You Have to See It

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I want to help you reach your fitness goals by emphasizing the importance of fully envisioning your end results.  Everyone who starts out with the aim of improving on their health by increasing their level of fitness starts out with some ultimate goal in mind; people often want to "lose weight", "get stronger" or improve some other level of their health.  However, if the end results are not concretely seen, they are often not reached.  The importance of starting with, and maintaining a clear vision of your goals cannot be overstated.  While the phrase "keep your eye on the prize" is a great cliche for what will help you maintain your efforts, it is also imperative that you start out with a clear picture of where you want to be from the very start.  Having a true picture of your finished product is essential to forming obtainable goals.

          While studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture, I was taught that the intention of the treatment was as important, if not more important, than the actual treatment.  We would use the phrase "the Li proceeds the Qi" to signify the importance of having the idea what you want to do before actually doing it.  And this is true with fitness goals, or anything that you want to eventually reach.  For example, before you decide on the roads to take, or the flights to book, you have to know where you are going to first.  It is very pragmatic to have the end goal in mind first.  One of the first search criteria you need to put into any travel website is your destination.  From there you would make adjustments and changes according to details.  Well this is exactly what happens with designing an exercise or nutrition routine.  After you clearly identify where you are looking to take your health and fitness, a personal trainer and/or nutritionist would tell you what you needed to do to get there.

          Having that vision of your end goal is also important along the journey itself.  This is because often enough, there are things that pop up and distract us from where we are going.  They range in form from legitimate injuries, to guilt laden laziness.  Using the travel analogy works here too.  You maybe traveling along the highway and then all of a sudden you encounter a bunch of traffic which will slow you down from reaching your goal.  Or, maybe you simply take the wrong direction and get of course a bit.  Heck, you might even be at the airport and storm cancels all flights for the day.  You may have been in one or more of these situations, so I ask you, did you simply give up on getting to where you were going?  Probably not!  If you stayed on the same route begrudgingly through the traffic, you got to where you were going...just later than you expected.  With training, sometimes it can be just a frustrating as sitting in traffic for you to get to the results you want.  If you went off course, you may have pulled over and asked for directions.  Again, maybe if you are not getting to where you want to be fitness-wise, it is time to ask for some help from a trainer.  And if a beyond your control storm shuts down the entire Eastern seaboard you were forced to wait for new flights...similar to the recovery time mandated following an injury.  But the key is you got to where you were going, by knowing where you were going?

          It is important for many reasons to have a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve if you really want to get there.  But all of them point you in direction that you want to go.  If a client came to me and said they weren't sure of what they wanted to get out of going to the gym, I would be just as lost at helping them get to that place as gas station attendant would be trying to give directions to someone who had no idea where they wanted to go.  Again, think about someone asking you the question" Hi, I need help.  Can you tell me how to get there?"  What would your answer be?  You would ask, "Well, where are you trying to go?"  The clearer your vision is, the easier it is to get there.  Think about what kind of directions your GPS would give you if you only put in the number of the house/building address you were trying to find.

         Finally, it is important to keep and eye on your goals because it allows your mind to consider the goals realistic, and therefore attainable.  If you keep picturing yourself as that final product, you will be more encouraged to get there.  The weeks leading up to a vacation are often filled with giddy anticipation because you know you will soon be there.  And it might even help you stay in check too; just before a vacation you might watch what you eat and spend a little more closely leading up to your departure date.  But the main way it helps is to allow you to remain focused on your goals.  If you can see them, you know how to get there, and you know you can get there.

        Everyone who is trying to live a healthier life is trying to live better than they currently are.  They want to be healthier than they are now...it is a goal further down the road.  But knowing where that road ends will help you know how to get there, and stay the course...even if there are some road blocks along the way.  Keeping your eye on the prize, your prize, your fitness goals, a healthier you is a well traveled way to a fit new you!