After working with various clients for almost 28 years (more than a quarter of a century! Ouch, that makes me feel really old!), I’ve noticed a number of characteristics that separate those who succeed with their fitness program and those who do not. Those who succeed buy into the “Four Laws of Success”. If you desire to look good, feel great, reach your personal best and live life to the fullest, then you must be ready to accept these laws without exception.
First Law –The law of possession
You need to understand that if you are going to achieve results, it is going to be up to you. The phrases “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me” or “If I think I can or think I can’t, I’m right,” ring very true. You have to take ultimate ownership and responsibility for success or failure. You cannot completely rely on someone else like Jillian Michaels, “The Biggest Loser” show from way back when and all the TV cameras, any personal trainer or workout partner to make it happen for you and likewise, you cannot blame the kids or your partner or your job, your childhood, or Covid-19 for any failures. You are the one who must be willing to make and stick to the changes most importantly, when no one else is watching!
Second Law –The law of effort.
Anything worth achieving is worth working for. Exercise and healthy eating takes will power, character, persistency and a commitment to delayed gratification. You do need to be challenged and step out of your comfort zone.
Consider how much discipline it takes to workout when you just feel like staying in bed or hanging out on the couch watching TV. Think about how hard it is to keep stretching beyond our comfort zones. Consider the self-resolve required to eat healthy foods and to drink lots of water every day when temptations surround us everywhere we go, even at home. But if you have the courage to respect your body – the temple that houses your mind and spirit – personal mastery will not be far away. It says a lot about who you are as a person when you invest the time to take care of yourself. It says you respect and love yourself enough to do the things necessary for you to be at your personal best. Each time you get up early in the morning for a workout on a day when you just don’t feel like exercising, you grow a little stronger as a human being. Each time you go for a run or walk on a cold winter’s day when you just feel like staying under the warm, cozy covers, you strengthen your character. When you endure a tough workout, it enables you to persevere through any other challenge in your life. Each time you opt not to eat the donut or the hot dog or the whole pint of ice cream, you get stronger, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Working on improving your physical conditioning will not only enrich your life and make you a better person, but you’ll also become a better parent, a better spouse, a better and more productive worker, and a better friend.
So yeah, you do need to work hard, but it doesn’t mean you have to workout so hard that you throw up, pass out, or collapse from exhaustion. Proper progression is key to being able to manage the higher intensities. I do believe that group settings, fun team challenges and friendly competitions can make exercise fun and push you a little harder than you can do on your own.
Third Law – The law of consistency.
A month-long effort (or 12 week Biggest Loser show) is not going to get you where you want. In order to achieve any goal, you must stick to your game plan on an ongoing, long-term, consistent basis. Getting off track for a week is no big deal if you are consistent in your efforts. But if you are regularly tempted away from your program, you will not succeed. You must remember that a missed workout is much more than just a missed workout! Every time you miss a workout, you have done something to strengthen the habit of not working out. When you’ve made the promise to yourself to exercise so many times per week and then you break that promise, you start to lose trust in yourself. With each missed workout, you start to lose self-confidence and begin to question whether you can actually stick with it at all. A missed workout fuels self-doubt and makes that negative habit stronger. Miss enough workouts, and eventually that negative habit of not working out will replace the positive habit of exercising that you have worked so hard to cultivate. Every time you fail to do the right thing, you fuel the habit of doing the wrong thing. So the next time you’re trying to justify pressing the snooze button and skipping your boot camp workout, or working through lunch instead of taking a walk break or staying home and not going to small group in the evening, just don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Don’t even allow yourself the opportunity to talk yourself out of doing what you know you need to do to be at your best. Just remember that you’ll feel like a million bucks once you’re done. The real challenge for most people is not the workout itself, but actually overcoming the negative thoughts that try to sabotage your very good intentions.
Consistency and persistency are the keys to manifesting any goal. Remember that if you want to be 10 pounds lighter 10 years from now, it is not what you do over the next eight weeks that matters, it is what you do over the next 10 years. Exercise and healthy eating must be continued for the rest of your life – there is no finish line! The program has got to be realistic if you’re going to stick to it; there has to be room for indulgences. There are no short-term, quick fix solutions. Researchers have found only one characteristic common to those who succeed with exercise. All such people move toward their goal one step at a time. They are committed to constant, never-ending improvement. In practical terms, it means that regardless of anything else – busy work schedules, lack of energy, lack of time, feeling old, feeling lazy, hating exercise – they made no excuses! They kept exercising, taking their long-term goals and splitting them up into smaller goals. They took it one day at a time. I do believe that accountability to a friend or trainer or group of people can help you stick to your workout and nutrition program for the long term. Most people do not like exercise, especially in the beginning, so whatever you can do to make it more bearable whether that’s finding a form of exercise that you enjoy like boot camp or Cycling at home or walking or using specific music to motivate yourself or working out with a buddy will really help. Figure out what you can see yourself doing FOREVER not just until the end of the show!
Fourth Law – The law of self-efficacy.
If you are already questioning whether or not you can actually make the required changes, you are going to have a difficult time with your program. You must believe you can do it! Think of self-esteem as a bank. Each time you keep a promise to yourself, the store of self-esteem gets bigger, making it easier to keep the next promise to yourself. It’s all about “Results Momentum” – achieving one result gives you the confidence to achieve the next goal. Set small, achievable goals and focus on reaching milestones along the way. Each time a promise is broken, however, your self-esteem goes down, making it easier to break the next promise. Reinforce this belief in yourself by surrounding yourself with others (workout buddies, a personal trainer, your spouse) who are doing or have accomplished what you’re attempting. They can empower and build you up and help you see your potential. Their energy rubs off and can be extremely inspiring!
I believe Jillian Michaels was at the right place at the right time, had the right look and personality and that catapulted her career to its previous superstar status. I do believe that her intention is to help and to positively affect obesity issues. I think she believes in her heart that her style of ‘tough love’ is what those people need and I don’t believe she is a bad person. I just don’t agree with her methods. I always question myself whether I would do things differently if I were given the same opportunity, worldwide spot-light and high profile status. I can understand the temptation of knowing what sells, what brings home the big bucks. I only hope that I wouldn’t sell out and would always check in with myself asking “Am I contributing? Am I helping? Am I doing more good than harm?” and in Jillian’s case “Could I still accomplish the same result in a more positive fashion?”
And I still think I could take her!
Yours in Health & Fitness,
Coach C