Hats off to Nike as they really have got it right with their branding motto, as while there are an infinite number of reasons people can come up with for not being active, fit and healthy, and yes some of those reasons are genuine. Especially those related to disease and injury as well as the geographical locations they live in, or the social situations they struggle through. However when it comes to those people living relatively well off, in what we term Western Society, the more common reasons for someone to use, start being related to lack of will power, lack of opportunity, lack of time, too busy working, too busy running around after the kids, etc., etc., etc.
In the later cases the reasons flow out of our mouths all too easily, but if we are honest with ourselves they are not really reasons at all, they are excuses. Words and sentences we put together to act as a barrier between us and what we know we should be doing, but don’t. Our education system has come a long way and in particular the studies on Health and Fitness have advanced in leaps and bounds. We now live longer and have more productive lives. Sure medical advances have played their part in this, but so too has the conscious level of knowledge we all have that keeps nagging at us every time we step up another dress size or buy a pair of trousers with a bigger waistline. Eventually our own intuition and that gnawing guilt we have at the back of our mind gets the better of us and we realise we need to embark on a course of action. Hopefully this occurs before a sudden unexpected trip to the doctor reveals something more sinister.
So great, we’ve finally decided that avoiding the side-on view in the full-length mirror is no longer an option, and it wasn’t really lying to us after all. We actually do need to do something about it, and more than that we are now thinking about some kind of activity. So, what do we do? Do we sign up to the Gym, Do we join a sports club? Do we start walking or jogging or running or swimming, or do we pump up the tyres on that old bike kept in the garage and hit the road once more. Or because we now feel embarrassed about the condition we’ve allowed ourselves to fall into, do we opt for the home shopping channel to get the latest fitness fad machine? What about that new diet pill that the celebrity who put on all that weight swears by?
Seems once we’ve stopped making all the excuses about why we’re not doing anything, we then have to deal with just as many choices about what we are going to do to get back in shape. Then once we decide what we are going to do, we are suddenly confronted with a whole bunch of options on how we are going to do it. If we chose the gym, (as most people do), as a first option are we going to the big new flash health club, the old sweat-box gym or something in between. Are we going to organised classes or are we going it alone, are we involving a training partner or are we hiring a Personal Trainer?
Well I’m here to tell you that if you are at this point, you are still in Procrastination, Reason and Excuse (PRE Exercise) mode and you need to move along quickly and get into “JUST DO IT” mode.
It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do something. For the majority of people the reason you are out of shape, over-weight, unfit, unhealthy and struggling, is because you have simply fallen into bad habits which have over time become your lifestyle and its this lifestyle that has led you directly to where you are today. There is only one way out of your current situation and that is to change your lifestyle. Rather than any trainer, friend, partner or celebrity there is also only one person who can help you sort the situation out. Horrible though the realisation is, that person you require the most help from, is the one you look at every day in the mirror – yourself.
Every reason for not doing what you need to do has a solution, just as every excuse you use has an immediate negative impact on your mindset, as you can’t fool and lie to yourself and nor should you. You know deep down inside that you need to do something and that nagging thought is not going away, no matter how much you try to ignore it.
Here’s another little slogan and pearl of wisdom for you to absorb;- “IF NOTHING CHANGES, NOTHING CHANGES”. So the only commitment you have to make to yourself at the start is to do something. Don’t sweat the small stuff, it can all be tweaked and adjusted along the way to better suit your wants and needs as you progress. The simplest part of the journey to better health and fitness is to actually start something and then be committed to it. What it is doesn’t matter, its all about doing something, so stop the PRE Exercise procrastination and JUST DO IT.
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