I Have a Confession …
I’m going to publicly admit something … are you ready? It’s a serious confession.
I have been slacking in my workouts. Been showing up…sometimes, but going through the motions when I am there. I wasn’t planning them like I usually do. Heck, sometimes I didn’t even show up.
Sure, I’d occasionally do some hill sprints. Those were my hardest workouts. But they weren’t consistent either.
There. I said it.
I used the same excuses we hear all the time — travel, work, kids, tired, etc, etc. I still was eating clean, just slacked a bit on the workouts.
Then I started reading what I now consider one of the greatest books of all time — Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption — which I can’t recommend enough. And it reminded me, there’s zero reason EVER for anyone to complain about a single thing.
Zero.
Without going into detail, the book is about a former Olympic athlete, who went to war (WWII) and became a POW who endured everything you’d expect a POW who was captured by the enemy in WWII to endure … and much worse. The book is a bit gruesome at times, but what it REALLY showed me was how amazing the human body is and what it can do to survive.
I don’t know why that book resonated with me — but it gave me the swift kick I needed to be more consistent.
I’m back at it and feeling better than ever. Jumped in on a local TRX class, which has been a blast and was something different for me (nice not to think about your workout for a change)…and I’m back to my consistent hill sprints, cycling, etc. It is amazing, though, how easy it is to rationalize and get caught up in your own excuses…even when you preach this stuff daily!
So that brings me to the next point ..
What is the first step to changing a behavior?
BELIEF!
If you doubt your ability to be successful, you’ll ultimately give up or give in. While I never doubted myself in this way, I fell victim to my own excuses.
When most people aim to change behaviors, they’ll say things like "I hope I can do this," or "This is going to be impossible!"
They don’t say "I’ll do this no matter what!" But that’s exactly what it takes.
You wouldn’t dream of starting on a road trip for a vacation and just "seeing how it goes" or how far you can make it. Instead, you set out on the road with a clear destination in mind and expectation that you will reach your destination of choice.
Changing behaviors takes precisely the same steps. Regardless of what you are attempting to change — commit and take action — expecting nothing but success.
Believe you can.
- Create a vision in your head of you at your ideal body weight.
- See yourself controlling your disease better.
- Envision being handed the big promotion or the new job.
Whatever your particular situation, you have to truly believe yourself that you will make it happen with 100% certainty.
Seeing makes that believe come to life.
By visualizing your new behavior or your chosen outcome on a daily basis, you will begin to develop a firmer conviction that is IS possible.
Dreams cannot come to fruition from "I can." Only from "I WILL!"
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January 12th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
I know from working with clients and from my own experiences that this is true. You can have all the knowledge, education ,experience, and support in the world, but if you don't believe in yourself, you cannot put these things into action to achieve your goals. Nicely put!
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January 13th, 2010 at 5:33 am
I Believe!!!!!
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January 13th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
So true!
I have this statement taped to my computer monitor and read it every day:
"If we did all we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves."
- Thomas Edison
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August 3rd, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Although belief is important, I also feel that we are internally motivated by pain and pleasure. Some times we take for granted the pleasure and benefits we reveive from working out that we take it for get about the pain we have been in until we start to slck off…
Cheers and great post!
Mike
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August 3rd, 2011 at 4:31 pm
It’s not hard to do and some good intentions always go astray. On the other hand though, I have been going to hydrotherapy for ache in side. Will this help with weight loss at all? Last night I was very good though. I only had a small amount of spaghetti left to cook and some pesto so I cooked and ate that. It actually satisfied me. I didn’t have any munchies either just some fruit and low fat yoghurt. Result no seconds. a small triump but I think sometimes if I cook more than I need and don’t freeze it straight away, I do go back for seconds if it is not enough to put away.
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