Your Ultimate Body in a 3 Letter Word?

For the last year-and-a-half we have had two sites located on MeetUp.com for our Saturday boot camp and a second group for our Sunday hiking group.

When people join one of these groups they are required to answer a series of questions about their current habits, fitness goals, and current state of health. They are also required to post a head shot. So you would think that if someone were to go to all that trouble, you would assume that they would at least attend one event, right? Apparently that's not the case. You see we have almost 200 members in our hiking group and only about 40 have actually attended an event. I can't help but ask myself, "Why would dozens and dozens of people join a group and then not participate in a single event?" The best answer I can come up with is, "Because it is human nature to behave that way."

"People do not lack strength, they lack will."
~Victor Hugo

If you join a group and don't show up, then what do you do with your time? What is more important that requires your attention? Where else have you made a commitment and chosen not to "show up"? Is it at your job? Is it as a mom, or a dad? I sure hope not! We sign on for life roles voluntarily all of the time. But that doesn't mean that we actually put forth the best effort into that role. What does it mean to actually show up?

If you asked Woody Allen that question he'd say that "80% of success is just showing up." Thanks Woodman, but then again you're a humorist, now aren't you?

The take home point I want to get across is this. Stop and think about all of the responsibilities you have in your life. If you had to make a list and prioritize them, I'll bet you could. I challenge you to do exactly that. Make a list of all the things you are responsible for and that are important to you and then put them in order of priority. What this means is that the items at numbers 1, 2, and 3 are the top things that you value in your life.

You see, I've met thousands of people in my life who would swear on a stack of bibles that their family is number one. But when we show them where they spend the majority of their time, family is far from number one. That's why a list is a good place to start. See where your health and fitness fit into your list. Is it in the top three? If not, where is it? Are your actions and behaviors in regard to your health and fitness in sync with where it is on your list? Remember, you can always re-prioritize your list and you can also change your actions. It gets down to what you value most.

People that join gyms, health clubs, etc. and never go are not invested in the outcome. Sure, they SAY they want to get fit, but they either don't know what that takes, or they are just not willing to make the commitment and sacrifices necessary in order to have better health and a leaner physique.

So what can you do to make your health a higher priority?

Find your WHY. This is a very powerful word. One of the most compelling things anyone can do to change their LIFE is to find deep emotional reasons as to WHY they need to DO something. Everything we do can be put into one of two categories. The first category is SHOULD DO. The second is MUST DO. Here's few examples of SHOULD DO items.

I should eat right.
I should exercise.
I should drink more water.

The items in the SHOULD category are only there because you don't have a strong compelling reason to have them be MUST DO items. So lets say you go to the doctor and he gives you very bad news about your health. He tells you that if you want to live more than three months, you need to change your life and eat right, exercise, and drink water. This one event probably scared the bejeezus out of you and beginning immediately you are going to turn over a new leaf. Your new MUST LIST now reads:

I must eat right.
I must exercise.
I must drink more water.

And you will because you now have strong compelling reasons WHY you MUST absolutely do these things. Without your life, the things that you value won't mean diddly squat, so you will do what ever it takes to get back to health.

If you don't have strong reasons that are driving you to succeed at whatever it is you want in life, you won't succeed. Your health and fitness are two items that are very easy to take for granted because they don't appear to change very quickly and as a result we adapt to the ongoing decline of our health and the expansion of our waistlines.

Not to mention, the increase in our total serum cholesterol, increasing blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, increasing aches and pains, heart burn, elevated stress, back pain, trigger points, arthritis, and the list goes on and on. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Find your WHY, and just maybe you'll find your WAY.

Press on!