How To Achieve Your Resolutions
by Rugged Coaches on 01/20/11
Everyone always wants to know what the best exercise routine or best diet is for reaching their goals. The truth is that there is no one best path to success. Each person is a different and can be successful on any number of different paths. Which path you choose is less important than how you prepare for the journey.
The biggest reason that so many people fail to achieve the results they expect is that they underestimate what it will take for them to reach their fitness goals while at the same time overestimating the amount of work that they are putting into the process. The problem is that we are constantly bombarded by the media with messages that losing weight and getting in shape is easy...just use our product. Then in small print or a quick voice at the end of the commercial, you get the old disclaimer, "Individual results may vary". The reality is that it is not easy to reach your goals; it requires hard work and dedication to achieve the kind of results that are being advertised by these companies. I'm not pointing this out to discourage you from striving for those results. I'm simply trying to help you keep your expectations realistic. So now that you know what not to do, let's talk about how to get where you want to be.
The first important part of being successful is recognizing the difference between a goal and a wish. I'm sure you've either heard or said one or more of the following: "I wish I could win the lottery", "I want to lose 30lbs", "I wish I could find a better job". Basically, a wish is something that you want to happen to you. There's not a lot of thought or planning put into a wish. You may go out and buy a lotto ticket, start arbitrarily exercising, or post your resume on a job site, but at the end of the day you're putting little effort and perhaps misdirected energy into the process and hoping for the best. Conversely, a goal involves a great deal of planning and personal investment in order to make it a reality. For more info about the importance of goal setting or how to set proper goals check out these articles: To succeed in weight loss you will need: Goals and Setting S.M.A.R.T Goals
The next thing that you will need is to be able to tap into your own individual motivations. I often encounter people that tell me that they want to work with a trainer because they need someone to motivate them to want to get in shape. I always explain that motivation comes from a desire to make a positive change in your life. That is not something that can be given to you; it must come from within. As a coach, I help people uncover their motivation and better harness it, but I can't make anyone want to improve themselves. The way to maximize your motivation is to find the root of why you want to achieve your goals. Spend some time identifying those deeper reasons then use them to drive the daily decisions you make regarding exercise and nutrition. For more help with motivation check out my articles on Willpower.
Finally, the most important part is not to get caught up in your outcome goals. As I discuss in Psychology of the Scale, if you lose weight the right way through increasing your metabolism, your results won't always be reflected day to day on the scale. This is why you must focus on the process not the outcome. Work on the things that you can control including daily behaviors such as the amount and type of food you eat and how much effort you devote to exercise. If you are successful in setting and achieving goals in these areas week after week then the outcome goals will take care of themselves.
