Particularly discipline in training to achieve goals.
In my day to day I get a lot of people talking to me about their fitness ambitions and dreams.
"I really hate being fat, I want to lose this weight and tone up. I'm going to start running again."
This is a pretty typical statement and people often say it with such purpose but then when I see these people a few months later they don't seem to have changed and when I talk to them it is obvious that they are still engaged in the same lifestyle, drinking & eating habits or lack of exercise that they were before.
When it comes to health, fitness or sporting goals it seems that a lot of people want to achieve their ambitions without changing anything they are doing. It's not rocket science, if you don't make changes then nothing will change.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not criticising other people's choice of lifestyle, if you want to go out every weekend (and maybe mid-week too) and drink a load of beer or wine. Or if you really love eating pizza and McDonalds several times a week then that is your choice, it's your life.
What annoys me is when the same people then bitch and moan about not being in the shape that they want to be.
It's your life, it's your body. If you really want to change it then you can but you are going to have to show some commitment to your goals and (shock horror) possibly sacrifice some of the things which are holding you back. That's discipline.
On a very simplistic level it can be said that most of us are living the way we want to. The person who say's that they want to have six-pack Abs but then sit's on their sofa all evening watching TV and eating ice cream has made their decision. They have voted with their actions. They obviously want ice cream and TV more than they want visible Abs, even if it's just that few seconds that they are eating the ice cream. I'm sorry but if you wanted the six-pack enough then you would muster the discipline to not eat crap.
That may sound harsh and I do believe that there are exceptions but it's a theory that actually helps me to stay on track with my goals. This may come as a revelation to some of you but chocolate and sweets are actually really tasty! And even I think it would be really nice to eat loads of them everyday but I don't because I know that, for multiple reasons, if I did then I wouldn't achieve the fitness, health and sporting goals that I have set myself.
Every bite of food, every action and every decision can be put into one of two categories:
Will this help achieve my goals, or will it hinder them?
Ask yourself this next time you are doing your food shopping or trying to decide what to do for the weekend. Chances are you already know the answer, the real question is:
'Do you want it badly enough?'
Are you willing to sacrifice having a sugary snack that you don't really need, or another beer or watching another episode of X-factor instead of doing a workout?
Health and Fitness doesn't have to be complicated. Everyone know that Broccoli is better for you than cake and that getting up off your backside and doing something, ANYTHING active is more likely to melt fat away than just sitting like a zombie in front of the TV. However only a relatively small proportion of people actually show enough discipline to achieve the goals they set themselves.
So next time you think about your fitness goal ask yourself:
'Do I really want this?'
If the answer is yes, then do it.
Step by step, with every positive choice, you inch yourself closer to succeeding.
Overnight fitness doesn't exist and skills take time to develop but if you look at the people at the top of their game they got there through consistent dedication and discipline to their cause.
It won't always be easy, some days you will want to give in but if you want something and you stay disciplined, you will achieve it. And how awesome will that be!
Here is a short video that exemplifies some of my point. David Smith's story is obviously a dramatic one but he took it one step at a time with consistent discipline.
Train hard, live happy
Bradbury
No comments:
Post a Comment