Couldn’t shift that stubborn layer of fat around your belly? Or did your extreme muscle-building project deliver next to no results?
It’s hardly unusual to set out aiming for a total body transformation. Even more common is an outcome that looks nothing like what you originally hoped to achieve. Your vision and your dream lie shattered.
Why? Why didn’t you reach your goal? Was it the “guru” who lacked the necessary knowledge? Or was your low testosterone to blame? Then again, you could blame your girlfriend for getting in the way, or your mother for keeping you from properly focusing on bodybuilding. So what was the reason? Or was it something else entirely, inside your head—your thoughts?
Your thinking isn’t separate from your body. Your thoughts lead you to take specific actions, and those actions have consequences. Simple as it sounds, the chain from a single thought to the final outcome (thought – action – result) is crucial to reaching your goal. Since everything starts with a thought, it’s no surprise that flawed thinking translates into mistakes in your actions, which in turn shatter your dreams. Those same thoughts can easily sabotage your actions, justify bad choices and steer you away from your goal.
Despite all that, this article isn’t about meditation or any psychiatrist-style probing into your mind. It’s about the ten most common thinking patterns that lead to failure (and excuses) and drive you to make poor choices. Recognize a bad decision, avoid it and correct your course.
1. “I could have, but this happened and…” – excuses
Your mind tries to justify failure. Your actions, commitment and sense of duty should always be determined by your goal, never by circumstances that arise along the way. Circumstances can change, and life brings surprises. There will never be a moment when every condition is perfect for working toward your goal. It’s your duty and responsibility to plan, prepare and act, whatever happens.
2. “This and that don’t work for me…”
All that constant whining about diets, gurus and training methods… but what about you? As long as you focus on external factors instead of your own actions, you’ll never succeed. A prescribed meal plan won’t work if you don’t follow it. 50 grams of rice is neither 55 grams nor 70 grams—it’s 50 grams. Yes, sometimes your body doesn’t respond the way you’d like, but then it’s your responsibility to respond and make changes, instead of complaining that nothing works. Focus on yourself, your actions and how committed you are. Face the truth and take a look at yourself.
3. “That’s just how I am. I’ve always been this way…”
Have you said this? That statement means nothing more than giving up, and you’ve just found an excuse to wolf down that chocolate bar. Besides, it isn’t true. Nobody is just “that way.” You’ve made yourself “that way.” This thinking is simply another way to hide behind excuses and avoid taking responsibility for your actions. You create yourself; you choose who you are and who you become.
4. “I’ve still got plenty of time…”
This thinking only shows that you’re putting off the work because you’re currently too much of a wimp to do it. Once again, you’re avoiding responsibility for your actions, dreams and life. You’ve still got time, have you? The work you need to put into changing your body won’t get easier if you postpone it. Quite the opposite. Remember that we all die someday, and it happens much sooner than we expect. You only have your own lifetime, and you’d be wise to spend a few years enjoying it.
5. “I’ve been lucky, I’ve gained/lost weight…”
Oh, come on. Since when has a fairy godmother been in charge of changing your body? Understand that the outcome depends entirely on your actions, and forget the word “luck” altogether. There’s no such thing as good or bad luck; what matters is whether you do the work. Your progress doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of the work you’ve put in.
6. “What harm can one time do…”
God knows how many times this phrase has been used to justify a missed workout or an extra slice of cake. If you’re planning to give in to something from the outset, why are you even trying to change? Giving in is exactly that: giving in, not taking a step closer to your goal. You have a limited number of days and workouts, a limited number of opportunities to reach your goal. If you let one slip by, you’ll never get it back. Today’s poor eating choices are there for good; you can’t change them after the fact. Understand that one can only be one, and a little can be a little, but once you have two “little bits,” it’s no longer a little.
7. “Nobody will see anyway, nobody will know…”
It’s true that nobody will see or know if you go off track, especially if you’re munching away at home alone or skipping a scheduled meal. But you know what? Nobody actually cares. Your mother and brother love you no matter how skinny your arms are. This is your goal, your dream and your journey. And you alone are responsible for it. The thought that nobody will know if you skip your squats may give you a moment of satisfaction, but unfortunately, it won’t give you any satisfaction when it’s time to measure your progress.
8. “I haven’t eaten anything today, so I’ll have this chocolate…”
Everyone who fails tends to justify foolish actions with appealing, clever ideas. You’ve surely told yourself that if you haven’t eaten anything all day, treating yourself to junk food is better than eating nothing at all. But hold on. How can a chocolate bar or “nothing at all” be better than 120g of chicken when you’re trying to reach your goal? And why haven’t you eaten anything? Why aren’t you carrying your food with you? It’s your responsibility to plan and prepare. If you’ve prepared everything, you’ll never have to find yourself forced to choose something that works against your goal rather than supporting it. Plan and prepare. Don’t give yourself a reason to go off track and then try to dress it up as something better.
9. ”Sometimes it’s good to reward yourself…”
There you go, coming up with yet another brilliant idea to eat a cookie or have a glass of wine. But listen: you’re not a dog or a five-year-old child at a sports event. Why the hell should you reward yourself for something you need to do anyway, especially with something that only takes you further from your goal? If you really must think this way, reward yourself with a new pair of workout pants that make your butt look better!
10. ”I would, but I lack motivation…”
You’re not doing it because you lack motivation? Motivation isn’t a feeling; it’s an attitude. You don’t get it from somewhere outside yourself; it’s within you — either you want something or you don’t. If you lack the motivation to eat regularly and work out, you don’t want it enough. If you really want to change, you have that damn motivation. Take a lifelong smoker, for example. For them, ”why” matters less than ”why not”. But what happens when lung cancer strikes? Suddenly, ”why” becomes far more important than ”why not”. That motivation didn’t come from anywhere else; it was in that person all along. If you want to, do it. If you don’t, don’t — but don’t whine.
”The whole point is to be the master of your own mind, to be able to control your thoughts. The mind is everything” – Kai L Greene
Author: Anne Pietila”;i:53;s:21:” Siim Kelner (translation)
Come work out! ArtGym
