As a personal trainer in Orlando, FL over the past 10 years I’ve noticed a particular trend.
Many people give up on trying to make healthy choices as it gets close to the end of:
-
the day
-
the week
-
the month
-
the year
For example, right after Thanksgiving I hear something like, “January is right around the corner, so I will wait until the New Year to start on my diet, fitness routine etc…”
or
“I’ll start on Monday.”
So putting things off becomes a habit.
The new day, month or year arrives but you aren’t quite ready to start. It is easier to wait until the kids are back in school, or until after the weekend.
“I’ll start tomorrow… definitely tomorrow.”
If you want to start something and your instinct is to wait until tomorrow, ask yourself, “Why can’t I do this now?”
One reason you might put off starting something is that you make the achievement of your goal too complex. This complication is not necessary or even a reality most of the time.
Ask yourself, “What is the next possible action I can do right now to achieve my goal of…?”, and then make sure that action is grounded in reality.
For example, I would like to have a full center split but I’m not going to attempt Van Damme’s split between two Volvo trucks next week.
I can however commit to stretching for 5 minutes periodically throughout the day. Can I stretch right now while drafting this blog post?
The fear of failure is another reason you may put off starting on your goal. Failure is massively overrated and exists because people don’t learn from their mistakes.
Billionaire investor Peter Theil says, “You may think the reason you failed is because of reason number one, and the real reason is that it could be reasons number one through five. So the next time you try to start, you could be failing because of reasons two, three, four and five. Are you learning from failure? If not then failure can be damaging and demoralizing.”
He adds that there is a simple formula for success.
“Be relentless. Everyday start over, learn, do a little more and you will get better at it.”
Most humans are inherently lazy and fearful. If you can be just a little less of both, you win.
You can make big things happen in your life if you stop waiting for the perfect time and just take action. Below are two action steps you can take to get started.
Try one (or both) this week:
1. Wake up an hour early or set up one hour of time in the day where there is no one or thing that can interrupt you. The most powerful part of the day is when you can escape and get your mind in the right place.
During this hour, either do some work you have been putting off or work on your mind/body.
I know that some of you are already thinking that an hour is too much, but if you make the excuse that you don’t have at least fifteen minutes a day to work towards your goal, then you may need a reality check.
2: Surround yourself with high level thinkers and if you can’t find those people, then read books that make you think, or listen to motivational podcasts.
Control the people you are around as well as the information you get throughout the day. This can expand your way of thinking and help you succeed at a greater level and at a faster rate.
The Dalai Lama says the secret to life is easy. “Do what makes you happy.”
Finding out what makes you happy is the hard part.
Knowing who you are is meant to be difficult. It may even be more difficult to be that person.
You are going to mess up and that is ok. Get back up, continue being the person you were meant to be.
But don’t wait until the perfect time to start.
-Oscar
Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi
Control Your Health
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