Part 1:
Getting past Resistance is a feat we all need to master if we are looking to become the very best versions of ourselves we can be.
First, You Must Identify Resistance
Let’s look at Resistance and how it applies to your journey to health and fitness. What are the thoughts, fears, concerns, and distractions that keep you from achieving your fitness goals? Lack of motivation, lack of time, not knowing what to do, social pressures — you know the ones that apply to you.
The first step is always recognizing the problem. So take a minute and think of the times when you had planned on working out or staying away from the pizza and resistance won. What made you reach for the TV remote or that slice of pizza instead of your gym shorts and an apple?
Write those things down. Give them a name. They are all Resistance! Now that we’ve identified your Resistance, we can also identify how to move forward.
Step 1: Know Your Big “Why”
I’m talking your great, big, grown-up, no-messing-around why. Not the little baby why you throw out when someone asks you about your lunch order that includes a grilled chicken breast and side salad with dressing on the side. That person doesn’t deserve to know your big why.
Your big why is the one that reaches into the depths of your soul and touches your deepest, darkest fears.
Didn’t know you had a why like that? Well, you do and it’s time to get to know it by utilizing “The Five Whys ”by Karen Katzenbach.
Here’s how it works. Ask yourself why you are doing the Whole Life Challenge or starting to eat better or exercise more or whatever other things you are doing to increase your health and fitness.
That first reason you just came up with is your baby why. Keep it handy for that jerk at lunch who makes fun of your order. Now ask why again. And again. And again, for a total of five times.
By your fifth why you’ll probably find something surprising that might make you feel uncomfortable. That’s your great, big, grown-up, no-messing-around why.
Example:
Why am I working out everyday? Because I want to be healthier.
Why? Because I want to feel better.
Why? If I feel better, then I’ll be more productive.
Why? Because I’ll be more confident.
Why? Because I won’t feel like that insecure high school girl that left lost with no direction and no confidence.
Oooh. Ouch. Stuff just got real. There is some buried reason that motivates us and we need to dig that up to move forward. Now, let’s turn that why into a positive — what we’ll call the “Big Why.”
Why are you working out everyday? “Because I am worthy and love to use my body like the beautiful creation that it is.” That’s a really good why.
Stay tuned for Part 2.