How did I get here?
Time to think about the good, the bad, and possibly the ugly.
Don’t worry this isn’t a political statement or a deep thought-provoking journey that ends with weird music and patchouli oil. Treat this as an exercise towards self-betterment. I find it’s really important for all of us to take a step back occasionally and take a hard look at what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve struggled with.
From the health and fitness standpoint think of something you’ve set out to accomplish. Whether you had success or failure, did you ever look back and see why? Over the past 20 years I’ve helped others lose weight, get stronger, and live better, and have seen a lot of success and my fair share of failures. “Reflection” has been one of the strongest influencers I’ve seen help people.
The beauty of it is that it works both ways though often ignored after failing to achieve a goal. Here are a few examples of areas where people struggle that have made the difference in success or failure in achieving goals.
• You’re Not Persistent Enough
Most of us give up on something too soon. If you’ve put on a few pounds, maybe even thirty pounds, the chances are it’s taken you a few years to do that. So why expect a change in 21 days? Reflecting on how you gained the weight and got out of shape should be the first step in goal setting. Anyone successful has a tale of struggle and perseverance to share. Nothing worth having comes easy, so, persist.
• You’d Rather Argue Against Advice Instead of Taking It.
I have a pint glass in the gym that says “Askhole – a person who asks for your advice but never takes it.” We’ve all been this person at some point. A lot of people want to argue for the sake of being right to satisfy their own ego (I’m guilty of this), rather than for the sake of being good. If you’re not prepared to listen to feedback in the first place (whether good or bad) how are you ever going to make changes to improve? This is a huge hurdle for success.
• Not Taking Full Responsibility for Your Actions
Excuses are easy to come by, but then results elude us. The reality is to own up to how you got to where you are in both the good times and the bad. There’s no magic bullet, nobody else will solve your problems for you. You need to take responsibility for everything that happens around you.
• Because Deep Down, You Don’t Think You Deserve It
This is a particularly hard one for a lot of people. Many of us, at our core, have buried beliefs and feelings about ourselves that aren’t so pleasant. Something inside us makes us feel uncomfortable with the idea of accomplishing things. It’s a self-esteem conundrum.
Before you check off all the boxes above and feel bad about missed opportunities give yourself a pat on the back and think of how well you’ve done over the last 8 months with all the change we’ve had in our day to day lives. This is a time when we should all channel our inner Stuart Smalley.
Believe it or not having a personal mantra that you stick to each day is one of the steps we use in our goal setting program because it truly works.