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MOTIVATION: Is This The BEST You Can Do?
Think about your last workout. What if, after that workout, I asked you “was that the best you could do?” What would your answer be?
During the Nixon presidency, a speech writer by the name of Winston Lord was writing a speech for Henry Kissinger & President Nixon. According to an interview, Kissinger asked Lord for a draft of his speech. The next day Kissinger asked Lord, “Is this the best you can do?” Lord replied “Well, I thought so, but I can try one more time.”
Lord turned in another speech and Kissinger gave the same response, “Is this the best you can do”. Well, this went on eight times – Kissinger asking Lord if this was the best he can do and Lord giving another crack at it. Finally, on the 9th time, when asked the same question Lord replied “I can’t possibly improve one more word”. Kissinger’s response was, “In that case, now I’ll read it.”
Giving Your Best
Obviously, Kissinger wanted to know that Winston Lord gave him his very best work. This made me think about whether or not “this” is the best “I” can do. Can you imagine if God swooped you up and asked you that question? I would be BEGGING for another chance to come back and do things better. I would want to redo many things. I’d want to treat my body better, be a better wife, be a better friend, be a better boss, be more patient, be more loving, be more giving (the list would go on and on). All in all, I would have to be honest and say “No, this is NOT the best I can do”.
Can you imagine how much harder we worked if we worked for God himself? I bet you wouldn’t cheat on your diet or skip a workout if HE was your trainer! However, that is what he asks us to do – He asks us to treat everything we do as if we are doing it for Him. I think we only apply that principle to the areas WE feel are most important. Yet, scripture doesn’t say “in SOME things” it says “in WHATEVER you do – that means EVERYthing”. Yep, you guessed it – that means the way you act in traffic to what food you choose to eat.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…“ Colossians 3:23
So, if you think you can have great work ethic at home, but a crappy one on the job – think again. If you think you can not cheat on your taxes, but cheat on your diet – the answer is no. We should strive for excellence in ALL we do, whether we are managing our bank account or our weight.
Do-Overs
Every day we wake up, we get to “write a new draft”. We get to look at yesterday and ask ourself the question “is this the best you can do?” – and we get a chance to make corrections. If we treat every single day like this, our life will be very different – and it would be far from mediocre.
I challenge you this week to treat everything you do as if you are being tested – like you are running a race and going for a new PR. Your work, your workouts, your diet, your family, your decisions – make them your best today.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain that prize…” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
Be YOUR Best
Do You Need a Faith Lift?
Today was my first day running again after I injured my ankle. First, I must say YAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I have to admit I was totally dreading even trying. My brain had to talk my fat lazy butt into it, but it didn’t take a quarter mile to start feeling encouraged and feeling so good!
While I was running, I caught myself wondering when my ankle would start hurting. So funny, how negative we can be. I had to tell myself to stop thinking that! It was like I was running, expecting to fail. Dumb! Dumb!
Then, I heard a very profound statement, “you can’t pick and choose what you will trust God with. You can’t have faith that he will work in our life, but not trust that He will do a work in your spouse, your workplace or your children”, paraphrased from Joyce Meyer’s podcast (I listen to her while I run).
I have to admit, I have trusted God with a LOT of things in my life (key word: MY life). I’ve trusted that He knows what’s best for me. Yet, when it comes to other people, or even ailments, I think I struggle to trust Him in those things too. Instead, (as if He can’t handle it) I tend to take things into my own hands. Many times that comes in the form of telling someone how to change, correcting someone when we have no business correcting them, trying to convict someone before God does, etc. We begin to make poor decisions, out of pure impatience, rather than sit back and wait – and just let God work in US, while He is also working (at HIS pace) on everything else.
Who’s Behind the Wheel?
If you reeeally think about it – we trust complete strangers with our life more often than we trust God. I never once called the manager of the department where my car was built to see if everyone did their job. When I drive my car, I trust that other people will stop at the stop lights and drive in their own lane. When I have new tires on my car, I assume they put all the lug nuts on properly. Sadly, I often times trust people more times a day than I trust God. That’s the reality.
So next time you want to test God, question God, doubt God …maybe we need to get our priorities straight and treat Him juuuust a little better than people. Ya think? We can’t keep trusting people more than we trust Him. What an insult. Shoot, we can’t even really trust ourselves sometimes!
Maybe we should let him drive our life, and quit being the worst backseat driver ever – telling Him where to go, what to do, when to stop, when to go, go faster, go slower… Honestly, it’s ridiculous! Frankly, it’s amazing He puts up with any of us! BUT, like a daddy loves his child, He loves us and He wants to give us a million chances to learn, to grow and to become all that He created us to be.
We’d do the same for our child right? Would we lead them astray? Would we not be SO quick to help if they needed us? Sometimes I think we need to remember He is not just God, he’s our Father – and as great as my daddy is, He loves me even more.
Let go and let God.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
(read the entire chapter if you are hungry for more) ;)
I’m OK! I’m On My Way
This weekend, my friend and I were talking about one of our favorite Joyce Meyer quotes, “I’m not where I need to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be”. If we only could remember to think like that in all areas of our life – our marriages, careers, spiritual maturity and, certainly, our fitness.
Life is a roller coaster of highs and lows. As I type this, I think “I’ve been much leaner”, but those lean times are those mountain top experiences – the photo shoots and the result of hard training for a specific event or occasion. I’ve also been much heavier and out of shape (those were the low times, or the valleys) – and sometimes I stayed in the valley for a veryyyyy looooong time.
Unfortunately, we often compare ourself to our very best, and forget about the rest. We forget that when we do fall, we don’t stay down quite as long as we used to. We get back up faster each time, mess us less and less, and improve little by little. If we aren’t improving, then of course we need to make some changes. But, chances are, if you are reading this blog, you are working on that already.
So, today (say with me): “Although I’m not where I want to be, I am not where I used to be – and THAT is something we can celebrate!!” :)
Fitness is Like Baseball: Every Day is A New Game
Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. Babe Ruth
What if we treated fitness more like baseball? Each workout was like going up to bat, and your success was tracked by scores, standings and batting averages.
Batting Average: A measure of a batter’s performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
Let’s change a few words around and see what happens…
Fitness Average: A measure of a person’s performance obtained by dividing the total number of completed workouts by the number of days of the week, not including holidays.
What would your fitness average be?
Bad News Bonnie
Although I did play softball most of my childhood, I don’t really follow baseball as an adult. I know it’s baseball season, but that’s about all I know. Personally, I’d prefer to play than watch any day.
I played softball almost my entire childhood. I loved to pretend I was much better than I was. The 1976 classic, Bad News Bears was one of my favorite movies. Although I did learn to be a pretty good pitcher (eventually), I was not near as cool as the original girl Bear, Amanda Whurlitzer, played by Tatum O’Neal - but that’s what is great about being a kid. You can always pretend!
“Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.” Mickey Mantle
“Confession Stand”
So back to the real reason I’m talking about baseball. Ok, here it is: I did NOT workout one single day last week! Can you believe that?! I can’t remember the last time I ever went a full week without working out. I teased Steve that I was trying to go for a full 7 days to see how bad my body could look. ha! The truth is, being a short work week, and being the end of the month, it was just a really hectic week full of deadlines – and Steve got home (for the first time in months) by 5pm almost every night.
Knowing boot camp was kicking off today, I knew this would be my last week I could enjoy some nice evenings with Steve. Since the only time I would have had to workout was after 5pm, I knew I’d have to forfeit time with him. So, I decided; I’d rather be fat and in love, than feeling fit and lonely. 
Benched!
So not only did I skip workouts, we ended the week off with a bang at Disney – and ate like we were Kings and Queens of the whole Magic Kingdom Saturday! Then, yesterday, I posted my motivational quote “YOU FAILED…Get Over It!” while at the beach yesterday because I was thinking about how much I was looking forward to hitting the gym and getting back to my routine.
After the beach, I went to my friend’s house and I was telling my friends about my slack week. About 5 minutes after eating a chocolate chip cookie (which is rare for me), my girlfriend’s husband pulled up Instagram and my quote happened to pop up. He proceeded to laugh, hand me the phone (so I could see what he was laughing at), along with another cookie. (and we took this picture) haha
You’re OUT!
Honestly, back in the day, this one bad week would have probably completely thrown me out of the game. I would have beat myself up both mentally and verbally for being “bad” – OR, I would have just thrown in the towel for a while (until I got too fat and crappy feeling to continue the self-destruction any longer). But now, I can truly say I completely released myself from that guilt and any discouragement that might begin to settle in. The fact of the matter is one week off isn’t going to kill me. Do I feel fat? Yep. Is it going to kill me? Nope. In the big scheme of things, it’s just not a big deal. That’s when I realized, fitness is like a batting average.
Unfortunately, I think people often measure fitness by their BEST workout, their HEAVIEST lift, their FASTEST pace, or the MOST calories burned – but a successful fitness program is more about how often you “get on base”, not whether or not you can hit a home run. One strong lift, won’t make you fit anymore than an occasional home run would win you the World Series. It’s all about consistency.
The Power of a Bunt
“If I’d just tried for them dinky singles I could’ve batted around 600″ Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth recognized the power of the small stuff. If you are a “go big, or go home” type of person, you may feel like every workout has to be insane and awesome to count. You may be tempted to discount a quick workout, or some light cardio, if you can’t give it your total best – but, with fitness, it all counts.
All my workouts aren’t record-breakers, but they all add up to be pretty powerful. If I didn’t workout a minimum of 4-5 times a week consistently for the last 10 years, a week off might have thrown off my “batting average”, if you know what I mean.
In addition to the power of consistency, comes the power of a strong defense. We all know a really good baseball player is just as good in the field as he is at bat. This is where our diet comes in. I found this clip from the Bad News Bears that perfectly fits this part.
(just watch the first few seconds).
Diet Defense
When you are fielding balls, it’s your job to minimize the “damage” – which, in baseball, are scores against your team. Your team can score all day long, but you can still lose the game if your defense is weak – and it’s the same with eating. You can workout a lot, but ruin it with poor eating choices. The only way to truly come out a winner is to be a consistently strong player both in the gym and in the kitchen.
Play Ball!
“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” Babe Ruth
So maybe you are like me and you messed up. Maybe you were sick, out of town or busy. The greatest part about fitness, like baseball, is you can improve with practice. You just keep getting up to bat. Even if you strike out, over and over. As long as you keep swinging, eventually you will make contact with that ball – and eventually you will knock it out of the ballpark.
If you are coming into this week, behind in the game. It’s time to get up to bat again. It’s time to improve our defense. It’s time to start winning again!
Make this week a WINNER!
A few great quotes to leave you with…
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball is.” Bob Feller
“Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.” Babe Ruth
“Baseball is a lot like life. It’s a day-to-day existence, full of ups and downs. You make the most of your opportunities in baseball as you do in life.” Ernie Harwell
150 Reasons To Be Motivated On Your Weight Loss Journey
You would think needing to lose 150lbs would give you 150 good reasons to be extremely motivated, but it’s not that easy. There’s a lot more to it than just the extra baggage you carry – you can also carry a lot of baggage mentally. The good news is, success is possible and motivation is there even when you feel completely hopeless. If you look around, you can find the motivation you need. Just ask Wendy Speigner.
An ordinary girl, with an extraordinary story
Today’s blog is not for the “arrived” person who has already reached their goal. This inspirational message is for all of you out there who are on a weight loss journey to transform your life – or to hold on to the success you’ve had so far and keep pressing on until you reach your goal. What I love about this story is it is somewhat ordinary. What do I mean? I mean, it probably will relate to half the people in America. It’s a real woman dealing with real weight issues. She isn’t on a weight loss reality show. She isn’t doing some insane workout or subscribed to trendy diet plan. She hasn’t lost 100lbs (YET). She is still on the beginning of her journey, doing fitness the good old-fashioned, slow and steady – and I simply LOVE her story.
Searching for Hope
It’s one thing to look at the scale and see you are a few pounds overweight, but how does someone get motivated when they are nearly 400lbs? Where did they find hope? Where do they start? How can they keep showing up when their body says “NO!”. Is it too late or can they be the nest success story? Well, I think Wendy Speigner has a great story of determination, motivation, hope and success. Please take the time to read her story and to share it with others. Although she is no where near her goal weight YET, she has taken the very first (and very important) first step: She made the decision to change her life and is committed to (as I always say) “Keep showing up” no matter what. No more quitting. No More Excuses. And You Can Too!
Who is Wendy?
“Once upon a time there lived a fat little girl…who eventually dieted her way up to 385 lbs! …Oh wait, that’s ME! I was a fat baby, and have been varying degrees of “fat”, “fluffy”, “chunky”, “chubby”, “heavy” or “obese” ever since! I’ve been on a diet of some kind since I was a chubby little kid!
I remember as a kid, my Grandmother (bless her heart) putting me on a new diet every summer when she came up from Florida. Loved my Grandma, the summer diet boot-camps, not so much. I was probably one of the few kids who couldn’t WAIT for summer to be over and school to start again! But then of course the school drama of a fat girl would start… name calling, weighing-in in gym, always picked last for kickball, not popular, blah blah blah. Fat kid to fat teen to fat adult. Other than my weight, I felt I had a wonderful childhood – surrounded by loving parents and friends throughout the years.
”I’d be lying if I said I gave it 110% on every diet or weight loss plan I’ve tried.”
My weight has roller-coastered up and down through the 200′s in my 20′s and up into the 300′s in my 30′s and high 300’s in my early 40′s. It’s been 14+ years since I’ve seen the 200′s. I’d be lying if I said I gave it 110% on every diet or weight loss plan I’ve tried. But as an adult I’ve lost on many diets, gained on many more. Things would usually go good in the beginning, and then I’d eventually get off-track and regain the weight, usually plus more weight. I’d exercise here and there, but honestly, nothing consistent because I’d never stick with it long enough to see any results throughout the years.
Diets Failed. Exercise Failed. Surgery Failed.
In 2000, I even had the first Adjustable Gastric Band weight-loss surgery in FL. I was officially 350 lbs. at time of surgery, and was so excited to have the surgery. It felt like the “Hope” fairy had dumped an entire truckload of hope on my doorstep! I lost 36 lbs. the first month. Wooohoooo! Then I lost an additional 12 lbs. over the next 11 months. (yes, 12 pounds…the size of a very small butterball turkey) <sigh>
Even with all the support and resources there were at the time, all I can say is there was something that still just wasn’t clicking in my brain. How can I really eat 1/2 the food I used to eat this first year and NOT lose weight!?? As time went on, my stomach expanded back to normal and I’d lose some, and then gain more again until I ended up at my highest weight EVER of 385 lbs. in 2009.”
The Change
What got you started (doing things right this time)?
Every day it took an unbelievable amount of energy and effort JUST to get up off the couch, to simply tie my shoes, or walk through the parking lot at the store. And the years of emotional pain was even greater. Everything was just so hard. I had started to feel the impact my weight had on my knees and feet and as my daughter finished high school started to realize how much of my family’s life I had sat on the sidelines for. I was emotionally and physically drained, felt like a complete failure, and doomed to continue to gain weight, and that this was all there was left to my life.
Beliefs are simply thoughts you keep thinking…And mine weren’t very good for a long time. I wish I had started decades ago, but didn’t. I became an avid student in positive thinking and Law of Attraction in 2009, so started taking some of those principles I saw working in other areas of my life and decided to start applying them to my weight loss journey as well.
Who or what inspired or motivated you to make a change?
My biggest supporter and cheerleader is my husband, Michael. He’s been on every turn of this crazy roller-coaster ride with me for 23 years, and he’s always been my lighthouse when lose my way and he knows what to say to help get me back on track if needed.
My biggest inspirations are those friends near and far who have done this or are on their own journey. I’ve met such amazing friends on their own journeys on Facebook, Youtube and through other social media. If I need some encouragement it seems I find just the tip, trick, advice, or motivation that I needed to hear to help me get refocused.
Where are you on your fitness journey and how much so you have to lose?
It is definitely a journey, but little by little I can feel a momentum that has slowed from a lot of negative thoughts/beliefs about losing weight to being replaced with beliefs and thoughts that better serve me. I’m down to 330 lbs. currently. I’ve been eating much healthier in 2013 and working out with a personal trainer for 6 months. The difference in energy, strength and especially physical endurance is simply night and day to when I started. I still have about 150 lbs. or so I want to lose, but trying to remain general in that I want to be healthy, and feel once I get that through my brain, I think the weight loss will go much faster.
I’ve just got to get out of my own way sometimes and not get so wrapped up in the details and scale numbers. But I know I’ll eventually get there. It feels my journey is starting to become less of a fight day by day as I continue to make small changes. I still have a long way to go, but have no doubt I’m on the right path with Eating Healthy, Moving my Body and Adjusting my Thoughts.
Motivation: Seek and You Will Find
”I’ve sat on the sidelines so much, and feel I’ve wasted so many opportunities over the years.”
What Motivates You?
What Motivates me?? …. All of the above! LOL Plus being healthy and actually getting to start living my life. I’ve put so many things on hold over the years because of my size. Yes, absolutely some of it I could have done, but didn’t worrying what others thought, other stuff, I was/am physically too large. I’ve sat on the sidelines so much, and feel I’ve wasted so many opportunities over the years. I want to be this confident, happy healthy person who isn’t afraid to live or take chances. It’s not about vanity for me…its about my life first.
After seeing your motivational videos, it’s clear photos and quotes motivate you. Why?
A picture is worth a 1000 words, so why not focus on what I want my body and life to look like? I can just look at a picture of someone with a healthy strong body and my brain gets it. Quotes are just that perfect thing you need to hear and that seem to find me when I need them the most! I know it’s the Universe’s way of telling me to “keep going”. (watch this video Wendy made)
“I believe focusing not on how far I’ve got to go, but on what my body/life will feel and look like at my ideal weight is so important….and fun!”
What made you make this motivational video.
I’ve always been a very visual and creative person. I actually started creating the videos for ME, to songs I enjoyed for other areas of my life I wanted to focus on. I decided to share them on Youtube. I had such amazing feedback. It really wasn’t for anyone else, but so awesome that others were benefiting from the videos as well. Several people asked me to create a video for them with their goals, favorite quotes, motivations, etc. I believe focusing not on how far I’ve got to go, but on what my body/life will feel and look like at my ideal weight is so important….and fun! I love the upbeat music and I just get drawn into them every time I watch. They’re a big part of my daily meditation/visualization and only take about 3 minutes and I feel so good afterwards.
What’s your favorite quote or mantra?
• Sometimes the strength within you is not a big fiery flame for all to see. It’s just a tiny spark that whispers “You got this.”
• Why NOT me? Why NOT now?
I created this motivational photo for you Wendy! Thanks for sharing your story! I KNOW that it will be exactly what someone needs to hear. Together we can make a difference!
If you have a lot to lose, and you live in the Vero Beach area, my husband and I are leading a boot camp specifically for you. It’s called the Dr. Stopper weight loss camp at Max Fitness, and it starts June 10th. Call 772-778-6800 or visit us online at http://www.maxfitnessclub.com to begin your journey to a better healthier you!
Fitness Motivation: Failure is Temporary
In this mantra I say “failure is not final – unless you give up” but in reality, failure isn’t final until your dead.
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I tend to be brutally honest. In a world filled with diet and fitness companies promising the sun, moon and stars, I feel people are in desperate need for honesty – and that’s not just with fitness. Make-up companies promise to make your skin look flawless (yeah, right!), clothing brands lead you to believe you NEED their clothes to feel great about yourself, and food products make you think you will bite your way into happiness if you can just taste their newest creation.
The Truth
Out of all the advertisers in the world, fitness brands are absolutely the WORST. They will do anything it takes (lie, cheat & steal) to convince you that their gimmick will work for you and it will be easy to succeed – and that’s why I think it is SO important to be honest with people. You need to know the truth. You need to have realistic expectations. Sometimes the truth is encouraging, and sometimes is may be discouraging. In this case, it’s a little of both. The discouraging truth is: You Will Fail. The encouraging truth is: You can try as many times as you want. There’s no limit to the number of attempts you can make – AND the more you try, (like the LOTTO) the more chances you have to succeed. Except with fitness, the odds of success are in your favor.
Quitting Doesn’t Have To Be Forever
OK, so we all fail. But, if you really think about it, we have all been quitters too. Even if we wouldn’t call ourself a “quitter”, we are all quitters at some point and time. Most of us have tried something and quit something. Does that mean you won’t try again and give it another shot? No, it just means you quit for a period of time. Your success just depends on how long you decide to quit for, and how long it takes you to recover from each failure. Some people fail and immediately try again the next day. Others stay down for weeks, month and sometimes years before they try and get back up again.
In the diet and fitness world, failure is going to happen. BUT, as SOON as you try again, you are no longer a failure or a quitter.
Quit Quitting?
You may be sitting in front of the computer reading this as a quitter. Maybe you tried the latest diet and it didn’t work for you. Or, you didn’t workout this week, or eat as well as you wanted to. Maybe you have already called it quits (at least for this week) – or, maybe you haven’t purposefully quit, but you just quit trying.
Maybe you tried all week (and failed), so you are “quitting” this weekend. Meaning, you didn’t quite do what you set out to do this week, so you are not even going to try to workout or diet over the weekend because you plan to start over Monday. Even though you haven’t quit for good, you are quitting for the weekend.
Quit Quitting! You still have 3 days left – today, tomorrow and Sunday to make this week a success – and not a failure. Decide today to allow less time to lapse in between failures and to keep trying over and over and over again. Because, as long as you don’t quit trying, you will never be a failure no matter how many times you fail.
You Failed, So What? 10 Famous Motivational Quotes To Help You Succeed Today
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” ― H.G. Wells
What you did, or didn’t do, yesterday has nothing to do with today. TODAY, is fresh and new. TODAY, you get to make better decisions. TODAY, you can use what you learned from prior mistakes. You don’t have a disadvantage today. If you really think about it, you have an advantage today.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
“You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It wont happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.” ― Joel Osteen,
You Missed Your Mark, So What? Try Again
“You can suffer the pain of change or suffer remaining the way you are.” ― Joyce Meyer
When you aim for a target and miss, you have a chance to try it again. You have a chance to make corrections. If you didn’t hit your target because you were aiming too far to the right, you aim a little left. You don’t just beat yourself up over missing it or give up. You keep trying. You keep practicing. You keep correcting. Even if you completely stink at it, you CAN get better – with practice. The only thing worse that feeling like a failure because you aren’t always hitting your mark, is feeling like a failure because you are not even trying to hit your mark.
“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions–as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
You know your weaknesses. You know your strengths. You have a chance to correct mistakes. If you ate poorly yesterday, you can eat good today. If you skipped a workout, you get to workout today. You have a chance to leave the past in the past and just do what is right and good today. Today is literally the only thing you have control over.
“I am not concerned that you have fallen — I am concerned that you arise.” ― Abraham Lincoln
If you focus on your past failures, you will let those failures affect today. You will let them cause doubt. You will allow the feeling of defeat ruin your today – to the point you might not even try to arise today. You have the chance to forgive yourself. You have to chance to start over – everyone does. We’ve all failed, we just don’t all keep trying.
“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday.” ― Jason Mraz
So, next time you want to have a pity party about how you messed up – get over it! Let that mistake stay with yesterday. Today can be as successful as you want it to be.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” ― Robert F. Kennedy
Ask ANYONE who has succeeded with diet, fitness, business or marriage if they’ve failed. I’m sure they would all answer that they all did. They just never gave up.
“Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next.” ― Ben Carson
“It is not as important how we start (our past), but how we finish.” ― Joyce Meyer
Keep Showing Up: Because NEXT Time You Might Just Succeed
Don’t Throw It All Away
I have met so many people, on the successful end of their fitness journey, who once had a story of failure. Time after time, I’ve heard stories of how people didn’t stick to a diet, how fitness didn’t work for them, how they wasted a gym membership, quit a program, lost weight only to gain it right back, gave up, quit or failed. And then, they made that decision to give it another try – and they succeeded!
My mom tried every diet in the book over a 30 year span, resulting in one failure after another. Today, she stands tall and proud, 100lbs lighter – and has KEPT it off for several years. BUT, what if she never kept trying? What if she decided she was doomed for failure? Do you think she, or any of the people around her who knew she had a history of being on a life-long diet, believed THIS would be IT? I don’t even know if she believed she could do it when she started, but she started anyway.
Ready for Success
What makes someone succeed THIS time? As much as I’d love to believe it’s our awesome training, our BCx Boot Camp or our gym, they cannot be successful until YOU are ready to be successful.
One, I think you have to let go completely of all your selfish desires. You have to decide that the heavy you, and how you were used to living, is dead and gone – and a new improved you requires drastic change. After you let go of what you think your body wants (food, laziness, not to “miss out” on “living”, etc), then you can focus on what you really want – and what that requires. Once you get your head in the game, you have to commit to it. You have decide you are not stopping no matter how rough it is, how slow it is, and how frustrated you get. Sometimes, you have to purposefully be reminded of where that old destructive path led you.
Strip Away the Old You
I believe you have to get SO sick of the old you, that you realize there is no other choice. Something’s gotta change – and the only thing that YOU can change, is YOU. You realize all your old ways brought you to this ugly place. You recognize the destruction. You acknowledged the unhappiness it has caused. Once those things are very real to you, then you embrace change. You welcome the stripping of flesh, lies and comforts. Once covered with excuses, now you are “naked” and exposed for who you really are and what you have really been allowing in your life that needs to go. You confess (admit) that maybe you have been doing things wrong and that it’s nobody else’s fault. Then, and only then, can you start working on you. You will welcome the clothing of everything healthy. You will be excited about your “2nd, 3rd, or 99th chance” to change – and once you put those healthy things into your life, you realize how good it feels do treat your body right and to do what is right. Then, when you start getting results (which you will) you will never want to go back.
Once you have gone through the mental preparation that success requires, you are ready to show up. You will still have doubt. You will still have temptations. You will wonder what is on the other side, and wonder if this time will be different. You will likely fight the old you every day in some way. BUT, if you keep showing up, you WILL win.
As I reflect on my 19th Wedding Anniversary, I think of all the days we didn’t know what was next. We didn’t know if “this time” it would be better. We didn’t know if we could succeed. BUT we decided to keep showing up. We’ll never forget a scene in a TV show where the main character asked his boss, who was celebrating his anniversary, what the secret to his marriage was and he said “I just keep showing up”. This is not just the case in marriage, but it is the case in fitness – and many other areas of our lives. It became our motto.
There will be many days we don’t want to go to the gym. There will be numerous days we don’t want to do the same job, be married to the same man, or even live the same life. We all have days we don’t want to “show up”, BUT you also never know if the next time you show up, it will be the beginning of success.
Like a dieter who failed 100 times, or the gym member that quit too many times to count, the NEXT time may be the BEST time – and you will NEVER know, if you don’t show up.
Thank you Steve for continuing to show up, even when you didn’t feel like it. Thank you for teaching me to never give up – on us, on fitness and on life. Happy Anniversary!
Encouragement for Procrastinators
When you think of starting a diet or workout routine, you should not just think about starting the WORK. You should think about starting the RESULTS.
You immediately start benefiting from fitness as soon as you begin. You don’t have to wait until you’ve reached your goal weight to “cash in”. You will begin to feel more energized, better, healthier, stronger, leaner, more confident, and proud – just after a few days of consistent healthy living. Unfortunately, in our little pea-brains, all we can see is the work. And, that work is SO big to us, it temporarily overshadows the even GREATER rewards waiting for us on the other side.
The next time you even think about putting off a diet or workout, remember: You are not just putting off the work – you are putting off the results. Don’t you want to start enjoying results today?
Exercise Hurts, Quitting Hurts More
Since many of our BCx workouts are timed workouts, with short bursts of intense exercise, one thing I say often is “You can do anything for 60 seconds”. That is because, when I was in boot camp, those were the words I held on to. I knew, no matter how bad it hurt, how winded I was, or how weak I felt, I could do anything for 60 seconds.
Of course, when THAT 60 seconds was done, I had to do another 60 seconds of something just as brutal – but at least it was something different. And, I knew, once again, I could endure THAT for 60 seconds too.
1 Out of 24
The fact of the matter is, if we really think about how little time we actually have to work to get such a great lasting reward, we could truly begin to celebrate the pain.
The pain is evidence of change. If we can look past the immediate discomfort and focus on the other 23 hours of freedom, where we get to bask in the results of our hard work, we can clearly see that the small amount of time in the gym is a small sacrifice for what we get out of it.
Honestly, 1 hour, out of the 24 hours God gave us, is not that much to ask. AND it’s not work without pay. It’s work with BIG pay. THAT’S the reality.
“But It’s Hard”
BUT (Yes, here’s the “but”), we often get too wrapped up in the immediate pain and fatigue. We feel sorry for ourselves, we think about how rough we have it – how hard workouts are, how hard it is to lose weight, how sore we are, how fat we feel, how hard we work, how tired we are, how many responsibilities we have, how everyone else seems to have it easier, and we think of just about everything else besides this one fact: As much as this sucks, quitting sucks more.
The repercussions of quitting hurts. You know that commercial that says “depression hurts“, well so does fat. Fat hurts. Being unhealthy hurts. Feeling weak hurts. Injury due to weak and tight muscles hurts. Aging and muscle deterioration hurts. Losing confidence hurts. Losing mobility hurts. Losing independence due to health hurts. Feeling like a failure because you truly failed and gave up hurts. All the repercussions to quitting on yourself, and your health, hurts way more than the worst workout you have ever had.
Next time you feel like giving up. Whether you are just tired of trying to lose weight and you can’t seem to get it right, or you want to quit your workout program because it’s too hard, NEVER forget that QUITTING will hurt you even more.
