A Journey to Success

What does it take to succeed in your fitness goals?  Or any goal?  I don't think there is one magic piece of advice to answer this.  Instead, I believe there are several things that we need.  I recently thumbed through the book by Gunnar Peterson called, "The Workout."  What caught my eye right away was his list of "Imperative Elements for Success:"

• Motivation
• Information
• Variety
• Consistency

This makes sense.  I would add a few more to this list:  dedication and discipline, patience, accountability, and a healthy mindset.  Which one of these is the most important?  Where do you start?  My philosophy as a trainer is that people need to train their mindset along with their body.  This means that people need to change the way they look at food, how they handle emotions and stress, and their attitudes about themselves and what they are capable of. 

After saying that, I would put mindset at the top of the list as well as motivation.  If someone has a negative attitude with no intention of changing any habits and no desire, then they will inevitably fail in any fitness goal.  No doubt. If you do what's easy instead of what's right, you will not get to enjoy long term success.

The other things on the list will come with time.  It's like a chain reaction. The more motivated you are, the harder you'll try.  You'll make the effort to find information about things to add to your workout.  You'll be confident enough to try new things.  The more results you see, the more dedicated you'll be and you'll hold yourself accountable.  You won't even want to miss a workout.  You will have your success!

Find what works for you.  Everyone is different.  Maybe you want information first and then you muster up some motivation and hire a trainer to hold you accountable, and so on.  Success in anything doesn't come easy, but in the end, it's all worth it!