Hello everyone,
I hope the holiday season is treating you well. This is a great week to reflect on 2009 and look ahead to 2010. Both can be fun and help you continue on your path to success.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
How to Make Your New Year’s Resolution Successful
As we turn the calendars to a new year, there are often many things on our minds. One of those things may be your New Year’s resolution. Let’s take a minute to talk about the resolution. It has gotten a bad reputation as something that “won’t work” or is “destined to fail”, but it is still important to set goals for the coming year.
Goals are the best way for you to recover from the holiday season gone by. What’s the difference between a goal and a resolution? Great question, a resolution is a grand declaration or something that you decided to do on December 31st.
A traditional resolution takes about as much time to think about as it does to announce. And the typical resolution is also forgotten just as quickly. Goals on the other hand are a plan. Notice it’s not goal, but goals. It takes a series of goals to make up a plan. If you want to make a change that lasts a year, you need to break it up into steps. Each step is a goal in itself and will bring you to the next level. As you progress through each of these levels, you should be well on your way to the overall goal.
Think about your goals as a road map. When you are on a trip and question if you are going the right direction, you can always look back at your map. If you are off track, simply look at the map and find the best way to get back on. Without the map, not only do you not know where you are going, but you also don’t know if you are on track or not. By setting goals and having a plan, you can be sure that you are going the direction you want to be going.
What is the best plan? For starters, it should be something you really want to accomplish. Take your resolution and break it down into smaller steps. Start with something small and realistic. When you have mastered that step, it’s on to the next. With each step you take, not only are you moving toward your goal, you are creating new habits.
Need support? Email your plan and your coach can help you stay on track.
Coach@ByrdWellnessConcepts.com
Goals are the best way for you to recover from the holiday season gone by. What’s the difference between a goal and a resolution? Great question, a resolution is a grand declaration or something that you decided to do on December 31st.
A traditional resolution takes about as much time to think about as it does to announce. And the typical resolution is also forgotten just as quickly. Goals on the other hand are a plan. Notice it’s not goal, but goals. It takes a series of goals to make up a plan. If you want to make a change that lasts a year, you need to break it up into steps. Each step is a goal in itself and will bring you to the next level. As you progress through each of these levels, you should be well on your way to the overall goal.
Think about your goals as a road map. When you are on a trip and question if you are going the right direction, you can always look back at your map. If you are off track, simply look at the map and find the best way to get back on. Without the map, not only do you not know where you are going, but you also don’t know if you are on track or not. By setting goals and having a plan, you can be sure that you are going the direction you want to be going.
What is the best plan? For starters, it should be something you really want to accomplish. Take your resolution and break it down into smaller steps. Start with something small and realistic. When you have mastered that step, it’s on to the next. With each step you take, not only are you moving toward your goal, you are creating new habits.
Need support? Email your plan and your coach can help you stay on track.
Coach@ByrdWellnessConcepts.com
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Act Like You’re in a Bathing Suit
I was at a social gathering with a friend of mine when she gave me a great idea. I want to thank and cite Amy as the one who came up with this theory. Amy is not in the industry, which actually made me feel even better about the theory because it shows how it translates to real life. This theory came from a real person that holds great value in her health and wants others to do the same.
It is difficult to value health when you feel like you don’t have it. Many people I talk to feel this way and don’t see a way out. Amy’s theory can actually help you feel like you can make changes. It is not just something for those that need to find health, but also for those that need to maintain the health they already have.
It’s also difficult to value health when you refuse to focus on it. The theory that I’m talking about is about keeping health in the forefront. It is about making sure that your health is on your mind and stays part of your day to day life. When you do that, you will live a healthy life.
Picture this:
You are out at the beach with a big group of friends. The sun is shining and the weather is perfect. Maybe you are in Florida or even Hawaii. Maybe you are just at the lake during the summer time. No matter where you are, they key is that it is bathing suit season. You are in and out of the water because you need to cool off and feel comfortable in the summer heat. All of your friends are enjoying themselves as they do the same.
Now it’s lunch time…
Everyone grabs some food and sits down at a picnic table to eat lunch. As you all eat together, you remain in the sun right on the beach. What are you eating? How much of it are you eating? If you are sitting there in your bathing suit, I will guess that you don’t want to be too full. You don’t want to feel heavy and bloated as you sit there in your bathing suit.
There is now way to hide. You are forced to look at yourself. You are forced to look at each other. You are exposed to the world. Every inch and every pound is right there. It is right there for you to see and it is right there for everyone else to see.
One thing that can influence what you eat and how you think is the reality of right now. Right now, if you can see yourself for what you look like, how you feel and what your body is now, you will make decisions that will keep that on your mind.
We have all heard the phrase: “I’m not worried about that now.” Or “Someday I will change that.” These statements of procrastination are all too common. Why are they so common? Likely because we really believe that there isn’t a problem now. When you put on your big sweater and stay inside over the winter, you don’t notice weight gain. The longer you go without looking in the mirror (really looking!) the longer you can go without seeing the weight.
For most people, it IS being added. The average person in the US gains about a pound every year. Some gain more, while others actually lose weight. Despite the national trend, I know that there are many people that are living healthy and will continue to do so.
What do these people do that others don’t? They look at their current state, compare it to their desired state and they do what it takes to bring them together. In order to look at their current state they have to take a look in the mirror. It has to be an honest look at where they are. Think about it again: you are standing in front of the mirror in your bathing suit. What do you see? Is it what you want to see? What decisions are you going to make right now to make sure that eventually, you will see what you want to see when you stand here?
These questions are not always easy to ask. But that is the point. It’s not always easy to stand in front of the mirror in your bathing suit. Easy is not always the best option. Easy does not always get you where you want to go. Health itself is not always easy. Some of the things you do to live healthy may take a little more time or effort, but they do get you where you want to go.
Remember that wherever you want to go, you have to start somewhere. No matter where you want to go, you can only start where you are. In order to know where you are, you have to look in the mirror. When you sit down to eat lunch, dinner or any other meal, think about where you are and where you want to go. Is the food you are going to eat helping you get there? What choice can you make to help yourself?
Amy’s theory that we would all make better choices if we wore bathing suits every day makes sense to me. If you could see everything, wouldn’t you eat lighter? I would. In fact, I do. During my conversation with Amy, I thought back to all the times I have been to a beach, lake or pool. On those days I never over ate. Why? Because I was sitting there with my shirt off and didn’t want to feel like I was stuffed.
If we walked around like that every day, we would assess your current state. You would have to because it would be on display for you and everyone else. Next time you eat, drink or debate exercise, simply apply the bathing suit test: What would you do if you were wearing a bathing suit?
It is difficult to value health when you feel like you don’t have it. Many people I talk to feel this way and don’t see a way out. Amy’s theory can actually help you feel like you can make changes. It is not just something for those that need to find health, but also for those that need to maintain the health they already have.
It’s also difficult to value health when you refuse to focus on it. The theory that I’m talking about is about keeping health in the forefront. It is about making sure that your health is on your mind and stays part of your day to day life. When you do that, you will live a healthy life.
Picture this:
You are out at the beach with a big group of friends. The sun is shining and the weather is perfect. Maybe you are in Florida or even Hawaii. Maybe you are just at the lake during the summer time. No matter where you are, they key is that it is bathing suit season. You are in and out of the water because you need to cool off and feel comfortable in the summer heat. All of your friends are enjoying themselves as they do the same.
Now it’s lunch time…
Everyone grabs some food and sits down at a picnic table to eat lunch. As you all eat together, you remain in the sun right on the beach. What are you eating? How much of it are you eating? If you are sitting there in your bathing suit, I will guess that you don’t want to be too full. You don’t want to feel heavy and bloated as you sit there in your bathing suit.
There is now way to hide. You are forced to look at yourself. You are forced to look at each other. You are exposed to the world. Every inch and every pound is right there. It is right there for you to see and it is right there for everyone else to see.
One thing that can influence what you eat and how you think is the reality of right now. Right now, if you can see yourself for what you look like, how you feel and what your body is now, you will make decisions that will keep that on your mind.
We have all heard the phrase: “I’m not worried about that now.” Or “Someday I will change that.” These statements of procrastination are all too common. Why are they so common? Likely because we really believe that there isn’t a problem now. When you put on your big sweater and stay inside over the winter, you don’t notice weight gain. The longer you go without looking in the mirror (really looking!) the longer you can go without seeing the weight.
For most people, it IS being added. The average person in the US gains about a pound every year. Some gain more, while others actually lose weight. Despite the national trend, I know that there are many people that are living healthy and will continue to do so.
What do these people do that others don’t? They look at their current state, compare it to their desired state and they do what it takes to bring them together. In order to look at their current state they have to take a look in the mirror. It has to be an honest look at where they are. Think about it again: you are standing in front of the mirror in your bathing suit. What do you see? Is it what you want to see? What decisions are you going to make right now to make sure that eventually, you will see what you want to see when you stand here?
These questions are not always easy to ask. But that is the point. It’s not always easy to stand in front of the mirror in your bathing suit. Easy is not always the best option. Easy does not always get you where you want to go. Health itself is not always easy. Some of the things you do to live healthy may take a little more time or effort, but they do get you where you want to go.
Remember that wherever you want to go, you have to start somewhere. No matter where you want to go, you can only start where you are. In order to know where you are, you have to look in the mirror. When you sit down to eat lunch, dinner or any other meal, think about where you are and where you want to go. Is the food you are going to eat helping you get there? What choice can you make to help yourself?
Amy’s theory that we would all make better choices if we wore bathing suits every day makes sense to me. If you could see everything, wouldn’t you eat lighter? I would. In fact, I do. During my conversation with Amy, I thought back to all the times I have been to a beach, lake or pool. On those days I never over ate. Why? Because I was sitting there with my shirt off and didn’t want to feel like I was stuffed.
If we walked around like that every day, we would assess your current state. You would have to because it would be on display for you and everyone else. Next time you eat, drink or debate exercise, simply apply the bathing suit test: What would you do if you were wearing a bathing suit?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Complaints Don't Solve Problems
It is easy to complain, it is more difficult to act. I see this played out in politics all the time. It’s an old classic: someone has an issue so they complain about it. Someone else fixes the issue by acting on it and they still get complaints because it wasn’t done right. Well, those people that acted deserve thanks. They deserve to be treated as if they solved a problem. Most likely they did solve a problem.
No matter what your view is, you can clearly see that they did more than the complainers. You can see that they have put themselves in a position to be praised for their efforts. At least they should be given a break right? Right? Watching how our society is operating now, I’m not so sure that we actually see it this way.
At this point, we are willing to put fourth more effort to complain about a problem than we are to try and fix it. Think about it, we’ve all turned on the radio or television to listen to opinions. We’ve all seen the headlines and heard from the experts as they tell us what is wrong with the world. Everyone has a complaint.
Unfortunately, complaints don’t solve problems.
Maybe that was my first mistake- turning on the television. I noticed long ago that the media was showcasing, if not looking for negativity. We are shown 9 negative stories for every positive story. I don’t have the exact figures on the ration, so don’t complain. Actually, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to help me get it right, so feel free to share any stats here.
Stats or no stats, it is clear that there is a lot of negative reporting. Some say that this is simply a reflection of what is going on in the world. They say: “the world is a negative place, so that is what we are reporting.” I can see where they are coming from…if they are watching television all day.
What I can’t see is why we continue to spend so much energy on the negative. Maybe we are actually spending less energy being negative because it is just so easy to do. Think about it, all you have to do is agree with your complaining neighbor or join in on the conversation about how bad things are with your coworkers. There is a negative conversation taking place everywhere we turn.
It may actually take more energy to get away from them or turn them into positive conversations. Have you tried it? I would be a hypocrite if I simply complained about the complainers without offering a solution.
The solution: don’t participate. It’s that simple. It seems more difficult, but it really isn’t. There is always a choice when you are thinking or talking about something. There is a positive and a negative road in front of you at all times. All you have to do is listen to your own voice and choose not to go down that road.
What does this have to do with health? Well, that is a good question considering that we’re 500 words in we haven’t even touched on health yet. (Thanks for sticking with me, by the way) Health is what got me thinking about positive and negative. It was actually a complaining person that brought this conversation on.
It started with a participant that was unhappy. What they were originally unhappy with, I don’t know. We never got far enough into the conversation to discuss any actual causes or reasons. I simply got to hear what was wrong with me and my program. I found this odd because I usually only hear good things. Not that everything is perfect, but there is a reason that I do this for a living. Most of my conversations are about how people have made great changes and are feeling good.
You can imagine my shock when I heard the following.
As I’m talking to this person that is telling me about what they don’t like, they shared this with me:
They were unhappy with the help that I was giving them
They didn’t see the value of participating and didn’t want to do it anymore
They would still stay signed up, but not participate for a discount on their healthcare
They were not reaching their goals
I tried not to take these comments too personally, but I did not take them lightly. Negative feedback is a very serious issue and I want to take it in so I can improve. My goal is help you reach your goals, so I need to be doing things as well as I can in order to do that. This feedback was something that I thought would help me do that, so I welcomed it and continued the conversation.
As the conversation continued, the complaining participant told me the above issues they had. My first instinct was to listen to their objections and empathize with their position. Before I try to find a solution, I need to acknowledge what their complaints are. Once I have all of that information and am certain that they feel they’ve been heard, I can hopefully offer a solution.
That is where I came to realize that this person was simply complaining and needed someone to complain to. Their first issue (the help I was giving) was addressed by them accusing me of not giving them specific feedback on their goals. They failed to send me any information on their goals between our last conversations. How can I help you with something that I don’t know about? In other words, how can you get what you want if you don’t take the necessary steps?
The conversation continued and they shared how they didn’t see the value and didn’t want to participate. They would however, stay in the program to receive their discount on health insurance. To clarify, I don’t want to do anything to actually improve my health or bring down my medical expenses, but I want to pay less for the coverage.
The final complaint was really the first complaint and reason for this conversation in the first place. This person was not reaching their goals. They had not stuck with the action plan that they decided would help make the changes that they wanted to make. They needed help, which is what I am here for, but they didn’t share their challenges with me. Instead they complained about the program.
Sound familiar? A problem arises, they choose to complain about said problem and go as far as blaming someone else for it? Now hopefully you can see how this relates to health. Again, it is easier to complain about the system than it is to participate in the system and make it work for you.
In this case, there weren’t even changes to be made with the system. This person was not complaining about how things worked. They were complaining about how they were not getting what they wanted. When in fact, they were getting what they put into the program. They were receiving the same service as everyone else and all they had to do was participate and all of their problems would’ve been solved. Unfortunately, there was no action taken. There was only a complaint. What have we learned about complaints? They don’t solve problems!
I still take this very seriously. I am not making light of anyone’s health challenges, nor am I bad-mouthing anyone for having trouble reaching their goals. I continue to support this person and they will continue to remain nameless despite us discussing their situation. They are still in my program and we are working through this. The key word with our program now is WORK. The root of this entire problem was not reaching goals. The initial reaction was to complain, but now that we are back where we need to be, the real solution has revealed itself: we have to fix the problem.
If the problem is “I’m not reaching my goals”, which is how they later explained it to me, the solution is to go back and change the plan so you can start reaching your goals. The solution is not to quit and blame someone else. That doesn’t work in any area of life. We all tried that as kids: “he hit me first”, ok, that may be true, but you chose to react by hitting him back. Now you have a problem and you have to deal with the consequences.
What are you going to do to fix it? You can complain and say “it’s not fair” or you can deal with it, learn from the experience and handle it differently next time. Only then, will you avoid the punishment. By choosing a different action, you get a different result. If we choose the same action (complaining, blaming, quitting), we get the same results: failure, disappointment and more complaints!
I learned a valuable lesson from this situation. Your health is just that: YOUR health. I have talked and written about that for a long time, but this reinforced it. If you want it to improve, there is one person that can make it happen: YOU. You are the only one that can set your goals and take the steps to reach them. I can help, your friends and family can help, but YOU are the one in control. No one else can take credit for your success, but that also means that no one else can take the blame for your failure.
As a society we have a lot to learn about this concept. Our health problems are a glaring indication of that. We need to do more than voice an opinion or make a negative comment to fix the problem. My program is not designed to create magic results with no effort. Our healthcare system is not designed to create magic cures with no prevention needed. If it was, I’d be a gazillionaire and we wouldn’t be in this mess with a broken healthcare system. We each need to take responsibility for our actions if we want the results we say we want.
That may have sounded like a complaint. Maybe it was a complaint. It is a justified complaint because it is only a fraction of the energy that I am expending. I am expending my energy trying to change the way the system works. I am trying to change the way each and every one of us works. I focus on this day in and day out. I focus on ways to help you live a healthier and happier life.
Because I put so much energy into helping people, it hurts when they don’t appreciate it. It did hurt a lot to get negative feedback. But, what hurt more in this situation was the fact that it wasn’t really feedback. It was just a complaint. As I’ve illustrated in this article, complaints don’t solve problems.
So what can you do? You can participate. You can get in the game and make the changes that you want to see made. You can choose not to participate in negative conversations. You can even choose to feel good and be happy. All you have to do is act. Stop complaining and act. If you just complain, you know what will happen: nothing but more complaints.
No matter what your view is, you can clearly see that they did more than the complainers. You can see that they have put themselves in a position to be praised for their efforts. At least they should be given a break right? Right? Watching how our society is operating now, I’m not so sure that we actually see it this way.
At this point, we are willing to put fourth more effort to complain about a problem than we are to try and fix it. Think about it, we’ve all turned on the radio or television to listen to opinions. We’ve all seen the headlines and heard from the experts as they tell us what is wrong with the world. Everyone has a complaint.
Unfortunately, complaints don’t solve problems.
Maybe that was my first mistake- turning on the television. I noticed long ago that the media was showcasing, if not looking for negativity. We are shown 9 negative stories for every positive story. I don’t have the exact figures on the ration, so don’t complain. Actually, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to help me get it right, so feel free to share any stats here.
Stats or no stats, it is clear that there is a lot of negative reporting. Some say that this is simply a reflection of what is going on in the world. They say: “the world is a negative place, so that is what we are reporting.” I can see where they are coming from…if they are watching television all day.
What I can’t see is why we continue to spend so much energy on the negative. Maybe we are actually spending less energy being negative because it is just so easy to do. Think about it, all you have to do is agree with your complaining neighbor or join in on the conversation about how bad things are with your coworkers. There is a negative conversation taking place everywhere we turn.
It may actually take more energy to get away from them or turn them into positive conversations. Have you tried it? I would be a hypocrite if I simply complained about the complainers without offering a solution.
The solution: don’t participate. It’s that simple. It seems more difficult, but it really isn’t. There is always a choice when you are thinking or talking about something. There is a positive and a negative road in front of you at all times. All you have to do is listen to your own voice and choose not to go down that road.
What does this have to do with health? Well, that is a good question considering that we’re 500 words in we haven’t even touched on health yet. (Thanks for sticking with me, by the way) Health is what got me thinking about positive and negative. It was actually a complaining person that brought this conversation on.
It started with a participant that was unhappy. What they were originally unhappy with, I don’t know. We never got far enough into the conversation to discuss any actual causes or reasons. I simply got to hear what was wrong with me and my program. I found this odd because I usually only hear good things. Not that everything is perfect, but there is a reason that I do this for a living. Most of my conversations are about how people have made great changes and are feeling good.
You can imagine my shock when I heard the following.
As I’m talking to this person that is telling me about what they don’t like, they shared this with me:
They were unhappy with the help that I was giving them
They didn’t see the value of participating and didn’t want to do it anymore
They would still stay signed up, but not participate for a discount on their healthcare
They were not reaching their goals
I tried not to take these comments too personally, but I did not take them lightly. Negative feedback is a very serious issue and I want to take it in so I can improve. My goal is help you reach your goals, so I need to be doing things as well as I can in order to do that. This feedback was something that I thought would help me do that, so I welcomed it and continued the conversation.
As the conversation continued, the complaining participant told me the above issues they had. My first instinct was to listen to their objections and empathize with their position. Before I try to find a solution, I need to acknowledge what their complaints are. Once I have all of that information and am certain that they feel they’ve been heard, I can hopefully offer a solution.
That is where I came to realize that this person was simply complaining and needed someone to complain to. Their first issue (the help I was giving) was addressed by them accusing me of not giving them specific feedback on their goals. They failed to send me any information on their goals between our last conversations. How can I help you with something that I don’t know about? In other words, how can you get what you want if you don’t take the necessary steps?
The conversation continued and they shared how they didn’t see the value and didn’t want to participate. They would however, stay in the program to receive their discount on health insurance. To clarify, I don’t want to do anything to actually improve my health or bring down my medical expenses, but I want to pay less for the coverage.
The final complaint was really the first complaint and reason for this conversation in the first place. This person was not reaching their goals. They had not stuck with the action plan that they decided would help make the changes that they wanted to make. They needed help, which is what I am here for, but they didn’t share their challenges with me. Instead they complained about the program.
Sound familiar? A problem arises, they choose to complain about said problem and go as far as blaming someone else for it? Now hopefully you can see how this relates to health. Again, it is easier to complain about the system than it is to participate in the system and make it work for you.
In this case, there weren’t even changes to be made with the system. This person was not complaining about how things worked. They were complaining about how they were not getting what they wanted. When in fact, they were getting what they put into the program. They were receiving the same service as everyone else and all they had to do was participate and all of their problems would’ve been solved. Unfortunately, there was no action taken. There was only a complaint. What have we learned about complaints? They don’t solve problems!
I still take this very seriously. I am not making light of anyone’s health challenges, nor am I bad-mouthing anyone for having trouble reaching their goals. I continue to support this person and they will continue to remain nameless despite us discussing their situation. They are still in my program and we are working through this. The key word with our program now is WORK. The root of this entire problem was not reaching goals. The initial reaction was to complain, but now that we are back where we need to be, the real solution has revealed itself: we have to fix the problem.
If the problem is “I’m not reaching my goals”, which is how they later explained it to me, the solution is to go back and change the plan so you can start reaching your goals. The solution is not to quit and blame someone else. That doesn’t work in any area of life. We all tried that as kids: “he hit me first”, ok, that may be true, but you chose to react by hitting him back. Now you have a problem and you have to deal with the consequences.
What are you going to do to fix it? You can complain and say “it’s not fair” or you can deal with it, learn from the experience and handle it differently next time. Only then, will you avoid the punishment. By choosing a different action, you get a different result. If we choose the same action (complaining, blaming, quitting), we get the same results: failure, disappointment and more complaints!
I learned a valuable lesson from this situation. Your health is just that: YOUR health. I have talked and written about that for a long time, but this reinforced it. If you want it to improve, there is one person that can make it happen: YOU. You are the only one that can set your goals and take the steps to reach them. I can help, your friends and family can help, but YOU are the one in control. No one else can take credit for your success, but that also means that no one else can take the blame for your failure.
As a society we have a lot to learn about this concept. Our health problems are a glaring indication of that. We need to do more than voice an opinion or make a negative comment to fix the problem. My program is not designed to create magic results with no effort. Our healthcare system is not designed to create magic cures with no prevention needed. If it was, I’d be a gazillionaire and we wouldn’t be in this mess with a broken healthcare system. We each need to take responsibility for our actions if we want the results we say we want.
That may have sounded like a complaint. Maybe it was a complaint. It is a justified complaint because it is only a fraction of the energy that I am expending. I am expending my energy trying to change the way the system works. I am trying to change the way each and every one of us works. I focus on this day in and day out. I focus on ways to help you live a healthier and happier life.
Because I put so much energy into helping people, it hurts when they don’t appreciate it. It did hurt a lot to get negative feedback. But, what hurt more in this situation was the fact that it wasn’t really feedback. It was just a complaint. As I’ve illustrated in this article, complaints don’t solve problems.
So what can you do? You can participate. You can get in the game and make the changes that you want to see made. You can choose not to participate in negative conversations. You can even choose to feel good and be happy. All you have to do is act. Stop complaining and act. If you just complain, you know what will happen: nothing but more complaints.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Whose goals are you reaching?
In a conversation with a client this week I was reminded of the importance of goals. We talk about goals all the time. I don’t know if I’ve ever written an article that didn’t mention goals. Setting goals is clearly important and we will continue to discuss them. This conversation took things a step further though.
Setting goals is still the key to achieving success. I haven’t had too many people argue that. What often gets over looked is the goal itself. When people don’t reach goals they look for reasons. It is easy to just pick a goal that sounds good and commit to reaching it. What is difficult it reaching goals that are not your own. Setting goals that are not yours make it difficult to stay motivated and reach them.
Example: My friend has been running marathons for the past few years. He trains for most of the year and runs one marathon each year.
It would be very easy for me to look at his routine and say: I can to do that. “I
can do that” is one thing, but “I want to do that” or “I am going to do that” are very different things. I already run regularly. My distance is not far off from some of the training runs to prep for a marathon. I considered adopting this training plan and entering a marathon, but ultimately decided against it.
I still run. The distances and times are not going to prepare me for a marathon, but that is ok. I’m not training for a marathon. I am running because I like running. I am running because my dogs like running and we can all use the exercise. I’m not saying that I will never run a marathon. I’m just saying that my routine is not to get myself ready for a marathon.
Just like I made the decision to run on the days and at the distance that I enjoy, my client was able to do the same. She wasn’t deciding to run a marathon or not, but she was deciding exactly what she wanted to be doing.
That is the key. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to start going to the gym to walk on the treadmill or if she was going to simply walk outside. It wasn’t easy for her to make up her mind. There were pros and cons to doing both. The key for her was to think about what she wanted to do. I could’ve weighed in with my opinion, but then she would be doing my routine. If she does my routine, how does she reach her goals? She doesn’t. She needs to do her routine in order to reach her goals.
And you need to do your routine in order to reach your goals. No matter what results you are looking for, they have to be the results that you want. Only when the actions that will lead you to those results are the actions you want to be taking, will you reach these goals. This works because they are your goals.
Setting goals is still the key to achieving success. I haven’t had too many people argue that. What often gets over looked is the goal itself. When people don’t reach goals they look for reasons. It is easy to just pick a goal that sounds good and commit to reaching it. What is difficult it reaching goals that are not your own. Setting goals that are not yours make it difficult to stay motivated and reach them.
Example: My friend has been running marathons for the past few years. He trains for most of the year and runs one marathon each year.
It would be very easy for me to look at his routine and say: I can to do that. “I
can do that” is one thing, but “I want to do that” or “I am going to do that” are very different things. I already run regularly. My distance is not far off from some of the training runs to prep for a marathon. I considered adopting this training plan and entering a marathon, but ultimately decided against it.
I still run. The distances and times are not going to prepare me for a marathon, but that is ok. I’m not training for a marathon. I am running because I like running. I am running because my dogs like running and we can all use the exercise. I’m not saying that I will never run a marathon. I’m just saying that my routine is not to get myself ready for a marathon.
Just like I made the decision to run on the days and at the distance that I enjoy, my client was able to do the same. She wasn’t deciding to run a marathon or not, but she was deciding exactly what she wanted to be doing.
That is the key. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to start going to the gym to walk on the treadmill or if she was going to simply walk outside. It wasn’t easy for her to make up her mind. There were pros and cons to doing both. The key for her was to think about what she wanted to do. I could’ve weighed in with my opinion, but then she would be doing my routine. If she does my routine, how does she reach her goals? She doesn’t. She needs to do her routine in order to reach her goals.
And you need to do your routine in order to reach your goals. No matter what results you are looking for, they have to be the results that you want. Only when the actions that will lead you to those results are the actions you want to be taking, will you reach these goals. This works because they are your goals.
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