Wednesday 10th October 2007
Knowing when to stop doing things that are counter productive is vital to any progress. Too often we spend a lot of time doing the things we like and not the things we should. How often do you hear people say I’ve always wanted to do that have that or have one of those but never do anything about it.
So many people spend most of their life wanting something but never acting on it. This leads to frustration, disappointment and the feeling of missing out. I know we can’t have everything in life but it would be damn nice to have a fair bit of what you do like.
Frustration is a catalyst for change, but some people don’t like change so what they do is, hold onto things hoping that they will get better, smarten up or something will change. The thing is you need to know when something is worth holding on to or whether it is the very thing that is stopping you from changing for the better.
I won’t even begin to count the amount of times someone has said to me “I’m sick of being over weight, I’ve been so good but I’m not losing any weight, it’s not fair”. (Sometimes with a few adjectives chucked in). I agree - it’s not fair but who ever said it had to be??
Being fair!!! What about being fair dinkum! Change no matter what it is needs you to make a decision. Once you make a decision you should be committed enough to take action, believe in the decision and follow it through till the end. What happens too often is we have enough pain to want to change, enough planning to act on it but we don’t have enough discipline to see it to the end.
I believe the reason why we do this is because we don’t recognise when we are at the low point in our journey. What I mean is, at the beginning everything is exciting we are enthused and ready to take on the world, then soon after along comes the period when the excitement fades and you start to struggle with staying focused.
Like anything in life things lose their appeal. I’ll use an example you buy a car it has everything you want. When you drive, it makes you feel great, it’s a real buzz. A month down the track it just becomes the vehicle that gets you around and somehow it has lost its charm.
When things start to lose their appeal that’s the time to make a decisions – the moment of truth, you ask the questions - whether you continue with it or stop.
I know this is the point where most people stop – Why?? The number one reason is because it all gets too hard and (cold hard truth) cannot be bothered putting in the extra work (discipline) to see it through.
What you need to do is make a decision and be happy with it. Don’t blame anyone or anything else, don’t go saying it’s not fair. You are the one who has decided to give up, that’s right no other word – GIVE UP!!!
The truth is – It is hard and yes you have to put in an effort to make it happen. Nothing comes without a struggle but too often people stop because they hit the low-point and never seem to rise above it, therefore lose their desire to finish what they started.
The number one reason why people don’t succeed is because they never finished what they started. Recognise when you have hit your low-point and make the decisions to continue by reassessing your goals and finding the excitement that began the campaign in the first place.
Love to hear your comments
Exercise is simple
Most of us know what to do when it comes to food and exercise but we don’t do it. How dumb is that! Today we have more information, health products and fitness professionals than ever before who are telling us how to become fitter, leaner and stronger yet we've never been fatter, more stressed and unsatisfied. What’s going wrong?
It’s really sad to read, see and hear all the stories of how fat and unhealthy we are becoming as a nation. The message from the health and fitness industry somehow just isn’t getting through. There seems to be a huge resistance to change, even though our current lifestyle is killing us. Some could say it’s because of the abundance of fast foods, our sedentary lifestyle or time deprivation, no matter what the reason is, we are not realising the dangerous predicament we are heading for.
We waste more time looking for the next miracle pill, latest fad diet or quick fix solution to ease our pain. All this time (for some it’s many, many years) you could have been creating the habit of regular exercise, sensible eating and building a positive attitude towards your health. We need to dumb the whole process down make it easy to comprehend go back to the basics of eating less and moving more.
It’s that simple, we too often look for the science of things, a revelation or some ground-breaking story that tells us we must act or else and this just isn’t necessary. The message is so obvious that people overlook it and think it can’t be true so avoid it.
It may require you to change a few things and this may cause a little discomfort but getting uncomfortable is what's needed to create change, “without friction there is no movement”. When I talk about getting uncomfortable I’m not talking about “intense pain” I’m talking about changing some of the lazy/bad habits that may have developed over the years that have created the predicament you are in now.
Here are seven simple things you can do immediately to start the momentum:
1. Don’t wait for the right time - start now
2. Go for a walk for 20 – 30 minutes 3 – 4 times a week.
3. Start off slowly – gradually build up the intensity.
4. Set some goals – it doesn’t matter what they are as long as it gets you enthused.
5. Eating smaller meals more often.
6. Be consistent.
7. Finish what you start.
Stop looking for the next big thing, thing simple get active and start the “sensible” process of change to a healthier you.
