sometimes for me personally, I like to pick myself back up by looking at others in a healthy way.

So for example, this is why I have the success stories on my website and also the podcast interviews of clients, because I want you to stay motivated with hearing and seeing other people heal because it is possible. I'm not a unicorn and neither are my clients. It's all possible, not just for me, not just for them, but for anyone. And so when we have this mindset about how possible it is for anyone and everyone to heal, regardless of the type of hair loss, that is huge. That is huge motivation, cause I can guarantee you, you're not hearing this on any other podcasts.

I can guarantee that you're not seeing success stories on any other website about people who've had autoimmune alopecia or scarring alopecia. or telogen effluvium or diffuse or any other type of situation. This is why I showcase it when possible. Because again, it's, it's a huge boost, it's a huge motivational factor and I know that you want to heal. I know if you're listening to this podcast is because you want to heal and I can guarantee that you can, you really can, you just got to follow the process, understand where you're going wrong and stick to it.

And so these are some ways that I like to stay motivated and that also that with research has shown to enable us, everyone to stay motivated, get motivated and to pick ourselves back up, whether or not you've done the Hair N' Heal program, whether or not you've fallen off the horse, whether or not you doubt yourself, you can always get to the end result, you can always get to the finish line, which is full hair growth, full health, you can do this. I know you can and I'm here to help you.

So if you have any other questions, feel free to email us anytime at [email protected], you can also visit our website alopeciaangel.com You can also see our free PDFs that we offer on our homepage in regards to hair products that

cause hair loss, medications that cause hair loss. And so much more. I look forward to seeing you next week on the podcast.

Thanks so much for listening. Take care.