Will You Breakdown OR Breakthrough?

As I write this our website is in total shambles. We’ve been working at creating a new and updated website, while still maintaining the quality of content our clients know and love. All of that previously created content is gone.

*GULP*

Tall Trainer has been in business for over ten years. The amount of content that was hosted on our old site was quite impressive. And now it’s gone. Where do we start? Can we get it back? What do we do?

This feeling of panic is embedded in the human experience. The sense of panic and overwhelm in the face of a crisis or disaster can be paralyzing.

And that is EXACTLY how some of our clients feel when they finish a month of bootcamp. Most people get great results, don’t infer too much here. But if you do anything long enough, Uncle Murphy is bound to show up. Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. That applies DOUBLE if you’re doing something new or difficult.

For our clients that means their efforts at weight loss and weight maintenance are always in jeopardy.

For most people new things start off optimistic. There’s plenty of hope and energy to make the changes necessary. At some point, things go wrong. It may turn into a disaster. They started off wonderful, but then x, y, and z happened and there was no recovering from that.

They loved the workouts but hurt their knee picking up a pen. Aunt Judith came to town and it was a month full of family get-togethers with poor food options. There was mandatory overtime at work and a dear friend passed away.

Life comes at you with everything it’s got to see if you’re really COMMITTED to the change that you’re making.

First Instinct: Stick with the Status Quo

 Sometimes a person will have a no-good-rotten month. It happens. It’s what that person does next that determines long term success. The first instinct is to give up and say “That’s just not for me.”

That first instinct is like clinging to the status quo. It means that the same old is better than the unknown. We were in that spot with our website. We knew it wasn’t as effective as it could be. We recognized that change needed to happen. During the change process, things got a little crazy!

You might be in a similar spot now. You may feel like changing things is too difficult. You may have recently tried and failed at a new habit. The way things have always been is comfortable and easy. It is the siren song of "good enough."

If you're going to live a great life, have a great body, and feel great about yourself, something has to happen.

The Path to Change Requires Commitment

In 207 BC a Chinese General named Xiang Yu crossed a river with his army. There was dissent in the ranks about the possibility of defeat. The army was shrinking by the day. So Xiang Yu burned the boats. Every. Last. One. There was no going back. The army had to win or die. And win they did, in spectacular fashion, with the odds strongly in the enemy's favor.

We deleted our old website. Perhaps it happened a little too soon. Oops. Now we have to march forward, because there’s no going back.

For you this means that the old way of doing things is no longer an option. It can’t be. You recognize how unhealthy it is. How much your body aches, how terrible your sleep is, and how unhappy you feel. Don’t allow yourself to go back. Fully commit.

How do you do that?

Roll up your sleeves, and get to work. Throw yourself into the effort. Really, actually, truly try your best. Most people do things at half capacity, or worse. Why? Because if we fail, it’s easy to say that we weren’t actually trying.

The Best Month Comes After the Worst Month

If you’re in that middle spot right now, where you’re looking at the status quo down one path, and you’re looking at the hard work of commitment down another, and you’re wondering what to do, ask yourself this question:

If I stick with the status quo for the next 10 years, what will my life look like?

Follow that up with:

If I make these changes I’m working on, and continue down that path, what will my life look like?

Seriously, take the 30 seconds and visualize those two scenarios. Are you alive? How are your relationships? How is your career? What do you look like? How do you feel?

That point at the crossroads is a gift. When you get the bad news two things can happen, a breakdown, or a breakthrough. The breakthrough is always worth the short term sacrifice.

Which path will you take?

Your Trainer,

Andrew Biernat