Blog Archives
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
You CAN If You WILL
I woke up today to stormy weather. Thunder and lightening woke me up. Steve left the house to go to the gym this morning around 4:45am to train his first client, Corinne. When he arrived, there was no power. It was storming like a hurricane and completely pitch black for blocks. Did that stop them? Nope! Steve pulled out a flashlight and they trained in the dark.
So next time you think you have an excuse to skip your workout, remember you can do whatever you want if you want it bad enough. 9 times out of ten, it’s not about whether you can, it’s just whether you will.
How much time have you wasted contemplating something you know you should do?
How much time do we waste creating excuses to get out of what we need to do?
How many times have we spent more time thinking about doing something than actually doing the something?
We sure wast a LOT of time!
Listen, if you WANT to be fit, quit wanting and start working on being fit. Whether you can or not rarely is even a question. It’s just a matter of whether you WILL. As long as you make your workouts optional, you are allowing your success to be optional. Quit wasting precious time. Just show up!
Goal Achieved: Now What?
I see a lot of people work SERIOUSLY hard to reach a goal. Then when they reach it, they stop all the good habits they made and revert back to their old ways. I see this in boot camp a lot. People take a 6-week boot camp program, lose body fat, gain muscle, workout on a regular basis and then when it’s over, they never step foot back in a gym ….until the next boot camp.
That’s not the way fitness works. That’s more like going to the doctor when you get sick. Fitness should not just be about improving your health, but maintaining it. There are goals, and then there should be a new set of goals. Here are Steve’s thoughts this week on what to do after the goal is met so you don’t sabotage your hard work.
Rebound: Return, bounce back, setback, backfire, move backward.
“I recently took 18 competitors from my gym, Max Fitness, to compete in the NPC Southeast Classic (picture of some of the competitors below). The goal was hitting the stage. Not winning a trophy, but using the stage to make us push harder and be our best.
The goal was made, and the goal was met! What we do now defines what we learned on our journey to accomplish our goal. In the “realm” of goal acquisition, focusing solely on the goal can be a tragedy. What I mean is, the goal is just that: “a goal” – a means to an end. How we develop, the wisdom we gain, and the way we develop along the way is the real reward for meeting our goal. Goals are not the …READ MORE
Let’s Make a Deal: Trade Fat for Fit
Do you remember the show, “Let’s Make a Deal“? This was the game show where a contestant is given a prize, like a TV, and then has the option to trade that prize for another prize. The catch? The other prizes are a mystery. It could be bigger and better, or could be a total disappointment. Since the pressure can be too difficult to handle, some contestants choose to keep what they have.
I think this is how we treat our life many times. We choose our current situation, no matter how bad it is, because we hate the unknown even more.
The unknown is scary and being out of control is no fun, but those two things go hand in hand with change. Change requires letting go and taking a leap of faith. Unfortunately, no matter how uncomfortable you may be right this minute, no matter how fat you feel, how tight your pants are, how bad your last doctor’s visit was, or how unhealthy and out of shape you feel, you STILL may not be ready for change.
Who’s In Control?
Ironically, people will choose to stay in their current yucky condition over getting healthy simply because they don’t like being out of control. Sadly, the person who thinks they are in control (and thinks they can eat whatever they want and do what they want) is the most out of control person of all. They have no control of their body compared to the someone who puts restrictions on what they eat and do. The person who has the most control is the person practicing self-control.
You see, you have 2 choices. You can control your body, or you can let your body control you. We are in a constant battle with our flesh. Our body will always want to be lazy and eat for pleasure. But, our mind knows better. We have goals in life. We know we can’t allow our body to do whatever it wants without experiencing repercussions. The problem is, the satisfaction of the temporary pleasure may currently outweigh the repercussions – until the repercussions get so uncomfortable you can’t take it anymore.
“You will be ready for change when you get to the point when your consequences of your actions outlast the pleasure of them.”
Like many repercussions of poor decisions, they build slowly. People don’t get obese overnight. A marriage rarely goes from happy to miserable in one day. Bad situations normally come from many bad decisions. In addition to bad decisions, bad situations become even more difficult because many people often ignore them. As if it’s not bad enough to make poor decisions, now you pretend your bad situation doesn’t exist.
Of course you WANT it to be better, but when you aren’t doing anything to help your situation, you are basically just HOPING it gets better on it’s own. Listen, whether you are struggling in your marriage, struggling with your weight or in your workplace, it will not get better on its own. Change requires work, even if all you can work on is you. Whatever your circumstance is, if it is not ideal, you need to be diligent and relentless to create enough change to make it better.
Surrender
It’s time to surrender the “uncomfortable known” for the unknown and trade being IN control for being OUT of control – because often times the unknown will be much more comfortable than the known, and you will find there is much more freedom when you are willing to give up control and let go. Today’s the day to take a leap of faith.
Interestingly enough, fitness is not unknown. While many of your experiences along the way to getting fit may be unknown to you, your destination (being healthy) is very known. It’s a sure thing. Unlike “Let’s Make a Deal”, you know what you’ll get if you choose the healthy path. Yes, you will have to give up something, just like the contestants on the show, but does what you currently hold really outweigh the prize of health and having a fit body?
It’s time to “Make a Deal”. It’s time to trade your old ways and old body for a new and improved you – the best known prize of all.
Today’s blog was inspired by “Devotionary, a Devotion with Meaning” by Pastor Bob Coy
What’s Greater? Your Excuses or Your Dreams?
I’m too old
My stomach will never look like that
I bet she never had kids
I don’t have that kind of time
I have a full time job, plus 2 kids to raise
I don’t know what to do.
She was probably always fit
She’s probably a lot younger than me
She just has good genetics
I don’t have the discipline
I wouldn’t know what to eat
My body could never get that lean
I’ve never done anything like that before
I wouldn’t even know where to start…
These are all common excuses and comments I hear when people see a bikini or figure competitor. People almost talk themselves out of even wanting that kind of body – just because they don’t think it’s even achievable for them. However, Ursula Kepferer, knew what she wanted and she made the decision she was GOING to compete, no questions asked. No excuses.
Ursula, a 42 year old working mom, came to my husband Steve late last year and told him she wanted to do a competition in the spring. She had never done anything like that before, but she knew she needed to lose weight – and she knew a competition would force her to follow through. 30 pounds heavier than she is today, Ursula did everything Steve asked. Many times I would see her training with Steve in the gym, and I’d see the look on her face that said “I hate him right now”. No matter how tough the workout was, she never stopped and she never gave up. It wasn’t easy, but she always left proud (and little more fit) each day.
“Although most people realize what fitness can do for someone’s physique, I don’t think most people truly realize what training can do for their OWN body.”
She 
had a lot of fears and a lot of doubts I’m sure. Could she really do this? Would she be able to lose that much weight in 90 days. What would her skin look like? Could she get lean enough? What was hiding under that fat? Much of it was sort of a mystery.
When someone commits to being on stage in the smallest bikini they’ve ever worn, even thin people get nervous. You notice every little bit of cheese you still have no matter how fit you are getting. And when you are just starting out, you wonder if your butt will ever look OK in that teeny bikini bottom that you have to wear AND turn your back to the judges so they can examine it. THAT’s a frightening thought all by itself.
Although most people realize what fitness can do for someone’s physiques, I don’t think most people truly realize what training can do for their OWN body. I believe many people actually think their body is just built a certain way and they are stuck with it. That is SO untrue. Although you may be prone to easily build muscle or not, have a smaller waist or bigger hips, etc you CAN greatly improve your body no matter how it looks now. Fitness works for everyone.
On April 6th, Ursula found out just what her body was capable of. She hit the stage, admittedly shaken and nervous, but also excited. She did it. She crossed the finish line! All those cardios – were worth it. All the dieting – was worth it. Trusting her coach – was worth it. Following through – was worth it.
Ursula finished 1st in her class. But she says she’s wearing her real trophy, and that is so true. Your best reward is your new and improved body! Congrats Ursula!!
No Motivation, No Problem
I believe many people are waiting for motivation to show up – as if they can’t make any progress without it. Feeling motivated comes and goes, so you can’t rely on it to keep you going. Science, however, is constant. The work you put in will always reap a reward. If you are one of those people who keep waiting to “feel” motivated, STOP. Stop wasting precious time waiting on a feeling to show up. Instead, use your noggin. Focus on the facts. Focus on the reward, not the work.
Although there are times I feel energized to run, and jacked to lift – they are too few and far between to rely on those feelings to keep me going. So, I rely on routine, discipline, commitment and follow through to get me where I want to be.
Why do I focus on motivational quotes and photos to help others? Because I’m the most unmotivated person I know. I know what I have to tell myself day after day to get to the gym. I know what it takes to talk myself out of ordering french fries. Fitness does not come easy for me. I’d rather lay on the beach and eat a burger like this chick! But I know how it will make me feel afterwards, and it ain’t pretty. Do you want to know where all my motivational quotes come from? They come from my own daily struggles, lessons learned and many failures.
Feeling motivated can be pretty magical, but being disciplined is way more powerful. No matter how you feel or how you perform, as long as you keep showing up and doing the work, you WILL get the reward. Keep Showing Up.
How Pro Athletes Stay Motivated: Bret Lockett’s Inspiring Words
Do You Want It?
This week I had the pleasure to talk with former Patriots’ and current NY Jets’ safety Bret Lockett about his training program for my blog (coming this week). Since I know good an well even the pros have their “bad days” too, I asked, ”On those days you totally don’t feel like working out, what motivates you to show up anyway?”
This was his answer: ”I know there’s always someone else in the world that would love to take my position, whether it’s on the field or in life. So me not wanting to better myself as an athlete and a person won’t get me to where I want to be in life. That’s what motivates me every morning.”
Do You Want to Keep It?
You don’t have to be a professional football player to learn from what he is saying here. You can replace “on the field” with anywhere you want to be or anywhere you want to go. Of course, his position on the field and in life is a very highly esteemed one – but the same applies even to the lowliest of jobs and the most normal places in life.
There is always someone who would love to have your job – even if you are just flipping burgers. There is someone who would love to have your spouse, your house, your dog, your kids, your car, your clothes, your mom, your dad or your family’s love. Even if you are overweight and out of shape, there is someone on their deathbed who would love to have your healthier body. Get the message here?
Do You Want to Lose It?
In Bret’s position, there are people training hard to excel and become the next Bret Lockett. What Bret realizes, and we too need to continually keep at the top of our mind, is it’s not just about working hard to GET somewhere. It’s to work equally hard to STAY there. This is especially true in fitness and weight loss. I see so many people working SO hard to lose weight and get in the shape of their lives. After they get fit and are the happiest and healthiest they’ve ever been – and then the stop.
When someone reaches their goal, they treat it like they have “arrived” at their destination and put their body in park – but a body doesn’t have “Park”. Our body has Reverse, Neutral and Drive, but no Park. When we arrive at our destination and “stop”, it’s more like putting your body in neutral – and what happens to a car in neutral when it’s parked at the top of a hill? It rolls out of control back down hill and will likely end in an ugly crash.
It takes a LOT of effort to get somewhere, but it also takes effort to stay there too. It takes effort to “maintain”. If you have worked hard to get where you are, don’t stop now. Don’t throw your prior hard work away. Don’t slow down, don’t go backwards and don’t coast off course. Because, like a car, you body is built with an engine ready to rev up and run on all cylinders. So don’t waste it. Keep MOVING!
Motivational Pic of the Day
I liked what Bret had to say, I HAD to turn it into a motivational mantra pic. If you are also inspired by his words, feel free to share!
Fitness Motivation: Refuse To Be Weak!
Albert Einstein once said “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Isn’t that how all rewards work? Greatness doesn’t happen overnight – and the person that reaches greatness is the last man standing.
People like Albert Einstein succeed, not because they try, but because they don’t give up on continuing to try. They try, try, and try again – no matter what the result is. That means you have to be ready for failure, because you know good and well you won’t succeed the first time around – and probably not the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th time either.
A person, like Einstein, has to embrace failures, obstacles, roadblocks and problems. They have to be OK to be “in the middle of it”, even when they don’t see how they’ll get through it – yet. Much like solving an equation, training and dieting takes a certain level of problem solving. It requires troubleshooting, tweaking, analyzing, redoing, trying it one way, trying it another way…until you get the results you want.
You can’t get mad when one formula doesn’t work. You just have to try another one, until you find what works for you. And, no matter how frustrated you get, you can celebrate that you are getting stronger, wiser and smarter in the process.
Note, Einstein refers to his work as “problems”. He had physics problems, we may have weight problems. Either way, we can learn from his statement. We can all be like Albert Einstein, and be smarter, stronger, better – simply because we refuse to give up.
Read more Einstein Quotes at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/albert_einstein.html#PXK739ZJZCz1p85M.99
Start Reinventing Yourself Today
When I was a little girl, (yes, that is me!) I have to admit I was the girl wandering around right field, in my own little world, while everyone else was actually playing ball. Right field was where they put the worst fielder on the team in tee ball – and that was me.
My dad used to tease me about being the girl looking down gazing at whatever caught my eye, swishing my feet around in the grass, singing, and daydreaming while everyone else actually played ball. And, if a ball ever did actually come in my direction (which it rarely did not), I would almost never be even remotely ready for it.
Needless to say, I was one of the last kids to get picked in PE too. I had 2 things going against me; I was a girl and I was a skinny, awkward, slightly uncoordinated, silly girl – and I knew it.
Over time, that got old. I started seeing how the others were performing and I didn’t want to be “that” girl anymore. My dad was always so supportive. I’ll never forget the homemade softball tee he made me so I could practice hitting the ball at home. I loved to hit the ball, and I loved playing with my dad, so it was easy to get me to practice. Thank goodness my dad didn’t give up on me, because I probably would have.
Whether you were the awkward goofy kid like me, or fat kid like Steve was when he was young, we don’t always have to be “that” kid. We can reinvent ourselves any time we want. It took me until my early twenties before I really grasped this enough for it to actually affect my athletic ability, but eventually I got it.
Whatever the case, you don’t have to feel stuck being whoever you are at this moment. We can always get stronger, faster, thinner and smarter. It just takes a little work, but it is so worth it.
After I stepped up my training and practicing, I eventually moved from the low-action right field position to Left Field and 3rd Base. I’m was no longer a useless player that sits the bench. While I don’t get to play much softball these days, I’m stronger, faster, more coordinated and more focused. I’m also more confident to try other activities that I might have previously avoided. I am physically able to have more fun playing whatever sport I want, and I have more fun just playing period.
If you think it’s time to reinvent yourself, whether it’s to simply lose weight or to improve in a sport or task, read my blog today for Detour Bar for 8 Tips to Reinvent Yourself – and Your Body & get today’s matching Motivational Mantra to remind you that you don’t have to be “picked last” anymore.
It’s never too late to reinvent yourself. 
It’s Your 135,827th Diet: But THIS Time You Will SUCCEED
People say “don’t do it for anyone else, do it for yourself” but, with weight loss, sometimes that just isn’t enough. It’s unfortunate, but getting our own body fit isn’t always enough motivation to stick with it. Sometimes, there has to be more driving us. It might be an end-goal, like a race, a competition, a vacation, pictures, a job, a date, a reunion, a check up or a number on a scale, or it may be the mere pressure of everyone watching us.
We’ve all been there. We’ve either attempted a diet and failed, or we have set out for a goal that we never reached. If you are a yo-yo dieter that has battled with your weight all your life, one of the first things you think of is what others will think, or what people will say. Will they roll their eyes at your 135,827th attempt to lose weight or will they support you? Will they take you seriously this time? Will they believe in you? Or, are they actually hoping you will fail, so they can say “I told you so” or so things can go back to “normal”.
These are all very real feelings that go through people’s minds, and it can sabotage someone’s success before they even start – OR it can drive them to be a success.
Sometimes our fear of failure is what drives us to success. While I don’t believe we should always worry about what people think all the time, I do believe a healthy dose of care can give us the push we need to succeed.
No one likes being a failure. We all want to be successful, respected, valued and admired – and we can ALL be that person if we want to. We can be the example. We can show everyone in our shoes that they can succeed too. We can prove our enemies wrong and show them we DO have what it takes. We won’t need to talk about working out and dieting, or convince anyone of how bad we want to succeed. Our actions will be the proof of our desire. And the results will speak for themselves – and every day we are tempted to skip, slip, quit, cry, complain, we will remember those who are watching us and we will not give them the pleasure of seeing us fail.
Today’s Mantra:
Matching iPhone Lock Screen
Get a constant reminder that your actions always speak louder.
How bad do you want it? Then prove it each and every day!
