In my second book “
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Shape” I spent a lot of time talking about false beliefs that keep people stuck from getting results and compared it to the different ways people in great shape think. While it is good to be aware of beliefs, one problem is that what you believe is based on your prior life events, conditioning and feelings. This means that changing them usually takes a little effort, process and/or time. Attitudes however, refer to how you look to approach things going forwards. It is a conscious choice that you can take.
There are certain attitudes to health & fitness that really make it hard for you to succeed. I would therefore suggest you adopt the following attitudes to replace any others you may be using –
Focus on The Process Over Results – Way too often we spend time monitoring lagging indicators around health & fitness, e.g. your weight, your energy etc, which reflect what you have done recently. It is more prudent to focus on indicators that will determine your desired outcome in the future, e.g. steps or hours slept in the prior examples. The more you drill down to focus on the actions that bring the big results the better, it could be your steps are determined by the way you plan your diary the night before or hours slept correlated to when you turn your phone off at night. In this case you should focus on how many times you do this, then celebrate when you get it done. You do not need to wait to see if you have better energy or lost fat as you should be happy you got the desired actions done (the process). If results do not follow then panic ye not, you simply edit the actions and the process that you are following.
Focus on Fun – Everyone takes health & fitness way too seriously and have lost the element of having fun. We are too obsessed on finding the right plan, not making a mistake or copying what the experts do. As a result, we sort of forget to see if it seems a laugh to do it. You need to ask yourself what seems fun within the behaviours you want to do. Anyone can find joy within the tasks they need to do. It sometimes takes just the smallest of adjustments to make a task that you think you hate to become something you are not just willing to do but also enjoy it. Your best guide is right before you within your emotions. These feelings will guide you around what to adjust further and also open up the scope to do new things you would not have considered previously. Stop looking outside of you for answers when you can feel the best options from within.
Commit To Experiments and Not for life – Instead of committing to lifelong adoption of a behaviour before even ever doing it, consider shorter-term trials, or experiments. This approach allows you to gather data, assess the effectiveness, and make informed decisions without feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of permanent change. By embracing experimentation, you open yourself to new possibilities and iterations, allowing you to refine your approach over time based on real-world feedback and results.
See What is before You (Stop making up monsters) – Often, we fabricate fears and anxieties in our minds, convincing ourselves of aversions like hating exercise or fearing judgment at the gym. These imagined obstacles, often far removed from reality, can be incredibly inhibiting. It’s time to dispel such myths and focus on the reality of the present moment, without allowing irrational fears to hold us back. You do not hate all exercise in all modalities, no one will laugh at you in the gym, you are not the most unfit person ever, you can easily say no to a food and change is not actually that hard unless you believe it to be true.
Form A Team Around You (Let the lone wolf find their pack) – While personal accountability and self-motivation are essential, navigating the journey to better health and fitness should NOT be a solitary pursuit. Surrounding yourself with a supportive team can provide invaluable encouragement, accountability, and guidance along the way. I have been part of many people’s
success stories in some form and you should be thinking how can you be associated and/or around others during this process. This is a good way to add fun to the efforts too. In nature, the lone wolf is a temporary part of it’s life until it forms a new pack, not a way of life and struggle long term.
What Does This Mean For You?
You can choose what attitude to adopt on any task or endeavour you embark on. It will of course come with errors, returns to old patterns and the odd disaster but that is part of the process. Most people when they consciously decide to adopt a new attitude are much more successful than they give themselves credit for. How can you apply the above attitudes?
Photo – The “Lone Wolf” looking for his new pack and seeing monsters –
