When it comes to fertility awareness and charting your cycles, there will be times that you feel like you just can’t be bothered.
You will have different motivations for charting at different times in your life, and your interest in it will wax and wane over the years.
Sometimes that can lead to guilt and worry, but I’m here to tell you that it’s okay!
First of all, when people start charting, they often feel a bit overwhelmed, which can lead to lack of motivation, and that’s totally normal!
Like with any new skill, there’s a lot to learn in the beginning, but in time it becomes as habitual as tying your shoelaces or driving a car. If you’re feeling like it’s too much in the beginning, focus on just one aspect of it, and once you master that you can move on to the next.
For example, if you find it hard to remember to check for sensation before using the toilet, focus on just doing that one thing for the next few weeks until it becomes habit. Then once you’re in the habit of that, focus on something else, like remembering to check more frequently.
The order and steps by which you learn it aren’t as important as the fact that eventually you will learn it all, and everybody’s process for learning is different. The best way to learn is the way that works best for you.
As well, it’s important to remember that, regardless of how long you have been charting, be it one year or one decade, there will always be days, weeks, or even moths where you just can’t be bothered. Your motivation for charting will change over time depending on your health status, relationship, pregnancy desires, and other factors.
If you want to take this cycle off or miss a few days here and there, don’t worry about it!
The reason this is okay is because the beautiful thing about the fertility awareness method is that the calculations and guidelines for determining fertility take this into account! If you’re ever in doubt you consider yourself fertile, then do a count of three from when you start checking again.
And if you are trying to avoid pregnancy, use a barrier method or abstain until you get back into the charting routine. There’s no need to be a perfect charter every day for the rest of your life, so long as you know how to apply the calculation for fertility to your circumstances.
If you want to become more motivated but are struggling, I would recommend focusing on your end goal, what it means to you, and why it’s important for you. I find that really thinking of the “why” behind our actions and our values attached to them is a great motivation. For example, if you want to improve your cycle so you reduce or get rid of menstrual cramps, thinking about what a life without cramps would mean to you and how it would improve your quality of life can be quite motivating!
It can also be helpful to work with a trained teacher to stay motivated. If you know you have a meeting coming up where you are going to discuss your charting, and a person who can act as an accountability partner, that is much more motivating that doing it on your own. You may find that you wish to set up a few appointments with a teacher to check in and make sure everything is going as you want it, and get some advice or support.
Regardless of what you do or how motivated you feel, as long as you understand the calculations for fertility and are aware of your goals, then you can apply the fertility awareness method to your life in the way that best suits you, and that’s one of the best things about it – it can work for everybody in any circumstance.
Want to learn more about fertility awareness? Need the support of a teacher to help stay motivated? Check out my programs or contact me for more information.