The title of this post is a direct quote from Ernest Hemingway. People still know who that is right? I sure hope so. I was always more of a “The Sun Also Rises” person but that’s a discussion for another day.
Today we are discussing the fact that you will very likely NEVER be satisfied with your first attempts at any sort of change for your health… honestly you might not even be satisfied with your 100th attempt at change.
If you are like me you will over analyze. You will plan about planning. You will think too much and act too little. You will jump through all of these hoops just to find yourself still treading water where you started.
I think a lot of this stems from the fear of screwing up. We don’t want to screw things up… especially when it comes to our health.
We want to get it right… and preferably get it right the first time.
The fact of the matter is, though, that this just doesn’t make any sense.
Can you name me a single thing that you are no better at the more you work on it?
I’m waiting…
So today I will be giving a playbook on what needs to be addressed when initiating new changes in your health & physical activity.
So what are we to do?
This is the thing… there isn’t really any ‘hacks’ to this whole thing I am talking about today.
I’m not talking about doing one more set or one less set. I’m not giving you a range of weights to hit. I’m not correcting technique. I’m dealing with the thing that is by far the hardest to deal with as a coach: your human psychology.
So what we do is simply have an open dialogue… with ourselves.
Sure it can be extremely beneficial to have someone to lean on when it comes to attempting changes but more than anyone you must lean on yourself.
This might seem counterintuitive at first because seemingly the problem at hand is having ‘too much’ noise in our heads… and here I am asking you to talk to yourself more.
The key will be that we will start to focus on all of the things that can go right instead of wrong. We will focus on why we want change as opposed to why we need change. We will focus on treating ourselves the way we would treat a friend not the way we would treat our dog.
Pretty much I am telling you to start treating yourself with some respect.
Let’s discuss respect for a minute (yeah… the bald 31 year old gym owner is about to give you a lecture on respect… buckle up)
Ok let’s get this over with.
Respect does not mean lying with kindness.
Respect does not mean coddling.
Respect does not mean having no empathy.
Respect does not mean being unrealistic.
Respect comes down to demonstrating how much you care.
Most people respect their mothers. They may avoid cursing around them. They probably are truthful with them but in a careful manner. They likely lean on them during hard times.
Treat yourself with this same respect.
Be patient. Be kind. Be honest. Be present.
This is sooooo much easier said than done… but it is well worth the effort.
Also just a small hint here: it is easier to do this if you practice treating others with respect as well… go figure.
Be a doer… not an overthinker.
So hopefully you are committed to the idea of giving yourself the respect necessary to approach your desired changes with the proper state of mind.
Well, state of mind is one thing, state of action is the whole point of this post though.
So in order to be a doer and not an overthinker we need to embrace the fact that we WILL screw things up. We won’t be perfect. We will likely look back at our initial attempts at cleaning up our diet or getting in shape and think “wow did I get that wrong”.
But that does not matter at all… seriously it doesn’t.
Because you aren’t trying to get this right at first. You should be looking at this as a way of practicing the skill of behavior change. If it ends up working then awesome but even if it doesn’t at least you took some practice shots at following through with the decisions you made… that’s so much more important.
Be a doer.
Action will move you at least 1% closer to your goals almost every time whereas inaction doesn’t do a damn thing and sometimes it even negatively affects you.
Alright gang.
You can do this.
Take Action, Believe
p.s. the next post I have lined up will be a bit more practical don’t worry 😂