Are you in or are you, well, in?
I have a confession... I haven't worked out much in a little while since I’ve moved. I mean, I went jogging once...and I came very close to stopping at Starbucks while I jogged by. Thank God I had no wallet! I was feeling a bit guilty about it so I decided well it's been almost 4 months, I better get my act together.
I started looking for simple little phrases to help get me motivated and moving and I came across an old sticky note I had written a long time ago that said "it's not work when you're in your groove" and boy, is that ever true. When I was in a routine, I never had to think about working out. I just followed my routine, did my workouts each day, and it felt automatic.
Then I thought, “Well, if I'm not in my groove right now, where am I?” The answer... the same place, but a different WORD.
You see, times like these, you know when you forget to workout for the 4th month in a row, that's called being in a RUT.
Isn't a RUT and a GROOVE the same thing? I mean, you can argue the technicality, but it's really the same thing. Yet the meanings are so different, and the emotional power behind those two words are also significantly different. You see, when I wander around complaining I'm “in a rut”, or even slightly less negative saying “I gata get out of this rut”, it doesn't really motivate me. In fact, it makes me a bit less motivated. It's almost like it makes me go deeper in the rut by complaining I'm in the rut.
Weird.
Yet, when I say "I'm in my groove" it brings a smile to my face, a sense of pride, accomplishment, even some ego.
I decided I didn't like being in a rut and would much rather be in a groove, so I worked out today.
I headed to a gym that just opened down the road and is open 24 hours, allowing me to workout whenever I want and is close by. It's a pretty small outfit, not more than one set of each weight for free weights, couple of this, couple of that, but it's ok I don't need much. In fact, it doesn’t take much to get healthy and fit.
So anyways I park, head in, fill in the paperwork and throw on some good tunes.
So far I feel like a million bucks.
Well, seeing as I hadn't worked out in a while I figured I'd start with some light running just to get the blood flowing. After I warmed up, and got a little sweat going I decided it's time to do some light stretching and then hit the weights.
Logically, since I hadn't worked out in 4 months I thought today would be a great day to go all out and do the full body. Well, I'll save you the painfully entertaining details and tell you this: at the end of the workout I was legitimately concerned that I would not be able to walk out of the gym to get to my truck.
It's funny because I've seen this at my own fitness studio time and time again. Anyhow, I managed to keep it together and wobble my butt to my truck and sat there until I felt relaxed enough to drive home.
Lesson 1 - Don't wait so long to get out of the rut. It's much easier to keep going or take little breaks, not a four month holiday.
Lesson 2 - Don't go all out on the first day. You’ll regret it and possibly never go back.
Back to my story...
I decided before heading home I really needed to walk it off so I headed to the grocery store to do some grocery shopping and walk around.
Boy, am I ever glad I grabbed a grocery cart...to lean on. While I was moseying around the store trying to decide if I should take the chance and let go of the cart long enough to grab some apples was worth it, I got to thinking about all the times I harped about pretty much everything I'm saying right now, to just keep at it, to keep going, go steady but consistent, etc... and how many still just don't listen.
And it's even worse because (and yes, I'm about to make a "globalization" here…) most of you don't just stop working out...you eat like total crap too. Ouch!
You can get away with murder if you're still eating properly, but boy, take away nutrition and your body goes out of control. I mean, how many people workout every day yet eat like crap? Way too much work for me - and a waste of time and effort. Unless you’re working out for social reasons, which is fine, then I'm sure you could be doing something better off with your time if you’re just going to stuff your face afterwards anyways. Am I saying to quit working out? No, I'm saying to quit eating like crap and working out.
I always laugh when I hear people complain about having to eat properly. Like, come on folks! You don't have to do anything. In fact, everything you do you CHOOSE to do.
Overweight? You chose it.
Healthy? You chose it.
Crappy job? You chose it.
and the list goes on.
"But it's not my fault"... save it.
Give me someone who thinks its not their fault based on their circumstances and I'll give you 10 people with horrible situations who made it through and are amazing people now.
In fact, let's go over some right now...
Franklin Roosevelt
Four-time President of the United States
Paralyzed from the waist down by polio before running for office.
Oprah Winfrey
Best known for her multi-award-winning talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.
She was born into poverty, raped and pregnant at 14 and lost her son in infancy.
Sylvester Stallone
Iconic actor
Complications at birth damaged a nerve in his face giving him his slurred speech.
Tom Cruise
Iconic actor
Grew up in poverty, abusive father
Frederick Douglass
Leader of the abolitionist movement
Born into slavery, violence, and separation from his parents
Johnny Depp
Iconic actor
Moved over 20 times in his youth, lived in hotels, smoked at 12, drugs at 14
Albert Einstein
Nobel Prize winning physicist
Couldn’t get a job for two years as a physicist.
- O. Wilson
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and a New York Times bestseller
Blind in one eye.
Michael Jordan
Greatest basketball player of all time.
Cut from varsity basketball team in his sophomore year.
Victor Frankl
Wrote Man’s Search For Meaning, one of “the ten most influential books in the United States
Prisoner in Nazi camp, family killed.
Marc Zupan
Gold medal-winning paralympic medalist in wheelchair rugby, main figure in Oscar-nominated movie Murderball
Quadriplegic from accident from drunk driver.
Jean-Dominique Bauby
Wrote number one best-selling Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Massive stroke left him speechless and paralyzed.
Adversity is not the problem and it NEVER is.
The problem is not the problem, it’s your lack of resourcefulness that is the problem, and you can find these resources within yourself, and if you can't find them in you, you can find them in others. The amount of FREE material out there to help you in all areas of life is overwhelming.
Whatever the challenge is, you CAN overcome it. Where ever you are right now, if you don't want to be there, YOU CAN CHANGE IT.
Like Anthony Robbins says, the STORY you tell yourself doesn't make your life, YOU make your life.
So what do you do?
How do you step out of this rut?
How do you go from the rut to the groove?
Well, I don't know how YOU will do it, but maybe I can give you some insight and tell you how I do it.
I've got a series of steps I go through when I'm trying to make a shift, and I hope they help you in some way, shape, or form.
First things first, I always have to remind myself that the state I'm in when the problem was caused will NOT be the state I need to be in to find a solution. For example, if the problem was caused while I was angry, staying angry will probably NOT help the cause. If you’re depressed, staying depressed won’t help.
For example, if you're overweight, you're state might include your negative self-talk and self-sabotage, the way you eat, your workout schedule (or lack thereof), your stress level etc.
Let's take this a step deeper... If you're trying to lose weight and you think "I have to workout" but you're still depressed, you eat like crap, you see yourself as overweight and you still think that you are, I'm sorry, but working out will never work.
And the metrics can be interchanged. If you decided to eat properly, but you're depressed, you don’t, workout, you’re stressed etc. Same results… none or very limited.
When you are about to make a change of any sort and in any aspect of your life, it's essential to stack the deck and put as many things as possible on your side, working for you.
Success is hard. In fact, most never make it to what they really wish they could, so why not make it a bit easier on yourself?
Let me put this another way...
For arguments sake, let’s assume it takes 4 main pillars to reach a good health goal.
1 - nutrition
2 - exercise
3 - good state of mind
4 - good emotional state
If you take 1 step forward, let’s say nutrition, but you are still taking 3 steps backwards (no exercise, bad attitude, bad stress control) then how far forward are you going to get?
So stack the deck on your side.
Next, find solid reasons. Take a pen and paper and write out 30 reasons why you need to reach this goal. Don’t stop at 10 reasons, play full out. I’d say only about 5% of people will take the time to find 30 true reasons, and I’d be willing to bet that only about 5% of people will reach their FULL potential.
Coincidence?
So, to recap.
1 - Change your state, what you’re currently doing, in order to produce a different result (doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is insanity. literally). Get up, dance around, clap your hands, do something silly, sing a song, go for a drive, do something that changes your state.
2 - Have a strong enough WHY. Don’t just sit on one or two reasons to change, make a huge list of everything you could possible think of as to why you must change, and why you must change now.
Next, moving onto step 3, you have to measure the results. There are many ways to measure… Clothing size, measuring your body, before and after pictures etc.
Now pay attention to the results you are getting and if they aren't acceptable adjust your approach and go at it again.
That takes us to step 5 - repeat.
Keep repeating these 5 steps over and over and over.
For how long should you repeat? UNTIL you reach your goal! It reminds me of my attitude while out playing in the mud with my ATV. When I come up to a mud hole and attempt it, I would sometimes get stuck. If I did, I’d get pulled out (or use my winch to get out) and then try again a different way. If that didn't work, I'd try again, maybe at another spot, or a different speed, or maybe I'd try standing vs sitting, or maybe I'd rock the quad more to build traction, anything
And I'd keep trying...UNTIL!
So let's recap one more time…
1- Change what you’re doing
2- Have a strong enough reason
3- Measure (we call this feedback)
4 - Adjust
5 - Repeat.
I challenge you to try these 5 steps in any area of your life. Now, you might be wondering what brought this on...
To be honest, it was really my workout. The whole time while I was lifting weights I was thinking to myself "why in the world did I ever stop!"
Anyhow, I tried jogging and as good as it is FOR you, it's simply not FOR me. But, I need something so I now lift weights. Like I mentioned earlier, I tried something (jogging) didn’t like the results and tried something else until I found something I enjoyed (weight lifting).
While I was working out, starting back up, I really felt like I got hit by a truck. My muscles hurt and I was shaking like a turkey (do turkeys shake?) and I could really empathise with folks who are starting off and I wanted to tell you that IT IS WORTH IT.
Yes, this whole chapter is to tell you that the end results, what you’re after, IS WORTH IT.
Don't quit because it's hard.
Don’t quit because no one’s on your side.
Don’t quit because you can barely move.
Don’t quit because your family won't eat healthy foods with you.
Don’t quit because you’re tired.
Don’t quit because you're upset.
Don’t quit because you lost your drive.
Don’t quit because you’re in a rut.
Don’t quit because it's not working right now.
Don’t quit because others tell you you’re wasting your time.
Don’t quit because you feel like you’re in it alone.
Don’t quit because you’re stuck.
Don’t quit.
Don’t quit.
Don’t quit.
You can do it, and IT IS WORTH IT! Whatever you want, whatever you dream about, IT’S WORTH IT.
Only 3% of people reading this will make a change, the rest will love (and some will hate) this book, and I'm alright with that because that 3% will be the happiest people on earth.
Are you in the 3%? It's worth it, you’re worth it.
To your success,
Al