Every year we see the same thing. People making New Year’s resolutions and committed to pursuing peak physical condition, clean diets, wealth and everything in between. The busiest time for the health and fitness industry is always around Dec-Jan because they know this. New gym memberships to these “Resolutionists” bring in the dough every year and you can never seem to get on the machine you want for the first month or two. It’s always so packed! Eventually, the momentum slows down and gym attendance returns to those ‘gym rats’ that seem to live there.
How It Starts
One thing I have learned is that in order to become happy and feel successful it takes discipline…it takes Extreme Discipline! Early this year I was one of those people who decided to commit to a work out program and I chose – P90X. (hence, the eXtreme part of my title) It was grueling at first and I wanted to vomit in between sets, but I saw results! It cost me more to invest in a whole new wardrobe than to buy the program but I felt incredible. All my other commitments were brought down in priority and I focused my energy and my life around working out.
Although I worked hard at it and achieved amazing results, the biggest muscle I exercised was my Discipline. By focusing on one habit and mastering it, I developed momentum. I was doing P90X every morning and feeling great! Soon after I was working out in the AM and PM (I know – I’m a PSYCHO!). Eventually, I began educating myself furiously to figure out how to improve my results and recover faster so that I can work out harder every day. That is when I discovered a lot about nutrition and actually began a high-performance vegetarian diet and I have never looked back since. Eventually the strong discipline I developed rippled out into my personal life, my business, and my music. Even months later, these habits are still ingrained in my soul!
People say its hard to quit smoking or to stop eating out or whatever. The truth is it takes work. Feeling good and looking even better is not a destination, its a daily choice and experience! We have to make the decision every day to make this reality! That’s why I love that Beachbody (developers of P90X) motto, “Decide. Commit. Succeed.” Every day, know that you have to do something towards the attainment of your goal. You are getting closer and closer with every decision you make whether it’s refusing that one cigarette drag or dropping that chip like you just committed a crime.
So Now What?
Deciding to follow through on promises you made to yourself takes discipline. Discipline is a muscle. The more you work it the easier it gets. Begin with one sphere of your life. Whether it’s your business, health, relationships, creativity it doesn’t matter. What matters is you commit to improving and creating results in that one area and begin feeling really good about it! So if you’re a musician, strum that guitar for an hour a day or if you’re in sales commit to contacting 20 prospects a day. Don’t get down on yourself when you have an off day, just start again. What you have right now, at this very moment, is all you have. Stop feeling bad about failures of the past or worrying about the future, work on kicking ass on a daily basis! Better yet, on a moment to moment basis.
To your willpower,
O