[re]WRITE YOUR STORY! Here are some revisions for you!
It’s the same old story. As December winds down, we can’t wait to press the reset button and start the New Year off with renewed enthusiasm. We promise to create distance from the drive thru and drop a few pounds. We even order a new pair of sneakers or some other fresh new workout gear to kick everything off. We’re filled with resolve as we set out to tackle new goals and follow through on old ones that have fallen to the wayside. So, if we’re all amped up and decked out, why do so many of us drop the ball and fail to follow through?
While a large majority of people stick with their goals for the first week, many, if not most, drop off by the six-month mark. So, what happens to all of January’s fresh new faces in the gym? Let me throw this out there – You lost your enthusiasm! Here’s the thing, enthusiasm, though an amazing attribute and a wonderful tool to get you started, WILL NOT LAST…or at least it will not be consistently present in your pursuit of this “new you.” I get it. Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about feeling inspired by a new goal only to later lose interest and/or quit. I know how it feels when the thing you want the most seems out of reach. For all of my success, I’ve also experienced plenty of failures. But, and this is a BIG game changer, I learned lessons from every failure! All of those lessons, and boy have I learned a lot of them, have helped make my future success possible.
Those lessons, though, for the point of this article, come down to one idea: Your enthusiasm SHOULD NOT be the only thing that carries you through. Levels of motivation fluctuate like the tides, with steady ups and steady downs. If enthusiasm is the only thing keeping you committed, I can promise you, your likelihood to quit will be higher. You need a good plan AND a process. You also must realize, however, that even with the best plan and process in place, it will still be a struggle from time to time. That is ok! It is part of the journey. It will make you a better, stronger, and smarter person if you learn to endure the struggle and celebrate the success. I can hear you now, “But Jon, that sounds like a lot of work!” You are absolutely correct! It is and will be a lot of work, but IT WILL BE WORTH IT. And, the good news, I am here to help get you started with some tips I have learned along the way! Check them out:
1. ESTABLISH ACHIEVABLE GOALS
One of the biggest mistakes I see in goal-setting is wanting to run before you can walk. Progress isn’t defined by leaps and bounds but instead by taking small, yet impactful, baby steps. Break bigger goals down into smaller, more manageable mini-goals. This also allows you to celebrate each small goal, and keep your enthusiasm high(er), instead of risking frustration waiting to achieve one HUGE goal. The best part is you are no longer relying on a super high level of motivation to keep yourself committed. The more simple (not easy, but defined and broken down) the goal, the less motivation it requires to achieve it.
2. SET YOUR GOAL IN HD – SEE IT CLEARLY
Whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or just feel better, you likely have a general idea of what you want to accomplish. So, what’s the problem? Your goal is too general. Remember, your goals are your foundation. A weak goal is a stumbling block right out of the gate.
Instead of aiming for vague buzzwords and phrases—skinny, weight loss, muscle—envision your goals as realistically as a clip from one of your favorite movies or television shows. You should be able to see everything crystal clear, in crisp detail. Your goal should have the power to make you FEEL something.
Looking to lose weight? Ask yourself the following questions:
- How many pounds do you want to lose?
- What does your goal physique look like?
- What will it feel like to fit into a smaller size?
- What will it feel like when your friends, family, and coworkers are left speechless by your progress?
- What will you feel like in this new body and what will this new body mean/do for you?
Now, use this same visualization to picture what it will look and feel like if you don’t achieve your goal.
How will it feel to avoid the swimming pool on your vacation just because you don’t want to be seen in a bathing suit? What if you aren’t able to be as active in your kids’ or grandkids’ lives as you (and they) want you to be? Live in that moment. Use your strong desire to avoid disappointment as a source of energy to propel you forward. We’re far more motivated by how we feel than by how we think. Tether your goal to that force and let it push you toward your ultimate goal. Check out “Figure out your why” for further discussion on this idea!
3. BELIEVE IN YOUR GOAL & BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Hopefully you’re already beginning to acknowledge the power in being able to see and feel your future success. Now, add belief to the equation.
Everything you’ve experienced, heard, or seen in life influences your own sense of what is and isn’t possible. It’s easy to let limiting thoughts hold you back. Negative self talk can leave you saying things like “That might be possible for them but not for me because of x, y, or z.” You might have a trail of dieting failures behind you that have led you to assume that achieving your dream physique isn’t in the cards. In the words of Taylor Swift “SHAKE IT OFF” and rethink what you believe is possible. You must believe in your ability to succeed if you ever expect to actually succeed.
Think about this for a minute… Roger Bannister was the first man to run a 4-minute mile. Before he did it in 1954, no one thought it was possible – MANY had already tried and failed. After Roger achieved that milestone, another runner matched the feat just two months later, and many others followed since. After Bannister broke the barrier, it became much easier for others to think (BELIEVE) they could too. And so they did.
Many people have now run a 4-minute mile…and many others have achieved similar fitness goals to the ones you are in pursuit of…Use them for inspiration. If they did it, you can to. But you must believe and be willing to put in the work!
4. COMMIT…TO ALL OF IT
You can’t go any further in the process without nailing this one down and, yet, so many people overlook this step and head straight for planning. Warning! The step between visualizing your goal and putting it into action can be daunting.
If you’ve never worked out in your life, the thought of weight training every day, doing cardio, and cleaning up your nutrition plan sounds like a huge task. Once it hits you, you’re likely to quit before you even start. That is, unless you’re committed. That’s why we call the commitment the “turning point.” Because, you can’t just “kinda want it.” You have to really want it and commit to the process and all that goes with it. It’s the last step in achieving the proper mindset—the point in the process after which everything that follows becomes about working toward getting results.
Equate commitment with being resolute: determined, steadfast, and set in purpose.
5. SET UP A CLEAR STRUCTURE
Planning, creating rules, your own personal how-to—it’s about creating structure. Even in society, there’s a reason we have laws: In their absence, we would have chaos and then dissolution – sometimes it feels like chaos and dissolution even with the laws in place. I seem to remember having already made mention that this may be the case from time to time (You also must realize, however, that even with the best plan and process in place, it will still be a struggle from time to time. That is ok! It is part of the journey. It will make you a better, stronger, and smarter person if you learn to endure the struggle and celebrate the success.)
You need pre-set parameters to stay productive and on track. When people use the term “diet,” they’re really just referring to a set of self-imposed rules intended to hold them to a standard.
Don’t stress, it’s actually a lot easier than it sounds. Nowadays, the web is filled with resources. However, it is hard to distinguish between what is legit and what is not. Our recommendation, stick with sources you know have a good reputation (shape.com, oxygenmag.com, menshealth.com or bodybuilding.com, just to name a few). Choose a workout plan that meets your goals and stick to it. They all reap (some) results as long as you stick with them. Resist the urge to seek instant gratification by jumping from one method to another. Remember, the plan in itself is worthless without a commitment to execute.
6. CHOICES. CHOICES. CHOICES.
Every decision counts. Thinking this way can be overwhelming considering all the conscious and subconscious choices we make on a daily basis. What we chose either steers us toward our ultimate goal or runs us off-course.
Consider yourself a pilot of your own destiny. A pilot never just flies around. Even on casual flights, he or she still creates a flight path from the take-off to the destination. For long distance flights, the shortest path is as straight of a line as possible. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work in perfectly straight, uninterrupted lines. Statistically speaking, airplanes are off-course more than 90 percent of the time. Why is that? Things blow you off course, you navigate around storms, and you avoid collisions.
The same holds true for the day-to-day. Just as the airplane pilot has to make constant adjustments to maintain his flight path, we have to make constant decisions to adjust our course. Once we establish a structure for accomplishing our new goal, we have to continually make positive decisions to stay on track. Consider the occasional bad decision an air pocket or bump along the way. Just keep in mind that too many slipups can leave you stranded in the wrong location.
“Our choices either steer us toward our ultimate goal or run us off-course.”
7. THE POWER OF NOW(ER?)
Do you know how many times I hear people around me say “I’ll start _____ as soon as I _____.” I’m even guilty of it. We all have a list in our heads of things that we have to do: a list for work, a list for home, and a list for ourselves. We prioritize based on what we feel is most pressing but, for every one thing we cross off, we can add two more, right? If fitness is at the bottom of your list, you’ll likely never get to it. The solution: Rearrange your priorities and stop procrastinating. Instead of letting that nagging feeling hang over you, get moving and bask in a sense of satisfaction. Remember, the easiest way to start is to do something small right now! Take that your first step!
Each day, do one more thing to accomplish your goal and feel rewarded again. Keep in mind that it won’t happen overnight and there’s no such thing as effortless success. Be patient enough to see the road in front of you, and know you won’t reach the end of it today – or tomorrow for that matter…actually, if you keep growing, learning, improving and setting new goals, you will not reach the end of that road for a very long time. Instead of chalking your failures up to hindsight being 20/20, take the opportunity to see the present clearly. You know that time will give you that perspective so look forward and play out the possible outcomes. Keep your goals in mind and keep on pushing. Make your right now 20/20.
8. GETTING STARTED IS THE HARDEST PART (and according to Tom Petty, the waiting…the waiting is the hardest part.)
I’m a big believer in momentum. That hardest part of anything is getting started. The majority of a space shuttle’s fuel is consumed during the initial portion of the launch as it’s trying to break out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Life’s the same way. Don’t believe me? Think of an Olympic bobsled team. The difference between 1st and 10th is sometimes just fractions of a second. It’s that initial push out of the starting gate makes all the difference. Everything that we’ve talked about up to this point is all to get that initial push—to get mass in motion.
9. MAKE IT A HABIT
If you’ve gotten this far, then you’ve done the hardest part already. Now you’re ready to learn the simple truth to lasting success: MAKE IT A HABIT! If you do something consistently, for long enough, it will start to become routine.
When you hear people talking about fitness being “a way of life,” what they’re really saying is that it’s part of their daily schedule. It’s not much different than brushing your teeth or combing your hair before work. The sooner you integrate the habit of exercise and healthy eating into your life, the sooner it will cease to feel like an inconvenience.
10. PLEASE EXCUSE…THE EXCUSES
Through the years I’ve had countless people talk with me and tell me how lucky others are to have “good genetics.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that everyone’s genetics are different. Some people have it easier than others, but it’s not all about genetics—a lot of it has to do with a lifetime’s worth of good and bad habits. If someone has been eating poorly for the past 20 years, it would take them longer to establish new good habits and undo the accumulated damage. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. “Can’t,” should never be a part of your vocabulary.
Still not buying it? Just look at reality television. Weight loss competitions star people who’ve been overweight their entire life. But, once they’re put in front of a trainer, given proper coaching, and forced to change their habits, people with self described bad genetics and “big bones” make drastic transformations in a short period of time. (I SHOULD NOTE, these shows are used in this scenario to illustrate a point, we are not condoning or agreeing with any methods, tactics, etc. that they may televise, promote or imply! What we are simply stating is that it most definitely is not ALL about genetics.)
“If you do something consistently, for long enough, it will become routine.” And that routine will bring with it, CHANGE!
Other common excuses for lack of exercise tend to be, “I don’t have time,” “I don’t know what I am doing,” “It is to expensive…for a number of reasons,” etc. Rather than writing a lengthy response and/solution to each, let me sum it up very simply:
You must create an environment that’s conducive to this (healthy) lifestyle. You must learn how to successfully integrate new goals into your (old) setting. That means creating structure and rules, it also means being sensitive to the influences of everything, and everyone, around you. You have to be aware enough to recognize potential environmental challenges, time constraints, etc. and effectively navigate them. When times get tough, you can’t fall back on excuses. You have to take charge and stick to a consistent routine, and make it last.
Still need a little more help overcoming or eliminating the excuses, we would be happy to sit down with you one-on-one and help you come up with a plan and we will also help you commit and execute it!
Tying it all together
Let’s assume that you start taking these smaller steps toward your bigger goal. What is going to keep you on this path, making continual forward progress? I believe the answer is in rewarding yourself. If you don’t acknowledge your smaller accomplishments along the way, and reward yourself, how are you going to keep your interest and enthusiasm up throughout your bigger journey?
If you went to work every day, but never got paid, would you be as motivated to work hard? Celebrating your smaller accomplishments is a key component to your success and commitment process. This celebration, so to speak, is going to reinvigorate you and help you attack your next goal. So break your big goal into smaller goals, create small steps you can take immediately, and reward yourself when you achieve them.
Once you master these philosophies in the fitness world, use them to build success outside of the gym. Through fitness I have been able to sharpen my goal-setting and commitment methods and, with repeated practice, I am becoming better at using these same tools to build success in other areas of my life—in my business, in my relationship, as a parent, and as a better, well-rounded person. Put these moves into practice, and they can work the same way for you. I promise! Don’t believe me, let me prove it to you! Call or email me today and lets chat! – Jon Hunt, 8 ONE 8 FITNESS
REFERENCES:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/your-goal-setting-guide-10-tips-reaching-new-years-resolutions.html