When we start a new journey a lot of things are going through our minds. Thankfully at the beginning things tend to be exciting. But sometimes the overarching thought of what needs to be done along the way can take all that excitement out of It.
In the fitness world, something happens and there’s a shift where we decide change needs to be made. Maybe, we have had enough of the lifestyle we’re living and want to become healthier, lose weight and tone our body.
Off the bat we look at what our end results “could” be and that’s when the excitement comes in. But once we think about how much work needs to go into that, things become real. In many cases, the hardest part of this entire process is taking that first step in the right direction.
One of my favorite things to do when we start a new goal is break It down into as many steps as we possibly can.
So, what should that first step look like?
Think of something like making a sandwich and break down every single step that needs to be done to do that. Making a sandwich is a pretty common and simple task, but I bet we could break down over 15 steps that go into It. The first step in this process could be getting out the bread.
Now think of something more complex, like your fitness goal. How many steps would that be, 100s, 1,000s?
Let’s break things down.
Our goal: Lose weight + Tone up
What are some things that will help reach this goal?
Having a well planned and balance style of eating
The addition of an exercise routine
Upping our general activity throughout the day
Creating habits around sleep and relaxation
Drinking enough water throughout the day
I really like this list to start out with BUT, every single one of these things can be broken down MUCH farther. This is where we want to look for our first step.
Let’s take one goal (one of the most common first steps) : Starting an exercise routine
Now we can really get into the weeds of all the things that can go into an exercise routine. But one of my favorite ways to break this down is by looking at the easiest forms of exercise.
The most simple form or exercise that will be at the top of the list every time, WALKING.
What do you need? Some shoes, time, and the ground. Easy, let’s go.
Maybe your goal is to eventually get yourself in the gym and on a good exercise routine 3-4 days per week. But if you can’t prove to yourself that you can commit to a 20 minute walk this week then how do we expect to get up and drive yourself to the gym 3-4 days in a week?
So we start small.
One 20 minute walk this week. This might be easy and you end up doing two walks. Great, how does next week look, can you get another two walks in?
Now you hit those two walks, can we make those 30 minute walks?
We build off of success. We don’t start off making things too hard for ourselves, this is an easy round to discouragement. Build off the habits you create and make them achievable.
Are you going to feel more motivated and excited to attack next week if you drilled all the goals OR after a shit week of missing all your targets?
Discouraging yourself will lead to an easier fall off.
Let’s say we look back two months down the line of you hitting your goal every week. You are walking three times per week for 30-45 minutes. Do you think you could handle one session in the gym next week?
If the answer is yes, then add It in. But start with one, drill that into your routine and add more when you KNOW you can make It happen.
Your Goal
We started out with your goal of wanting to lose some weight and tone up.
Are we there yet? Probably not.
But we were able to break down what needed to get done to get to that goal. We started nice and slow and met ourselves at our starting point.
We built habits slowly and made sure that we achieved what we set out to do. From that we were able to take more and more steps towards our goal.
There is no need to feel so much pressure to reach your target, to throw every single thing you think is healthy at your body. You will hate It, quit, and have a bad taste in your mouth the next time you want to start the process.
Treat It like a process and attack one step at a time.
Break down your goal
Pick your starting point
Build off your success
Keep going
Enjoy the process
In good health,
Jeff
