| Focus January 1, 2009
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Chantal is another
competitor who sets goals and sticks to it until she succeeds. Chantal started competing
in fitness in 1999. In 2008, after four national-level titles, she was awarded an IFBB Pro
Card. |
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Stick To It!
Most articles written for January make suggestions for your
New Year’s Resolution, usually goals you can set for yourself to lose weight or get
into shape. To me, articles like that are useless, since most people make promises to
improve themselves in the coming year without needing anyone to tell them to do it. In
fact, I bet that almost all of you reading this have done just that and already know exactly
what it is you want to improve on or strive for. So I don’t even want to go there.
Instead, I want to focus on what comes after that promise gets made.
While many people make these promises to themselves, few
people stick to them for the long term. For instance, you just have to witness the hoards
of people that come to the gym in the first couple of weeks in January, undoubtedly the
result of a New Year’s Resolution to get into better shape. By the end of the month,
they are mostly all gone. They made a promise at the beginning of the year, they started,
but then old habits crept in and they gave up in no time at all. That’s how it goes
every January.
But it doesn’t only happen at the New Year. Throughout
each year, I meet hundreds of women who tell me about their dreams and goals of either
getting into better shape, improving their health, or moving forward in the industry
competitively or professionally. I listen carefully to each one because each story has the
potential to be inspiring if the person achieves their goal. However, few come to
fruition. Just like a New Year’s Resolution, the dreams and goals are often given up
not long after they are started.
There are many reasons why people don’t stick to what
they began, but they are far too lengthy to go into here. What is important to know and to
realize is that you’re only going to get ahead if you stick to what you
started for the long term. For some goals it might be days or weeks of consistent effort,
while other goals will take months or years.
I think real-life examples are best to illustrate this. I
often point to Natalie Waples as an example, since most people now know who she is in the
fitness industry. I’m her coach and we work together on achieving her goals as a
team. To some her rise to the top of the competitive figure world will seem incredibly
fast; she went from being an amateur to a pro in about three years. Considering all the
contests she entered and won during that time, it’s now like a blur, even to me. Yes,
it was fast.
But when you really think about it, that was three
entire years of her life dedicated to accomplishing the goal of becoming a
professional figure competitor. That’s not an insignificant amount of time.
Furthermore, within that time she maintained a strict diet, trained consistently, and
planned incessantly. She worked at her regular job, of course, but much of her spare time
was devoted to achieving this goal, day after day, month after month, year after year.
Remember what I said about the gyms in January? Many people have trouble hanging onto
their New Year’s Resolution for three weeks, let alone three years, or even longer.
That kind of commitment is what separates those who make it from those who don’t.
Not every goal will take three years to achieve – some
could take more, most will take less – but every goal will require you to stick to
the process for the time it takes until you succeed. Remember, most things don’t come
easily, and the best things rarely come fast. If you want to get ahead and reach your
goals, be prepared to put in the time. Making a resolution is one thing, but sticking to
it until you succeed is really the key.
. . . Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
