You have good intentions to nail that New Year’s resolution, yet it didn’t happen this year… again. You join that gym all excited but stopped going months ago. Did that same thing a couple of years ago and a few years before that. You got super pumped when you joined that “weight loss challenge” at work. You started out guns blazing, lost a few pounds, felt better. Then life got in the way and you gained the weight back. What about that great #routine you had going? Getting up early. Knocking out those #workouts.
Felt great! But then you tweaked your back and after taking some time off those DVDs are just collecting another layer of dust in the cabinet.
We have all been here. Some of us too many times to remember, or we are too embarrassed to admit. Well, what gives?! Why is it so easy to start, but hard to finish or continue?
Simple: It’s the “why”, not the “what”. Why is this the most important question you could ever ask yourself when considering doing anything? Why go to college? To earn more money to have a better life and provide for your family. Why go to work? To put food on the table and a roof over your family’s head. Why go on #vacation? To spend the money you made at work, at the job you got because you went to college.
See, for the most important things in your life, we have an answer ready to go. We know WHY we are doing almost every activity in life. So, why don’t we have super concrete, bulletproof “why’s ” for improving our health and fitness? Probably because you haven’t asked “why” in the right way.
Humor me. Take a pen and paper and about 10 minutes… fine, do it on your phone… but, not while you are driving.
Think of the top three health and fitness goals you want to accomplish. Doesn’t matter what they are, from shedding 25 pounds to tackling a four-point, 15,000-foot climb in the Sierra-Nevada’s. Once you have them listed do the most important part: Next to each goal, list a minimum of five reasons or “why’s” this goal is important to you. The best example is a #weightloss goal.
So, you want to lose weight, huh? Why??? If you don’t have sound, excuse-free reasons why you must make this change you might as well not even start. To lose weight just “because” is not good enough. To lose weight just so you look better is okay, but still not deep enough. How do you feel about being #overweight? What limits do you have being overweight? What does accomplishing this goal do for your life?
An interesting observation: people who sit still for long periods of time only seem to move when they become uncomfortable. It’s these uncomfortable reasons why – uncomfortable reasons why – uncomfortable because they are hard to admit and may be tied to a lot of emotion – that helps you not only seek change but keep the change.
This works really well for our clients, so give this a shot and I would love to hear your #feedback on how it worked for you.