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Attitude:
The Forgotten Power
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by: Aaron
M. Potts, ISSA CFT
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What
would you consider is your most valuable tool for
staying in shape? Is it your treadmill? What about
your weight set? Is it your arsenal of low-fat
cookbooks, and low-carb diet snacks? What about
your collection of workout videos?
Would you consider it a revelation that your most
lethal weapon in the battle of the bulge is your
Attitude?
Think about it. What good is your treadmill if you
don't have the energy to get on it, or can't get
up the motivation to crank up the speed, or the
elevation? How useful are your dumbbells if you
can't push yourself to use them in the most
effective manner? How good is a nutrition program
that you can't stick to? How much fat loss will
you get out of your workout videos if you just
can't seem to get as motivated as that bouncy
cheerleader who is urging you to jump higher, or
that buff macho man who keeps saying, "C'mon,
just one more rep!"?
No, none of those tools is going to get you very
far unless your HEAD is in the right place. As you
read this article, you have probably already been
exposed to more nutrition and exercise information
than you could possibly ever need to actually stay
in shape. You've probably read, listened to, or
watched the answers to your fitness issues enough
times to win the next Mr. or Mrs. Neighborhood
fitness competition a dozen times over! Yet, you
are still not where you want to be. Why?
Attitude.
Seeing Your Goal
Do you have a clear vision in your head of where
you want to be, or what you want to accomplish
when you are at a peak level of fitness? I don't
mean just some vague idea - I'm talking about an
actual burning mental image of a six-pack set of
abs, or a nice set of curves, or a clear picture
of you crossing the finish line in first place, or
taking home that trophy. If you don't have that,
you are already just spinning your wheels. How can
you expect to get somewhere if you don't know
where that "somewhere" is?
Many people start out very motivated to get in
shape, or to compete for that prize, but their
motivation lacks focus - laser-targeted precision
that will guide them down the right path. The term
"as the crow flies" comes to mind. If
you could leave your house and drive in an exact
straight line to your destination, don't you think
that you would get there a lot faster? What if you
could just fly through stop lights and
intersections, disregard all posted speed limits,
and go exactly in a straight line to every
destination? You sure would get there a lot
faster!
Exercise, physical fitness, and nutrition are no
different. If you don't have a clearly mapped out
and measurable road map to your success, then you
will stray, and that will cost you time at the
very least - and at the most, it will cost you
precious amounts of self-confidence! Take some
time to think about WHERE you want to be, HOW you
are going to get there, and most importantly, WHY
you want to be there. Take the time to do that,
and I think you'll see that your previous path may
have been road blocked by a few too many trips to
Starbucks for a Caramel Frappuccino. Not that
anyone writing a fitness article such as this
would know anything about that...
Believing In Your Ability
Okay, so you've got yourself a good mental
picture. You have your road map in front of you,
your path is straight and true, and you are ready
to get started. What comes next? Belief.
Do you believe it is possible to wave a magic wand
and have all of your excess bodyfat gone, and all
of your fitness goals realized in the blink of an
eye? Of course not. If you do, and you know the
secret, please contact us - I'm sure we could make
some money on that secret! For everyone else, I'll
ask a different question. Do you believe that you
could sit on your couch, suck down some ice cream,
and put on some more bodyfat? The answer is,
unfortunately, yes.
What is the difference between those two
questions? Very simple - one is possible, and one
is not. What does that have to do with your
fitness goals? Well, it may come as a surprise,
but you have been dealing in the IMPOSSIBLE for
quite sometime now. You have been striving for a
goal, yet not really believing that it was within
your power to reach it.
Oh sure, you may have joined a gym, or bought a
new Litmus 3000 Super-Decker top of the line
treadmill/clothes hanger, but did you really
believe that you were going to do it this time? If
you are reading this and you are in perfect
physical condition, then congratulations - you did
it! For the rest of you, are you seeing the point?
You didn't truly believe it, because otherwise it
would have happened.
Each of us shelters hidden either very deeply or
sometimes NOT so deeply a seed of doubt that we
will really succeed. When that seed is there -
whether it is planted deeply or not - your
subconscious waters it and feeds it. The next
thing you know, it is has grown into an entire
field of self-limiting beliefs, and you have
neither the time nor the desire to get out there
in the field and destroy that evil crop!
What are you to do, then? BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
Why? The answer to that is simple - because you
are the only one who truly can. Others may support
you, and they may even show you the path, but it
is YOU who has to walk it.
Taking Action
We have covered the need for you to clearly see
your goal, and for you to use the power of belief
to start walking down the path, but what's next?
The next step is the same for you as it is for an
aspiring business owner, or a college freshman, or
an artist staring at a blank canvas - you have to
TAKE ACTION. You can read the top 2 sections of
this article all day long, but doing so won't burn
off any bodyfat, or pack any muscle tissue onto
your body. Only appropriately carried out action
can do that.
Think of all the self-help books that you have
read, or programs that you have watched on TV, or
listened to on the radio. Did any of them do you
any good whatsoever if you didn't take action on
what you had learned? What about what you have
read so far in this article? Has it been helpful?
Most likely. Will it do you any good if you don't
Take Action? Nope. Negative. No way. Nada. You get
the picture.
You can read, listen, and watch your way right
into a bodyfat level that would make a sumo
wrestler jealous, or consider your options until
your muscles have diminished so much that you
can't even lift a toast to your dearly departed
dreams, but none of that will mean squat if you
don't GET UP and make it happen!
Why are you still sitting here? Get out there and
Take Action!
About the author:
Aaron Potts is the owner and creator of Fitness
Destinations, a content-filled health and fitness
website for consumers as well as professionals in
the fitness industry. Aaron's experience in the
health and fitness industry includes one on one
personal training in many different environments,
maintenance of several health-related websites,
and authoring of many fitness articles and
fitness-related products for consumers and fitness
professionals. http://www.fitnessdestinations.com
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