Every year millions of Americans make their annual 'New Year's Resolutions' (NYR) do they stick with them?
Nope!
I read as high as 80% of individuals that make NYR quit within the first 3 weeks!
Why?
Everyone has an excuse for everything. The truth of the matter is it is tough to change your life. But that doesn't excuse you for not doing so. It is easy to tell you what to do for the better. But sometimes it is just as good to know what NOT to do as it is to know what to do. Here are the reasons we must understand to accomplish any goal for 2013.
Why is it that people don't become FIT?
In a country like ours, with the opportunities that we have, why is it that so few people reach their health and fitness goals? Why is America getting fatter every year? Why are more and more people signing up at gyms (i.e. globo's) but ending up quitting after a month or two?
I think I can help shed some light. And my hope is that you can use this to help your family, friends, co-workers or acquaintances. Here are what I consider to be the five reasons why people don't become healthy.
WHO ME? "Duh!!"
It never occurs to them. The average person has grown up in a family where he/she has never met or known anyone who was healthy. Ever hear someone say, "I'm big boned," "My parents have always been BIG," "I have a thyroid problem". Blah, blah, blah! They go to school and socialize with people who are not healthy. They work with people who are not healthy. They have a reference group or social circle outside of work who are not healthy. They have no role models who are healthy. They can go through life and become a fully mature adult in our society and it may never occur to them that it's just as possible for them to become healthy as for anyone else.
MAKE A DECISION! "I will do it when I feel like it"
Some people don't become healthy because they simply never decide to. Health and FITness is everywhere these days; on bookshelves, TV commercials, there are globo gyms on every street, even CrossFit is on ESPN2 now, but nothing will ever change for you until you make a decision to do something about it! Even if it occurs to a person that they could become healthy, if they don't decide to take the first step, they will end up staying as they are. If you continue to do what you've always done, you will continue to get what you've always got!
The primary reason for underachievement and failure is that the great majority of people don't decide to be successful. They never make a firm, unequivocal commitment or definite decision that they are going to become healthy. It is easy to 'mean to,' and to 'intend to,' and 'hope to,' and maybe you are 'going to' someday. When you wish, hope and pray they you will but never decide to, you are kidding yourself and eventually going to drive yourself crazy!
MAYBE TOMORROW. "I'll start Monday"
People don't become healthy because they procrastinate. People always have a good reason not to begin doing what they know they need to do to achieve their FITness independence. It is always the wrong month, the wrong time of the season, or the wrong year. You are always too busy. There is always that next birthday party, work trip, happy hour or event coming up.
As a result, they keep putting it off, month by month, year by year, until you wake up one day and it's one, five, 10 years later! And you say to yourself, "Where have the last 10 years gone?!?!" You may know you need to get healthy, but until you make that decision (first reason;-) and start DOING IT you will always find a way not to.
PAY THE PRICE. "It too hard"
You can pay the price to health and fitness now or later. Every year we age it will become harder and harder to become healthy. It is so much fun (eat the unhealthy foods we love, drink and be merry) to have fun now rather than later. It is really hard to start now when all you have been doing is having fun being unhealthy. I get it. The fact is if you cannot delay gratification, and discipline yourself to refrain from eating everything you want all the time, you cannot become healthy. If you cannot practice the habit of coming to the gym 3x- 5x/wk as a lifelong habit, it will be impossible for you to achieve fitness independence in the future.
TAKE THE LONG VIEW. "Today is your tomorrow"
This last reason is perhaps as important, if not more important than all the others. It is a lack of time perspective. I have been in the FITness industry as a coach/trainer for just about 11 years. I can tell you that the most important factor is someones success is perspective. This is defined as the amount of time that you take into consideration when planning your day-to-day activities and when making important decisions in your life. Time perspective referred to how far you projected into the future when you decided what you were going to do or not do in the present. Health and FITness abides by the law of cause and effect. Whatever you do or don't do you will get a direct result. Everyday you put in a hard workout you may not see or feel the results that day, but if you understand that you are building a better body for the future and continue on, then you will succeed.
Which point stops you from succeeding? Why?
Post to the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment