Why You Are Failing To Achieve Results
What if you, after the first failure with dieting and exercise, simply threw up your hands and said, "I quit!"?Now since you are reading this I feel comfortable that you are not one of the many of the hapless majority that is perpetually "lost." The, what we call, a "failure."
It's important for you to realize that failing is not the fatal end to your journey. I personally find failing a necessity. How you interpret failures and act upon them will ultimately determine your success.
Failure can be part of the path. Failure is not a permanent condition unless you let it. After most people taste temporary success in controlling their weight, they fall back into a period where they gain weight. During this fall back motivation is lost and they will generally get "de-conditioned". In other words, they jump back into bad shape!
Anyone can choose to persist in this mode and most do. But, instead of staying in failure, one should try again, maybe with a different approach. Only after trying a few different approaches, after a few fall backs into failure, will most individuals succeed.
It is then one enjoys an ongoing fitness lifestyle, having incorporated proper nutrition and training into their daily routine, reaping the fruits of their labor. With better self-image, they relate better to others and enjoy their new found health and energy. If someone views failing as a terminal condition, they will never achieve the degree of muscle and leanness they are capable of.
Failing Forward
Have you ever heard of "failing forward". This term is taken from John Maxwell's book of the same title. Excellent book, which I strongly recommend. Maxwell stipulates, "The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure."
When achievers fail, it is viewed as momentary, not a longterm. And they don't view it as a personal flaw. Because failure is encountered, one is not a failure. Faced with adversity, rejection, and failings, winners continue to persevere despite setbacks, and this is how they become winners. I am willing to bet that there is not a famous person, nor anyone that has achieved anything of significance in any field, that has not failed at one time or another. It's how they have dealt with failure that has made them a success.
"I am a failure" should never enter your head. Instead, tell yourself, "I have failed at something. But, I am going to do something about it." There is simply no achievement without failure. The question is not whether you will have problems, because you will; it's how you deal with your problems when they arise that will determine your lot in life.
There are always going to be some speedbumps to encounter in life. It's how we deal with them that makes us or breaks us. Do you see the glass as half full or half empty? The real path to success is in always looking for the opportunity in the inevitable little failures along the way.
We're going to fail from time to time. But as long as we don't view failure as permanent, we try again and accomplish. As long as progress in made on a continual pattern, success will be achieved. You may fall a step back. But as long as you follow that with two steps forward...success is guaranteed. The end result of continually taking one step back and two steps forward is progress. We succeed. And, through succeeding, we find the happiness that we're looking for.
You Need To Be Realistic
I think that part of the reason people fail is that they have unrealistic expectations. There are no shortcuts to obtaining great physical conditioning and health. Optimal physical conditioning and health are the result of a longterm commitment to proper training and nutrition. In our "fast results now" society that likes high speed internet, drive thru's, and E-Z passes, we expect things to happen quickly and effortlessly. We then expect to move on without another thought, without ever having to work at our goal again.
Great physical shape is an ongoing process. You're either moving forward or you are moving back. There's no such thing as standing still. The key, then, is to get on a program that you can live with and stick to for life.
Think of all the things you do everyday. Would you go a day without showering or brushing your teeth? I hope most of you said "no." Your approach to exercise and nutrition should be the same. Diets and exercise programs are not temporary measures that we incorporate in order to lose a few pounds. You should approach conditioning as a lifetime commitment. We are not dieting...we are learning how to eat. We are not taking on a workout program...We are training for health, fitness, fighting the aging process, and warding of disease.
The investment you make in training and nutrition will pay off immensely in the way that you look, feel, and perform. If you look good, are in good health, and feel good about yourself, then you'll be more productive at work and you will be happier in your relationships with your friends and your family. It all starts by working on yourself.
If Your Fail To Plan, You Are Planning To Fail
Another thing you need to succeed past obstacles and failure is goals. I am talking about very basic goal setting. You pick a realistic goal for yourself, write it down, and then internalize it. Engrain it into your being. It has to be more than writing a goal on a piece of scrap paper and forgetting about it. By internalizing it, you are ensuring that it becomes a part of you and becomes an overwhelming desire that is too painful not to pursue.
Keep your goal simple. Perhaps it's losing a few pounds. Perhaps it's increasing the amount of weight that you handle in exercise. Perhaps it's just accomplishing a commitment to yourself to workout three or four times a week. But, the important thing is to have a goal, absorb it, and make yourself accountable.
You Need New Friends
Another asset worth having is a support systems. Now I really don't expect you to dump all of your friends and replace them with new ones. But realize that it's really helpful when you have friends that like the same things that you do and engage in the same types of activities that you do. At the end of the day, we are social creatures. And, it is important to us in order to develop fitness as a lifestyle, to find and develop friendships with like-minded people.
I try, in some way, to be a support system for many of you. You can count on me to e-mail you answers to your questions and to provide support. You can be confident that I am in your corner. If you have read through my website, you know that my mission is helping others succeed in transforming their lives using sound exercise and nutrition. It's a great feeling to help others reach such happiness. To watch people with a little extra spring in their step, and to know that perhaps I've made the world a little more enjoyable for them .
In Conclusion...
Remember, people fail because they have misconceptions about failure and because they view failure as terminal. Failure is just an opportunity to learn, make adjustments, and try again to succeed. Set yourself up for success. It all begins in your mind.
