- SENSE:
Awareness: are you conscious of what’s actually wrong?
Sometimes when things aren’t right, and aren’t right for a considerable period of time – they become the norm.
But that doesn’t mean that the norm is healthy.
That doesn’t mean that gaining a couple of pounds a week consistently every single week for 6 months is ok. Just because it’s consistent.
When you do something time and time again, it becomes your average day – but are you actually aware that your average day is now becoming your downfall?
Stage 1 is purely the awareness that your current approach to life is flawed, and that unless you stop the rot – at some stage the sh*t is going to hit the fan.
- OWNERSHIP:
Have you accepted that it’s your fault that it’s wrong – and it’s down to you, and only you, to put it right?
This is perhaps the hardest stage to wrap your head around for a high percentage of people.
Can you accept that the situation you find yourself in is down to YOU?
Nobody has made previous decisions for you.
Nobody has forced you to eat or drink anything.
Nobody has told you to live your life the way you are right now.
Every single thing that has happened to you to this point has been decided upon and signed off by YOU.
Oh, and it is also YOU that decides whether to continue in the same vain moving forwards.
- STANDARDS:
Are your standards that you hold yourself too, going to be high enough to bring about change – and sustain that change to make this permanent?
Everyone on this planet has ‘core values’.
These values dictate what you think is acceptable, or unacceptable to have in your daily life.
Over the years, are you guilty of letting your standards slip and your core values become hollow and flimsy?
On the flip side, are you aware that the people that are winning at life set a high standard for themselves?
You may heard the term ‘champions mindset’?
Well this is simply a person setting the bar high for themselves and bringing up their game to be able to meet it.
You’ll need to be prepared to reassess and adjust your standards and values if you are determined to bring about meaningful change.
- MEANING:
What will it mean to you to change?
How will it improve your life?
Can you visualise what success looks and feels like to you?
It’s ok ‘saying’ that you’re going to make an effort to do better – but without visualising what success actually looks like to you – the chances of achieving anything at the end of this journey are pretty slim.
You need to be able to clearly see what the outcome will be – and then set your sights on making that vision become a reality.
How will you feel?
How will you perform?
Will you be happy?
Will you be more confident?
Will you be more comfortable?
What will your energy feel like?
Will you be more attractive?
It’s ok flippantly saying ‘I want to be the best version of myself’ – but you need to work out who that person will be to the finest detail.
Because when the going gets tough, and you question your motives – it’s that clarity and vision of the person you want to become, that will drag you through.
- KNOWLEDGE:
Do you know what needs to be done, and how to turn this issue around?
So you want to get fitter.
You want to be stronger.
You want to look leaner.
You’d like to be smarter.
But where are you going to find all of the important information to be able to do all of this?
Listen, I know you might be reading this on our website – so please excuse the irony here when I say that trying to glean the above information from social media influencers who just happen to look great on a reel – is NOT the answer.
Listen, I know you might be reading this on our website – so please excuse the irony here when I say that trying to glean the above information from social media influencers who just happen to look great on a reel – is NOT the answer.
It’s ok to ask for help, and you should be prepared to pay an expert for that help.
This is your life we are talking about…
Your physical, mental and emotional health.
Investing in a coach with years under their belt changing lives, getting results and educating people along their way – is by far and away the best investment you’ll ever make.
You’d think nothing of spending £100 on a night out every weekend – add that up over a month and you’ll find that for just over half that amount you could invest in someone who has the ability to literally change your life for the better.
If I wanted to learn the piano, I wouldn’t dream of trying to teach myself – so it blows my mind when people think that they can just join a gym – and ‘wing’ trying to turn their entire life around!
- ROUTINE:
Will your daily schedule be able to accommodate the changes that need to be made?
Saying “I’m going to join a gym or a club “ is one thing, but if your lifestyle is hectic and you struggle to find time to do anything as it is – how will you make it work?
One of the first things we look at with our clients during their ‘foundation phase’ is time management and planning – it is essential to bring order to your day and make sure there is adequate time to facilitate anything new that may need to be implemented.
You’ll need to find time to eat.
You’ll also need time to prep the food you are eating.
You’ll need consistent bedtimes and wake times.
You’ll need planned down time.
You’ll of course need to allow for your regular working hours and other work related commitments.
You’ll want to make sure there’s time for friends and family.
You’ll need to allocate time for resistance training, cardio and steps.
And perhaps most important – you DON’T want to be overwhelmed by the entire process.
Even at the consultation stage, we chat to our clients about their ‘current’ day, and get a handle on what’s possible and how best to implement such changes, and do so in a manner that it avoids overwhelm and chaos.
- MOTIVATION:
Does this new direction change mean enough to you to make a start and build momentum?
How bad do you want it?
Have you just had enough of how things are and you know things need to improve this point on?
What’s made you come to this decision?
What is your why?
As we meander through life, we get urges to do things…
Are you sure that this decision isn’t just an urge?
Can you be sure that this urge won’t pass and your mindset will slip back to its original set-point as quickly as that urge came and went?
Motivation is great, and it’s fantastic to have icons that inspire us and motivate us to be better – but understand this…
Motivation is only temporary.
Motivation is short-lived.
Motivation won’t last for ever.
Is your ‘why’ strong enough to keep you moving forwards long after that brief injection of motivation is lost?
- DISCIPLINE:
Once motivation wears off, will you be disciplined and committed to sustain these actions when the going gets tough and maintain consistency?
Now we are getting to the holy grail of success!
Now we are getting to the nuts and bolts of what makes someone achieve everything they set out to achieve.
Now we are hitting the real indicators of a successful transformation.
Now we are panning for gold!
If you look at any successful person in life, you don’t have to look too long, and study them too hard, to identify a couple of key factors…
They are DISCIPLINED – and they are CONSISTENT.
DISCIPLINED enough to roll their sleeves up, despite not necessarily wanting to do something – or not enjoying something – simply because they KNOW it needs to be done.
CONSISTENT with the non-negotiables, those mundane day-to-day ‘box-ticking’ tasks that need to be almost instinctively ticked off and never missed if they are to achieve everything they have set out to do.
Motivation is having the urge to do something great.
Discipline is having the ability to continue doing something long after that urge has disappeared.
Consistency is simply showing up. Being disciplined day in, and day out, until the job is done – ticking those boxes, and tending to the non-negotiables with unwavering dedication.
If you’ve read the above post, and still have no idea where to start – click the link at the top of the page, and book a call to talk things through with me.
Steve