SAM and Fitness Goals

Do you know that the fitness industry is the only industry where you can pay money for a result, fail to get that result and blame yourself! Just think, if you saw an ad in the newspaper for car repair, and after you got it back it was either in the same condition or worse you would probably be upset, so why not with fitness? Now to be fair, part of this equation certainly sits on the shoulders of the person seeking better health, but there lies equal responsibility on the person providing the service, otherwise, what are we selling? I think there are fundamentally only a few big obstacles that prevent people from achieving their fitness goals, both of which the trainer and the participant bear some responsibility.

So, are you interested in know what they are?? Let’s start with you, the participant. There are two main things that lay solely on your shoulders and they are consistency in adopting the strategies that are being introduced to you by your trainer (doctor/chiropractor/yoga instructor etc.) This means if you are told that you must stretch every day to alleviate a musculoskeletal condition, they tell you stretch every day, otherwise, you have no room to complain that “it’s not working”.

The second thing that lays solely in the domain of you, the participant has more to do with personal growth. What I am referring to the often-childish complaints of “I don’t have time to eat healthy”, “I don’t have time to exercise”, “I am too tired to exercise” and on the list goes. Perhaps in your current paradigm these excuses may seem true, but if you remain there what is the risk? Early death should be a big deterrent you would think, but more powerful ones would be “what kind of example am I setting for my kids, am I dooming them to a life of poor health and early death”. Perhaps even worse, what is the self-talk like if you have little disciple over your health? Not good generally.

So, knowing how ugly the mental battle can get, would we again want to damn our children to the same mental fate we may been experiencing. In truth, there is no easy path forward and there is lots of work to be done, but the only way you pull it off is to start with an over reaching theme for your life. So here is how you S.A.M your lifestyle. First start with your why, as this will provide a powerful stabilizing platform for you to use to keep you on track. This is the S in SAM, stabilize, a strong philosophical, emotionally charged reason that you can use as an anchor (reminder) of why you are on the path. This will be the corner stone for every reason and action you take (and the poor habits you begin to avoid). How many of us do more for others than ourselves, and especially our children? Once you have decided, powerful, on the why and the what, then from that vantage point you start to create your plan, or possible actions you will take to achieve your goal.

Now remember, this is done in the emotional space that is powerful and stable, and it is important to stay in that space and decide on what actions you need to take as it will anchor them deeper into your subconscious mind. Don’t just create list, imagine how life will be different once you have achieved your goals, and again, this will anchor the reasons deeper yet again. The last part is to figure out the M in same, which is the movement forward. The movement can be thought of like a business plan, what is my objective, what is the time line for completion for the first phase of the plan, and what type of schedule can I create that will allow me to move forward on this goal. You may have to ask for help in childminding, you may to see your doctor before you start, but no matter what you “must” do, you will only “actually” do it if you have a solid and “stable why” that will intrinsically drive you forward to getting it done. When you follow this beautiful and powerful progression you will find yourself hitting your goals with much more accuracy and speed than ever before, and having fun while doing it. There is no the best fitness goal, but there is a right way to ensure that the goals that you set are met, all you need is a reason why and a sensible plan.

Thank you, thank you SAM I AM.

C. David Gilks Your Fellow Traveler