How To Get Back On Track
Do you feel further away from good health than ever?
Have you recently looked in the mirror and been disappointed with your shape?
Are you feeling tired, stressed out and unfit?
If so… No doubt, You feel like you want to get yourself back on track!
Because Let’s face it… Nobody likes to look, move and feel bad.
We’d all rather be the best possible version of ourselves, not just for how great we feel but so that we can be at our best for work and family life.
With that said…
I wanted to share some best practices to start working towards a healthier & happier version of yourself today… and ultimately get you back on track.
Rediscover your why?
What is your motivator for wanting to get back on track?
Many of us will only address this on a very surface level.
But that’s just like planting a tree with shallow roots…
When a storm comes, it’s going to be more easily uprooted.
Instead we need to dig deep within ourselves to truly find out what the motivating force is behind our desire to change.
This can be hard for some people to do, because they may find it hard to uncover those emotions.
Perhaps we’re someone who is naturally more guarded and we don’t want to make it that deep or serious.
But… identifying a deeper reason for making a change keeps motivation higher.
It’s as simple as repeatedly asking ‘Why?’ In order to dig deeper?
And it’s not until we are several layers down that we uncover the real reason for change.
For Example:
I want to lose weight
Why?
Because I feel really unfit and it’s starting to affect everyday life
What activities is it getting in the way of?
Well my kids asked me to play in the garden with them and I wasn’t able to last 5 minutes before I needed to go and sit down.
How did that make you feel?
It made me feel terrible because I could see that they were disappointed.
What would it mean to you, if you could have the fitness to play with your kids?
It’d make me so much happier.
… so we got from, wanting to lose weight.
To wanting to be able to play with their kids and ultimately achieve more happiness as a result.
Now…
If that person ever feels demotivated or has a few bad days, they’re far more likely to stick at it because their why is more meaningful, than “it would be nice to lose some weight”.
Remember that “Small Hinges Swing Big Doors”
Now we have identified a strong reason for getting back on track.
You may feel like wanting to do something drastic!
… To get there as fast as you can!
The reality is, that setting a highly ambitious goal, results in many people falling short.
It’s like falling down a staircase to the bottom.
You stand there wishing you were back at the top.
But if you attempt to jump from the bottom all the way back to the top, chances are you’ll fall flat on your face.
Instead…
Setting small incremental goals is a much more sensible way to get back on top of your health and fitness one step at a time.
I love the saying that “small hinges swing big doors”
Which means that you only need a few key things in place in order to get a big result.
However… most people think it takes massive effort and a complete overhaul of their lives.
But by focusing on the right things, such as:
Resistance Training a few times per week.
Getting control over our calories intake
Prioritising recovery and high quality sleep.
We can create massive change without massive disruption to our lives.
It’s just a case of making our blows count.
Create a plan … (and write it down)
It’s time to write out a plan.
If you fail to plan, then plan to fail.
And I mean grab a pen and paper and start jotting this all down.
I’m extremely old school when it comes to planning.
It’s actually because of a tip that I was given by one of the most renowned coaches in the world, for writing somebody’s workout programme.
There is just something about putting pen to paper that hits a little bit differently.
It allows you to write without constraints.
For me… an effective plan is ‘reverse engineered’
We have to start with where we want to be and identify what needs to happen in order to get us to that place.
This means that we need to be specific.
Our goal can’t be vague because the steps to achieve that goal will then also be vague.
For example, our goal may be to feel more energised.
We may identify that in order to do that, we need more sleep.
Which means we need to go to bed earlier.
So it could be a case of setting a specific bedtime and wake time to ensure we get the right amount of sleep.
Then I suggest you look for any potential barriers to that…
For example, you may find yourself going to bed, but then scrolling on social media.
Perhaps you could remove that barrier by adjusting your phone settings or maybe having a ‘no phone zone’ in the bedroom.
This brings me back to perhaps my favourite quote of all:
“We don’t rise to the level of the goal, we fall to the level of the system”
Just wishing to be more energised and saying that you’ll just make sure you get more sleep isn’t usually enough to make that change.
That’s trying to rise to the goal.
Whereas if we can create a fantastic system, write it down and consistently execute.
The habits, routines and systems will ensure that we reach our goal.
So get your pen and paper and write down your goal.
Then start to flesh out what needs to happen to your training, nutrition, sleep & stress management.
Remember that small hinges swing big doors… all we have to do is improve one step at a time.
1 Workout. 1 Meal. 1 Decision.
Whenever I speak to clients who feel that they’ve lost control of their health & fitness:
Perhaps they feel overwhelmed about trying to regain it.
Or they’re just totally frustrated that they lost it in the first place.
Maybe they’re doubting whether they can begin control of their health & fitness.
When people have these feelings…
I always remind them that they are only 1 workout. 1 meal or 1 decision from being back on track.
A persons current trajectory is more important than their current result.
So even if you feel in a bad position right now…
It is possible for everything to start trending in the right direction again.
It just starts with a first step.