Monday. The start of a new week; renewed enthusiasm and improved focus. That goal you have been looking to achieve, that fat loss, weight loss, drop in size, increased muscle – it’s going to happen this time. It has really hit you, you are not going to live like this any more. That weekend was just a waste, it has made you feel terrible but you were just getting it out of your system, but never again. This time it’s different. This time you are determined. Success is in your grasp.
It’s the common war cry of the fitness community – “I’ll start on Monday!”
But when Monday arrives, what is going to make that Monday different from all Mondays that came before? What is it that is different this time around?
Well for most people, the honest answer is – Absolutely nothing!
You may say that your determination is greater this time. You’ve made a serious commitment to this. But what is it you have made a commitment to exactly?
Losing X pounds? Dropping X% Body Fat? Changing how you look?
But didn’t you want that yesterday too? You might not have spent as much time thinking about it because you had other things going on, but you still wanted it right? And didn’t you want to achieve these things the last time you hit the gym or went on a diet? In fact how many times have you said to yourself that “This is it! This time I’m going to do this!” or words to that effect?
Perhaps this time you have a fancy new nutrition plan, an amazing workout routine that worked for someone else or you’ve hired yourself a Personal Trainer so they will keep you on it.
However, the fact remains that the target, the goal and the approach are all the same when it boils right down to it. You are too focused on the numbers or the superficial results.
These things are not worthy goals in themselves. They are little more than by products of a greater goal. A deeper want. Something that just doesn’t feel right or sit comfortably with you that needs to change.
How you look is a reflection of yourself it is not the real you. And how others perceive you is their problem and nothing you need concern yourself with. If you are being true to yourself and are truly happy with who you are you would not need validation from others.
So the question then is, are you happy with who you are?
Well first of all let’s look at the question of happiness or contentment. What are these things?
They are emotions right?
They are not visible in themselves. But they can manifest themselves externally. You can look happy and content, but only if you actually are happy and content. So the external you is simply a reflection of the internal you.
So in order to be truly successful, what is needed is a better understanding of what success truly means to you.
This is a point I seem to be laboring these days. Most people have grown up through a lifetime of being told the opposite. That how much you weight is important. Your dress size will define you and that the key is the magic diet or the radical new workout. But who tells you these things? Magazines (who want to sell their latest issue), TV programmes (who want high viewing numbers), Books (who want high sales volumes), Classes or trainers (who are trying to sell themselves beyond the others out there.
And that really should include me – I am a Personal Trainer, a Coach & a Gym Owner, so I have a product to sell right?
However, if you look at any of these services and products I provide, they are all about giving you better tools not a magic fix. As a coach it is my job to find out what is at the root of what you want to achieve not to pander to the enslavement of a set of superficial goals. You will never find a post from me telling you that if you do ‘this thing’ you’ll lose 10lbs in 2 weeks or whatever. Your goals, your inspiration, your driving force are all locked within you. As a coach I can help you to discover them, but I can’t choose them for you.
So if you truly want to make this time different rather than just another starting point for another failure, then rather than looking to change the diet, or change the workout, look to change the thing that is driving you. What is it you are looking to obtain from this change? How do you want to FEEL? And make that your goal, to be moving towards that feeling, that lifestyle. Become the person you want to be on the inside and it will reflect on the outside. After all, if you truly respect yourself, if you genuinely believe in your own self worth, then you will want to look after yourself, you will nurture your body, you will train it and condition it for optimal performance and just like that feeling of happiness or contentment, it will reflect itself externally and that ‘look’ you always wanted will manifest itself, not because you sought it out, but because you discovered what it was about that look you desired the most. The feeling that went with it.
Make the next year a year of progress, not just a year filled with the same Monday repeated numerous times.
