I’ve been studying a lot about how to get better. What does getting “better” actually mean?
To me it’s just building on yourself based on what you stand for, but working toward making changes in your thoughts, behaviors and ultimately habits.
The title of this blog post may be a little deceiving because it says you don’t have to do more. That’s true, you don’t have “do” more in the sense that in order to improve yourself or hit a goal, you shouldn’t be piling on stuff onto an already overflowing tower.
When I talk about getting better, I’ll use it in the context of fitness or weight loss because let’s face it, that’s where most of us are at.
The first step is to identify your goal. Don’t make up some bullshit goal here because we’ve all done that too and after a week or two if we don’t care enough, we kick that to the curb. As humans we LOVE setting goals because that first phase of setting a new shiny goal is like all unicorns and rainbows, it’s perfect and nothing can go wrong.
Until it does.
What is this second phase all about, when about 2 weeks in we realize that this totally sucks?
The second phase happens because we weren’t honest from the start about whether or not we were prepared to do the work required.
Think about that. Once you set up your goal, are you REALLY and truly ready for the work that is required to get there?
It should be a simple yes or no answer. No stories, no maybe or “I’ll try.”
Yes or No.
If the answer is no then you need to reset and re-evaluate the goal. No shame in that. I’ve done it a million times but I didn’t realize why until just a few months ago. It goes back to whether or not I’m prepared to do the work required, and I wasn’t.
So start there my friend, evaluate what your goal is. It can’t be some fluffy “I want to lose weight” or “I want to be a size 4.”
That won’t get you out of bed on a snowy January morning to hit the gym. Dig deeper- ask yourself 4-5 questions about WHY you want it.
Then ask yourself are you really committed to the work that is required?
If yes, proceed. If no, reset the goal.
That’s it for now- do this work and next week I’ll be back to share part 2 about the obstacles we run into and why we may be trying to achieve the same goal over and over with no results.
