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This week I'm taking a crack at the fitness thread. And this week I'm talking about motivation in life and fitness. I'm no stranger to failure.. In fact I'm probably a huge success at failing. I'd venture to say that most of us fail. But if you don't fail, then you're not trying, and this means at practically everything. We live in a culture of instant gratification, and we HATE to wait.. And we want, what we want, right now. So in my list of puns.. The wait is truly the hardest part. So I'm going to list what it is that keeps me motivated in my fitness journey. This is going a personal incite into me, and I hope that on some levels, you will be able to understand where I'm coming from, and draw from this.. And use it as you see fit.. As Bruce Lee said, absorb what is useful, and discard the rest.
Now as I've said, I've made a life out of failing. I've seen that smirk on my haters faces.. That smile they had when I'd given up and walked away. I wanted to knock it off of their faces, but who put that look there? ME. So my number one reason to stay motivated is that look, and knowing that I have a bunch of haters to prove wrong. This stems from tasting defeat because I was too lazy to give that last bit of push, to keep going... And I vowed some time ago, to never allow myself to do this again...
The next few will be more general.
°Make a commitment to yourself- you have to decide that you're not going through the motions, and that you are worth the time and effort to make a change in yourself. Without this, there's nothing else.. It's just wasted time, done with minimal effort to achieve nothing.. A big part of the circle of repeated failure is that we don't commit or hold ourselves responsible. "procrastination" is a big reason.. Oh I can do it later. The next thing you know, you look up and you're 300 lbs or more. Oh I can still do it later...You look up and you can't take stairs or you're on a breathing machine waking up from a heart attack. Yeah this sounds extreme but it's truly not. Don't be complacent in your journey. You are the master of your fate. You decide and make it a good decision... Your life could count on it.
°Set small goals... Set goals that you can accomplish, but don't make them too easy. You want to have to work for them, but keep it realistic. And this isn't just in the gym. As PC has talked about, it can be something like limiting or cutting down the intake of something like soda/pop, alcohol, fried foods. Or it can be in he gym... This week I will be able to do 10 full form push-ups... Something like that. And each day, work to reach that goal. And if you don't, look yourself in the eye... You be honest with yourself as to why you didn't make that goal.
°Get a trainer or friend who works out, to start you down the path and hold you accountable- now with this one you are essentially having a buddy or a paid buddy, guide you.. But you have to be accountable too. You can't call and cancel your sessions.. And this person should be willing to say, hey.. "Get your butt down here or stop wasting my time." But this isn't all negative. Having a person there with you, to share in your triumphs and to push you to new heights is a great thing. And it helps beat the awkwardness of being at a gym, by yourself, not knowing a dumbbell from a barbell or a squat from a row. In the case of a trainer, you will hopefully learn some basic stuff and get a foundation you can build on.
°Get obsessed - this one is pretty plain and simple. My path started out in a garage with bad equipment and just me, my thoughts, my failures... Even more failures... And the voices in my head, scolding me for not pushing hard enough. The voices of failure saying... Look, this has to stop. After a week of all out effort.. I mean all out effort.. I could feel changes in myself. My personality... My attitude. And anyone else who throws themselves into making themselves better... They will feel it too. That's when it starts getting easy to become obsessed. All of the negatives, the failures, the "I can't" , nonsense... It will slowly but surely get replaced by "I can". It's a slow process, but you will feel strength through the pain. You will see a flat or fatty area of your body, start to change shape.. Your self confidence will grow.. All of these are gains. And once you see these changes.. You will want more.. Once people start saying.. "wow you look different".. You're gonna feel a swell of pride bursting from your chest. And you're going to know that your positive thinking, and can do attitude.. And forward action.. That's what is getting you there.. Do it for you, but take pride in the results..
Last of all, go out and fail with a smile on your face. Now I don't mean for you to grab a bar and try to bench 500 and kill yourself.. I do mean that you should go outside of your comfort zone, try new things and fail and look goofy doing it. It's daunting, stepping up to the squat rack for the first time. It's daunting to do most anything the very first time. But trying new things, lifts, foods, asking people out... These are all "uncomfortable" things that we all do. With the exception of the lifts, if we didn't do these things, we'd have a miserable life, and often times we forget this. We decide to "play it safe" and get stagnant. This is when we stop growing as individuals, both in and out of the gym..
Thanx for reading and if you see that my style is more "life involved" ... It is. Through failing so much in life.. I've realized that if you're winning in one area of your life, bring those lessons into the rest of your life and be positive. As a friend reminded me... Use a warriors attitude. And a warriors mind is always forward thinking. Yes you have to learn from your mistakes.. But you need the drive to get out there and make more. Be determined, be fierce, be intense and yet be positive..
Surely some of you will have had different results. But this is pretty much me, being me. Thanx PC for the opportunity to write this..
