Do you have a wish or a goal for your health or fitness? Have you been resisting the first step? If you answered yes, then here are 4 things to think about.
1. Take action. Any action. Any small step that will start your journey on the path to your fitness or health goal. Whether it’s running a marathon, losing weight, lowering your cholesterol or whatever your goal is, take a single step TODAY. It might be as simple as calling your best friend and asking for advice or doing a Google search for a new healthy recipe that you can make for dinner. Just start the process and the rest will come.
2. Don’t get overwhelmed with overwhelm. I heard this at a business meeting and I’ve never forgotten it. It sounds so simple and it is! Let’s say you have a goal of completing your first triathlon. You mull it over and over and start telling yourself how overwhelming it is to train for three sports, when will you have time, you don’t know how or where to swim, you have to get a decent bike, etc. The list could go on and on while you’ve effectivily paralyzed yourself into staying a couch potato! Take one piece at a time and stop telling yourself that you are overwhelmed. See #1. Take one small step TODAY.
3. Trust that you CAN do it. A big mistake people make is assuming their secret fitness goals are too lofty or failed attempts at past endevours mean they will forever fail. Have you ever seen some of the people who cross the finish line in the Ironman? Granted it takes some of those finishers a really, really long time, but they set a goal, trained and did it!
Maybe your goal is to lose 30 pounds permanently and past attempts have failed. You must believe that the solution is out there, somewhere, and you just haven’t found it yet. It’s out there…keep your eyes and your mind open and KNOW, with all of your heart, that you can succeed and reach your goal.
“I failed my way to success.” Thomas Edison
Picture of woman crossing the finish line-she did it!
4. Get out of your comfort zone. It’s easy to wing it and NOT plan your meals, your workouts or even get to bed at a reasonable hour every night, but doing what you’ve always done keeps you in the same place.
Most goals worth achieving don’t come easy . Start getting used to the idea that reaching your goals will be a little uncomfortable. It’s a heck of a lot more comfortable to stay in bed when the alarm clock goes off at 5:00 a.m. than it is to get up and go exercise, but if that is the only time you have to work out, and you want to get leaner, stronger, faster, etc., then you must get used to the idea that 5:00 a.m. is a wonderful time of day and that you love getting up that early! Push beyond your comfort zone to see positive changes.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle
It is easier to hit the snooze button, but it won't help you reach your goals
Many of my clients come to me for different reasons – to lose weight, to finish their first running race, to get stronger and more. What they all have in common, though, is that they reached out to someone who knows more then they do, someone to keep them accountable and motivated and someone who will push them beyond their comfort zone. My clients, both private and in boot camp, inspire me everyday because they have looked inside of themselves and embraced the four items above.
One of my favorite stories is about a personal training client of mine. I am so proud of her because she has gone above and beyond what she ever though she could do! When Kay first called me:
- She had never exercised, beyond going for a walk.
- Her knees hurt and she thought she wouldn’t be able to do any exercise
- She had some weight to lose
- She was in her early 60’s and thought she was “too old” to start
- The thought of working with a personal trainer was intimidating
Kay’s registered dietitian had been encouraging her to call me for some time. The dietitian knew her weight loss plateau could be busted if Kay would just start to exercise.
Finally, Kay took the very first step. She called me. That’s all she had to do. Kay took action, one small step. Do you think Kay was in a comfort zone before that? You betcha! Do you think Kay was outside of her comfort zone when she called? You betcha! But Kay quickly got used to being “uncomfortable” (as you know, working out isn’t exactly cushy!) She knew she could do it and that all she needed was someone help her. Kay didn’t let the fact that she had never, ever before done “formal” exercise send her into overwhelm and paralysis! She just did it! Kay eventually worked her way up to taking some boot camp classes, too! All it took was a phone call.
Take after Kay. If you have a fitness or health goal that you’ve been stuffing in your back pocket, too afraid or overwhelmed to attempt, it’s time to take the first step.
ACTION STEPS:
1. List 1 thing you can do today that will get you going – and then do it!
2. Post your goal where you will see everyday – on your computer, dashboard of the car, nightstand.
3. Remember this by Dr. Denis Waitley – “There never was a winner who was not first a beginner.”
4. Have faith in yourself.