What are you doing with your life, for crying out loud?! Your mental, physical and emotional state has everything to do with how you spend your time. We all wear multiple hats when interacting with our coworkers, friends and family. It takes continuous effort to balance all of the roles we play, however we manage to make it through each day. Sadly, on most days the role of the physically fit person does not make the list.
You may have been physically active in the past but now you have more time consuming responsibilities so you don’t see activity as an essential part of your lifestyle. We make excuses for being out of shape, the most common excuse: “I just don’t have the time anymore.” However, there’s one reason why people don’t get fit and stay in shape for life:
they don’t identify with being in top physical condition.
Yup, that’s it. Most people believe sports, training and fitness are something disconnected from who they are or could be. So when they do exercise they think of it as a temporary inconvenience; something they are willing do to lose five or ten pounds. Then they revert back to their old habits. Enter the fad crash diets, frenetic workouts, weight loss pills and juice cleanses.
How much effort does it take to assume a new or different identity? For example, putting on a suit doesn’t make you a CEO, just as putting on running shoes and athletic gear doesn’t make you physically fit. To become a CEO, you have to put in a lot of time and effort. You not only have to have formal education, you’ll have to don that suit for many years to get the experience necessary to handle the responsibility of the official job title.
You want to be physically fit? Then connect with an expert teacher, study what works and put in the time. Don’t just go to the gym and expect to get it through osmosis. That’s the same as saying you could become a CEO by buying a suit and sitting in an office. Look, it’s great if you can make it to the gym with your new sneakers and fitbit, for that you get a gold star. However, if you want to achieve the lasting fitness needed to navigate life’s hurdles, you’ll need to start to identify yourself with being a physically fit person.
