RAQ Training

There’ve been times that I’ve thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

from “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke

Since the election is behind us, and we now are looking forward to how the new president will direct this county, I thought that today I would write about the theme that both parties was selling with their campaigns-Change….. No I am not going to talk about anything that deals with the politics or who should have won or what I think about the whole election process. I think we all (rather your guy won or lost) are tired and need a break from the whole political race and politics altogether. The Change that we are going to talk about has to deal with your personal health and personal goals that you have for yourself.

Time and patience …patience and time…by putting into practice discipline, perseverance, consistency, and a positive attitude, a change will eventually come.

Let’s face it, most of us want to change ourselves physically in some way. Lose a few pounds, add a bit of muscle; become obscenely strong. Perhaps a combination of all three. When you’re setting your fitness goals, try using this approach:

1. Start with the endpoint - your ideal weight, size or the amount you’d like to lift. This is irrespective of your current state.
2. Once you’ve got an idea of the target, work out how you’re going to get
there. Clean up your diet, set aside some time in the home gym; whatever you need. This will give you an idea of how long it will take.
3. Put some firm numbers into the goal. Aim to reach a weight of kg, or lift kg.
4. Finally, put a date in the goal; but be flexible.

Taking away the limits

The critical part of this comes right at the beginning, when you’re first thinking about your ultimate goal, your ideal weight, size, strength etc. By taking away the mental barriers (such as ‘I’ve never done this before‘), ‘), it’s possible to be extremely ambitious. Aim high. Keep repeating the action until it becomes a habit, your new status quo, your new comfort zone. We all have plenty of old habits, some good, some not so good. How did we develop those habits in the first place? We simply repeated an action - or inaction - over and over again until it became ‘a habit. The benefits of doing it this way can be enormous. After all, it’s much more fun to be near a lofty goal than a conservative one. As a bonus, many of those limitations will suddenly disappear.

In addition, visualize and affirm what you want or where you want to go.

I am a firm believer in this step, and if you don’t believe me then I would love to share a true story about how powerful visualization and affirmation statements can be. The story takes place a year and a half ago when I was faced with the dilemma of wanting another car. At the time I own a 2000 Ford Focus, but I wanted either a BMW or a Nissan 350z At the time, I spent hours writing on my blog for my website. As a result, I spent hours upon hours on the computer so I thought it would be cool to put one of the cars as the wallpaper/ screen saver for my laptop so whenever I used the laptop, the car would be the first thing I saw. The Nissan 350z image was too small to be saved as a screen saver; however, the BMW was just the right size. I didn’t think much of it and every time the conversation of what type of car I wanted came up I would respond with wanting the Nissan 350z; however, the BMW was the car that was a constant reminder and was constantly being programmed into my subconscious mind as the car that I really wanted. When it was time for me to purchase my car, guess what type of car I purchased? I currently own a 2004 BMW 325i.

Don’t underestimate the power of visualizations. Use your imagination to ‘image’ what you want your future body, lifestyle, eating habits, or whatever you want to look like. it really is mind over matter. By that I don’t mean only will power, although you will have to use some of that while you are in the process. It’s more a matter of seeing your future in your mind and demonstrating the new behavior at the same time. It can be a powerful tool. Feel the confidence. Put the ideal body type or goal that you want to achieve on your mirror or somewhere that you constant come into contact with on a daily basis. The statement, “out of sight, out of mind” is really true. The more you see the goal or you think about the goal, the more the subconscious mind process and bring the dream into reality.

Don’t give up! Decide on what you want and don’t quit. If you want to change your health or fitness, ask yourself how much do you want what you want. There is a saying that goes: “Commitment Guarantees You Will Succeed.”

So, how much do you want what you want?

Oh and just like the river
I’ve been running ever since
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will from “A Change Is Gonna Come”

You don’t have to be like the river running ever since. Be specific with your goals. Review your goals and have a clear vision of what you want. If you want to change your health or fitness, you must make it a priority. Be determined that you will succeed. And you will.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Personal Training, Mental Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.