by Kerry Taylor
I was having another conversation with a parent about not wanting their child to do football or any other physical sport because it is dangerous and they don’t want them to get hurt. Truth be told every sport has been proven to have a level of danger given to it. I understand the views people may have on playing football but there are a ton of unseen benefits to playing football and all the other sports. As we continued our conversation, I shifted our conversation to be more about working out since sports was getting taken off the table. I suggested, “If they will not be participating in sports at this time, why don’t you get them into the gym?” That idea was well received, so I continued with my statements about the unseen benefits the athlete will receive from working out in the gym that will benefit them in life. Here are the ones that I always like to refer to:
Overcoming Self Doubt
“I can’t….” This phrase inevitably will come up during someone’s health and fitness journey. Most of the time it’s when faced with the challenge of trying something that will give you more resistance, whether that be with a weight, band etc….And it will stay there until you achieve said next level. I have found the key to start you on the right path is to not say, “I can’t” to yourself. Saying I can’t has already placed in your mind that this feat is now impossible for you to do. Second, put other things in place to increase the chances of you overcoming the challenge. For this example of using heavier weight, make sure you have a spotter or someone ’s watchful eye over you coaching and pushing you through the task. More often than not, as long as the increase is reasonable, you will be okay. So take the thought and NEVER verbalize, “I can’t” to the universe.
Build Mental Toughness
I feel all my 212ers have heard this one from me many times over the mic. Being mentally tough is not allowing all of the stuff that goes on in our heads stop us or slow us down from pushing forward. “I’m tired”, “That’s enough”, “I can slow down”, “Why keep going”, “This is too hard for me”, and the list goes on. There will always be days and weeks where we feel like things are not working anymore, or other aspects of your life get dragged in to affect your ability to do your thing. It all balls up into, in some cases, someone saying, “I quit!”. But if we keep going we learn to keep pushing forward through the mental hurdles we placed in front of us. Don’t just be strong physically, be strong mentally as well.
Consistency Cures All
There are no shortcuts, even though many places you look will always tell you there are shortcuts to get to anywhere. Let’s use losing weight for example. There are so many options in our industry that lead you to believe all I have to do is this (insert your choice of nonsense) and I will lose that 20 pounds I always wanted to lose in 2 weeks. Anything that promises you the world and doesn’t involve work then prepare yourself to end up right back where you started , maybe worse. What has 100% of the time been shown to work is consistently doing the things at the effort level you can maintain for a long period of time. If you don’t think you can maintain it and you are going to crash and burn then you shouldn’t do it. Stay consistent my friends.
If you quit, you will never get there
Simple! If you don’t do it at all, you will never get there. If the action and effort aren’t even being put in then you will always know the outcome. NEVER QUIT ON YOURSELF!!! One of the worst things you can do in your lifetime!
You will have to make sacrifices
Sacrifices always have to made at some point. The level of sacrifice is different for all. To be in the best shape of your life takes time and effort. During the journey you will be faced with many internal questions. Do I eat this or that? Can I pass up this for that? Can I do this later or should I do it now? The sacrifices we make to achieve a goal are important keys to us getting to where we want to be.
All of these lessons and more are taught to you every day, they are just hidden under the guise of health and fitness. So just know, if you aren’t getting your physical returns, there are other benefits getting achieved that you’re not always going to be aware of, they are just happening. So continue to always put your best foot forward my friends and give it all you got and try not to waiver. Until next time, continue to live a life 1 degree above the rest.