Sophie Butler shares how setting goals helped her after becoming paralysed

‘Think about what you can do each day to get you where you want to be,’ says Sophie Butler.

The fitness and wellness influencer knows the power of a positive thinking better than most.

Followers of the 26-year-old will know that, during her final year at university Sophie had an accident while at the gym, which left her paralysed from the waist down.

‘I remember so vividly, it was the height of summer and I was sticking to the plastic beds in the hospital,’ says Sophie, of her time in recovery.

‘And something I used to always say to myself was, “It won’t be like this in a year’s time.”

‘That used to really help me project and see forward, and really see past this really bad day. I could see my life and where I wanted to be in a year’s time – but if you want to get there, you also have to get through today.’

Sophie has become trailblazer in her own right. Named Cosmopolitan’s Influencer of the year in 2021, she’s a pioneer, spokesperson, and activist – and as one of the few disabled Gymshark ambassadors, she’s making waves when it comes to representation. 

Speaking to Metro.co.uk before the live recording of her appearance on Adrienne Herbert’s Power Hour podcast in partnership with Starbucks, she reveals her advice for going into spring.

The secret? Making your dreams a reality is all about taking it one day at a time.

Of course, it’s not a juicy chat without a caffeinated drink. Sophie chose the Iced Toasted Vanilla Oat Shaken Espresso which is Starbucks’ new spring drink, alongside the Iced Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espressos.

Sophie advises that, while 2023 seems to be the year of pivot and transformation for a lot of people, we implement ‘tangible and actionable things you can do each day’ in order to really move in the right direction. 

‘I think a lot of people maybe think, “Oh my God, I’m going to reorganise my wardrobe and change my life and I’m going to get up at six and go to the gym,” and then they oversleep and they get demotivated and they don’t take the steps.

‘But you need to think about it in ways that you can actually implement.’

‘Unfortunately, you can’t have a complete human transplant by 6am the next morning.

‘So you need to think about what you can do each day to get you to your dream and where you eventually want to be in six months or a year’s time.’ 

But on our journey to self-actualisation, we’re all bound to have bad days, and although some people swear by ignoring ‘negativity’ and powering through your worries when you’re feeling off, Sophie says she’s learnt to ‘actually vocalise’ her frustrations to get back in the zone. 

And it’s Sophie’s flatmate, Hither, who she uses as a sounding board.

‘If I really have something that’s been mulling over in my head, or something that was difficult, or it frustrates me or it confuses me, I think saying it out loud and saying it to him allows me to almost hear it from a different perspective,’ she explains.

‘Hither would say to me, “Do you want solutions or do you want comfort? What do you want from me right now?’”

‘I think just hearing it out loud and being able to see it from that different perspective really allows me to go, “Oh, okay, the issue is out there it’s not just in here anymore.” It’s out there and it feels a lot easier to deal with.’

Coming from one of the most fearless and courageous women out there, Sophie wants you to ‘feel the fear and do it anyways.’

‘There are so many things I do every day, I’m scared to do them, but I acknowledge that fear, and I still do it.’

You can listen to Butler’s Power Hour podcast episode Power Hour here.

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