You CRUSHED January!! But what about the next 11 months??

It’s coming down to the wire. We’ve finished the first month of 2020. How do you think it’s going so far?

Think about that for a second. I know a lot of us have set goals for this year, this quarter or this month so are you finding it easy or hard to stick to the things you’ve set out for yourself?

Motivation is always a difficult thing to maintain and it’s 100% not just you, it’s everyone. So how do some people find it easy and others find it so, so, so, impossibly difficult to stick with something?

Let’s say you set a goal of losing 10 pounds by spring break. Now, without starving yourself or flipping your whole eating style upside down, how do you attain this?

First, ask yourself why. Why is this so important? Why does it have to be by April? Why does it matter to you? Is it the weight loss or do you just want to feel more confident in your clothes? Are you doing it for yourself or for someone else? What are you willing to give up to achieve this?

The more questions you can answer and the more definition and importance you can give to this, the stronger your belief and the more likely you are to stick to it. The more honest you can be the more likely it is to happen. This is the most vital step of the goal setting process.

Once you have that figured out, next we have to break down what steps we’re going to take to hit that goal by that specific date. Now, granted this is easier said than done but it’s also smarter, healthier and less stressful than losing 10 lbs the week before because you didn’t have anything mapped out.

These days, even if you’ve driven back to Pacific Beach from Las Vegas twenty times, you still put the directions in Google maps because you never know where the truck broke down and we all know about that Sunday morning traffic on the 15. Having a map (and a tour guide aka accountability partner/coach) ALWAYS means greater chances of success and happiness. Just because you’ve done it before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t double check the map.

So now it’s February and you have 8 weeks to lose 10 lbs. Totally doable. Only 1.25 pounds per week. If one pound of body weight is 3500 calories, that means ending each day 500 calories less than normal. This can be accomplished two ways (1) eating 500 less calories or (2) burning 500 more calories.

If you have an Apple watch, you know how hard burning 500 calories can be and if you’ve ever counted calories or portion controlled, you know how hard cutting

back 500 calories can be too. If you enjoy the feeling and physical exertion of exercise, the 500 sweat calories might not seem too hard but if you’ve never worked out in your life it might seem daunting AF.

Another example, let’s say it’s been your lifelong dream to go to Japan in the Spring for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Let’s make this dream a reality. How expensive are flights? How much is the hostel or hotel? How much are the bullet train tickets? Do you want to eat fast food or dine well in Tokyo? How much are you supposed to tip? Did you want to tour any temples or do any shopping? How much time will you have to take off work? Figure those things out, find find out how long it’s going to take to save that much money, find out what you’re willing to give up (cooking more, avoiding the mall, stop going to movies, stay in on a Saturday and put $75 into a savings account labeled Japan Trip) There are a ton of ways to make this happen.

This is where your WHY comes into play.

Let me tell you something that I recently conveyed to a new friend about how I stick to such a strict nutrition plan (and generally never, ever waver)

In my line of work, my thought process is that my body is my business card. I want my business to succeed so I need my body to be a reflection of what I preach, fitness, mobility, flexibility and overall health. At this point in my life, the growth of my business is my #1.

Since this is the biggest WHY in my life, it’s easy for me to say no to that bite of birthday cake or to adding even a drop of sweetener to my coffee. The short term joy isn’t worth the long term potential (and I know I’m being dramatic) disaster. I make a lot of exceptions as far as partying on weekends and the occasional music festival but 98% of the time, I stay on point because I have a very real definition of my why.

If you want to lose 10 lbs to look better in a bikini for that Spring Break trip to Cabo that might not be enough, but if you need to lose 10 pounds because you have high blood pressure, your parent’s both have high blood pressure but you want to be around to watch your grandchildren grow up, that might be enough. If you want to lose 10 pounds because your wedding photos only happen once, that might be enough. But if you’re trying to look good for your high school reunion because your ex married your high school nemesis, that might not be… or it might be.

Throughout this mapping process you have to take into account potential pitfalls like Super Bowl parties or traveling for work where it might be hard to track food or get in workouts… again, revert to your why.

This isn’t only fitness. This is saving money. This is graduating using school. This is growing a business. This is finishing a screenplay. This is building relationships. This is passing a test. This is raising a family. This is inventing the hyper loop. This is controlling stress. This is everything.

Find a big enough why and tell me something you can’t do.