Believe, Passion, Success.
Three powerful words indeed. For most people, the only thing that stands between a person and their goals is the will to try it and the faith to believe it can happen. Belief will fuel enthusiasm and enthusiasm ignites passion. Perseverance means showing up again and again, even if the distance between where you are now and where you want to be is overwhelming. Having simple, clearly defined steps along the way will maintain your perseverance, which will sustain your passion, and subsequently lead to successful outcomes.
Let’s put that together a different way:
Will + Faith = Belief
Belief + Enthusiasm = Passion
Passion + Perserverance = Success
I understand that it’s a lot easier said than done. What most people get caught up on is the first step; It’s easy to just “say” that you have the will and the faith to believe. What is a lot harder, is to actually “feel” the willpower and faith you need to believe that you can get there. You need to mentally “get in touch” with the notion that there is no way that you WON’T lose weight (or, to avoid double negatives, get in touch with the notion that you will lose weight, and that it CAN happen).
Once we have the belief established, it’s time to pepper in a little enthusiasm…in other words, you gotta get a little EXCITED about it! Who the hell wants to go to the gym with this running through their minds:
“Welp, I’m on day 15 of my diet/gym routine…time to hop on the treadmill for 45 minutes (ugh)…I really don’t want to do this…I don’t want to be here…I think I’ll just take it easy today, maybe just do 30 minutes of cardio and then just stretch…or maybe just 25 minutes of cardio, forget the stretching cuz I wanna have time to talk with that hottie on the stairmaster, and then I’ll hit the gym hard tomorrow. That’s what I’ll do…”
Tomorrow rolls around, and you don’t even make it to the gym. The next day rolls around, you “forget” to go again. Soon enough, you’re derailed and your back to square one.
What if your narrative went something like this:
“Heellll @#$%^& ya its time to get my gym-game on! I’m ready for this today – I’m going to do a 10 minute foam rolling/mobility warm up, then proceed to circuit training workout filled with squats, push ups, rows, lunges, some core work, and then I’m going to wrap it up with a 15 minute high intensity interval session at the end… I’ll get in and out of the gym in 45-50 minutes, have a great workout, and move on with my life!”
Mindset, people. Mindset. Get excited! Excited people work out with more intention, and burn more calories than those who drudge through their workout. This happens because they got their central nervous system excited enough to allow this to happen! They can do more reps, more sets, and lift with heavier weights, thus allowing them to get to their preferred self that much more quickly than those who simply “go through the motions”. This is what feeds Passion, folks!
So, we have the belief, we now have passion, now we need the perseverance. Simply put, working out consistently for the time period required to illicit a legitimate body composition response to an exercise program takes time. It’s always frustrating as a trainer to hear complaints from clients who are not seeing any significant results after just a couple weeks go by…especially if they aren’t holding up their end of the bargain by keeping their food journals and completing assigned workouts on their own time like I have my clients do. Even if they are doing these things, for most people, this is not even close to a time frame required to see appreciable results. This is when perseverance comes in.
per•se•ver•ance
noun
1.
steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
The last part is mot important. There will be setbacks! Life will throw things at you! It’s what you do to withstand and overcome these setbacks that makes the difference.
Believe, have Passion, Succeed at your fitness goals, Fist Pump, repeat.
I’m out. Have a great one!
MG