Why Do You Do What You Do?

As a personal trainer, I see many different scenarios and I've been blessed to be able to gather and learn from the experience of others.

One theme that I see consistent with all people who get great results in all aspects of life - be it business, fitness, ministry, whatever - is that of a strong "why." Why get fit? Why eat vegetables? Why go to work? Why do the work that you do? With a strong "why" comes strong resolve to finish the task.

The Gentleman from the YMCA

 

In any gym, there is always a core of dedicated people who you see at the same time and the same day every week. When I was working at a YMCA in Upstate New York, there was an older gentleman who would exercise about two hours everyday.

He would come in with sweats on and a lightweight t-shirt then hop on the treadmill to warm up for the coming workout. He'd then continue to go around the weight machine circuit as shown during the orientation. After about 30 minutes of weights, he'd come over with hair slicked back from sweat, to the desk where I was stationed. After a few minutes of chatting and discussing a plethura of topics from world events to his grandchildrens' birthday, he'd go back for about an hour to an hour and a half of cardio. He'd do 20 or 30 minutes on the stepper, then 20-30 minutes walking on the treadmill, and maybe some biking. He'd continue this everyday, resting from the weights every other day of course.

One day, I asked him, "what makes you so dedicated?" He very easily said something to the effect of, "I had heart surgery and this is what I need to do to stay alive for the kids and grand kids."

I've asked many people what makes them so dedicated and there is always a strong "why."

Some other "whys" that I've heard over the years are:

• To stay alive
• So I can play with my grandchildren
• Because I don't want to get tired just going up a flight of stairs
• Because I don't want to worry what people think when they look at me
• I want to be comfortable in my own skin
• I want to honor God and take care of the body He has given me

These are just a few examples. They may or may not be a "why" that you share but these are some of the reasons I've heard from the most dedicated people I've worked with.

As we learned in Start with Vision, not having a clear and tangible goal often causes people to stumble and ultimately stop persisting in their pursuit. Not having a strong, clearly stated "why" is also cause for waivering.

For every successful person in the Bible, there was a strong, God-given "why."

• Moses was to lead God's people to freedom (Exodus 1-12)
• Noah built the Ark because a flood was coming to "wipe the slat clean." (Genesis 6-9)
• Jesus came to remove the barrier of sin from between us and God. (John 1:1-18 and the entire Bible)

Whatever your "why" is, that's between you and God.

To Do:

• Get with God everyday this week to read, pray, and ask Him what He wants you to do and why.
• Once He gives you a vision and a strong reason why, keep reminders around to keep the goal, vision, and reason why at the forefront of your mind. 

Love God, love people.

-Chris 

A Spirit of Power - Use It

It's amazing what God will do with just a little obedience and time with Him.

When reading Genesis 4 and sipping my coffee this morning, a particular verse struck me. In verse 7, the Lord says, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."

Isn't that striking?! We must rule over our sin!

How many times have you started out on your fitness journey, so to speak, just to be tempted by that ooie, gooie, triple chocolate, sugar-coma-inducing, brownie of deliciousness? Or, for those of us who like salty-savory foods, that fatty ribeye steak with gooie, triple-bypass loaded fries. You're intentions are good. But there's just something about that stinkin' brownie (or fries)! The next thing you know, it's gone!

Well I've got some news for you! "...the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

You have all the power you need over that brownie. And honestly, are you going to let a brownie control you!? That just sounds funny saying it, doesn't it?

The point is, even though we may go through struggles, God has given us a Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline... His Spirit!

To Do

1.) Spend some one-on-one time with God daily. Studying His word, praying and worshiping while you go on a walk and admire His creation... whatever one-on-one time with Him is most productive for you. This will keep you strong and, after all He does for us, doesn't He deserve some one-on-one time?

2.) Control your environment! This is HUGE! "Out of sight, out of mind," is very true. Put the veggies and fruits in front and eye level in the fridge and hide the junk. Surround yourself with disciplined individuals. Craft your environment to make it easier for you to succeed!

3.) Use the support of willing friends and family, preferably someone who is going down a similar road and will hold you accountable through the tough stuff. Again, surround yourself with strong, disciplined individuals and, without much effort, they will rub off on you and you will grow stronger! Don't forget to support them when they need you!

Take today and everyday "by the horns" from now on. You are a child of the living God! Act like it!

I love (agape) you all. That's why I will continue to deliver hard messages amongst applicable, productive knowledge and wisdom. It will always be from a loving and encouraging heart so we can get better together!

Love God, love people.

-Chris

Start with Vision

Fred's Vacation

One day Fred, a hard working retail manager, decided he needed a vacation. He put in for his vacation time. Finally, the time came for Fred to take his vacation. So he packed up his 1970 Brown Gremlin and headed off on his relaxing "vaca."

First he headed west down Pleasant Boulevard and took a right onto Main Street. Finally, he was off. He could feel his shoulders relax, his heart beat slowed. He was free!

Once Fred had driven about 5 miles down Main Street, he hopped on the interstate and started heading south. He wasn't sure exactly where he wanted to go. Fred just knew that the sunny southern-tier sounded spectacular!

After about two weeks of driving around from hotel to hotel, Fred found himself back at home. He never reached a destination. He never made it to the sunny southern-tier. In fact, Fred only crossed the state line before getting frustrated and turning around.

Start with Vision

I realize that this story is pretty far-fetched, but isn't this what we seem to do with our goals? Especially, our health and fitness goals!

We decide, "I want to lose weight," or "I'm going to get stronger." So, we get a gym membership, we get rid of all the junk food, and we jump into action. The problem is, we never set our destination. We never set a SMART goal, and we never developed a clear vision of where we were heading.

Soon enough, because we didn't have a defined target, we get side-tracked and go from fad to fad - from hotel to hotel like Fred. All of this just to get frustrated, stressed out, and end up right where we started!

What to do!

Set a SMART goal:

1.) Specific - the more specific, the clearer the vision/target
2.) Measurable - how do you know you've reached you goal if you don't set a measurable mark?
3.) Attainable - if you weigh 150 pounds, is losing 100 pounds a good/realistic goal?
4.) Realistic - are you willing to put in the work needed to reach your goal?
5.) Time Bound - how will you reach your goal without accountability and a set time? Remember, the work expands to fill the deadline. In other words, whatever time frame you set, that's how long it will take, be it 1 year or 10 years.

Let's compare two goals:

Scenario 1 - Jane wants to lose weight in whatever amount of time it takes.

Is it specific? No

Measurable? I guess, but Jane has technically achieved her goal if she only loses one ounce.

Attainable? Yes

Realistic? Yes

Time bound? No

Scenario 2 - Jane, who weighs 179 pounds, wants to drop 30 pounds by her 40th birthday on January 8th, which is six months away.

Specific? Yes

Measurable? To a "T"

Attainable? Absolutely! Since Jane is 5'6" tall, she would come back to a healthy BMI (body mass index) once she drops the 30 pounds.

Realistic? Absolutely. She'll drop a little over 1 pound per week which is very doable with some simple habit changes and progressive exercise.

Time bound? Yes. She has a set day to achieve her goal of 30 pounds down. Not to mention, she chose a milestone birthday which gives her a stronger reason to lose the excess fat!

Once you have your SMART goal. It's time to make it a concrete vision! So solid you can feel it! So strong you seek every healthy way possible to achieve it! So real, you can feel the clothes fitting loser and loser!... or tighter and tighter for those of you who want to gain muscle.

It's time to visualize! Think about your goal and what it will feel like when you have reached it. Think about the sense of accomplishment you'll feel. You can even get a picture that represents your goal and keep it somewhere you will see it multiple times per day. The fridge, your mirror, and even your pocket are all great places!

So why do all this? Well, when you get a clear vision of where you want to go, your brain now has something to latch onto and work toward. Without a clear vision, how are you ever going to know where you're going or when you've achieved your goal? Not to mention the confusion that leads to frustration and stress due to a lack of a clear, defined vision.

Summary

Whatever your goals and vision are, that's between you and God. I can't tell you what you want or what God wants for you. You have to spend time with Him. Read, pray, and ponder where you want to go. Once you've decided, build that vision and next time we'll dive into why you want to reach those goals. Stay tuned.

Love God, love people.

-Chris

The First Mistake Most People Make

Have you ever had a goal but never really got anywhere with it? Maybe it was a New Year's resolution to lose weight. You've always thought that it would be nice to drop some excess body fat. So, New Year's comes around and you say, "I'm going to lose weight this year."

Then, all excited and ready to go, you get a gym membership, you start working out 5 or 6 days per week, 1 to 2 hours at a time, and you start to see some results. You're feeling great, a little sore, but feeling great that you are taking action to reach your goals!

Then, a couple months go by and you realize that it's kind of tough trying to workout 5 or 6 days per week, especially when you go on the treadmill until you just can't go anymore and feel like you're going to collapse and fly off the treadmill! On top of that, you stopped seeing the results that you were getting before so you lose motivation and say, "is this really worth it?!" You give up, as do the other 90 some-odd percent of people who set a New Year's resolution, or any goal for that matter.

What went wrong? You ask yourself, "didn't I work out hard enough?" "Didn't I workout long enough?" "I didn't even eat any fat!" "What happened?!"

What Went Wrong?

Well, I can say, most people do make mistakes in the process. We all do and that's perfectly fine as long as we learn from them. However, the first mistake wasn't with your workout or your nutrition. In fact, it has nothing to do with any of that! The first mistake most people make is failing to plan.

Luke 14:28 says, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" 

As humans, we are eager to get results now! I do agree that there are times when we need to just jump in and figure things out as we go. However, most times it is best to plan ahead.

So What are the Step of Planning?  

1.) Vision! If you don't know where to aim, how are you ever going to hit your target?

2.) Why? "There's nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." 

3.) Obstacles. Take them out before they take you out.

4.) Action plan. What are the critical few steps needed to reach your vision?

5.) Just do it. Take emotions out of the equation and do it.

6.) Always rely on God and be ready for change!

We will dive deeper into each of these over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for "Start with Vision."

And as always, love God, love people.

-Chris Finley