Before I dive into the title topic of this post I have something for you to consider. How long have you been following me on Social Media? How long have you been checking out this blog? How long have you been thinking to yourself, "Man, I wish I (would, could,) be healthy like Matt."?
I'll be honest; there are only two things you need to settle on to get started. Are you sure you're ready to read it? If so, Are you prepared to accept this about yourself and your future? Ok. HERE WE GO!
Two things in life motivate both you and I. The first is FEAR, so let's identify it.
Fear is a feeling or perception of a threat. Genuine fear is the threat of physical safety by something beyond your control like a wild animal or deranged person. Every other instance of what I'll refer to as "fear" is 100% mental deception. If you are "afraid" to fail, guess what? Unless that failure ends in something life-threatening, it is not worth being afraid. If you're "scared" of success, guess what? If you succeed, at least no one else will hate you for achieving something. Sure, there will be jealousy, but that's THEIR problem, not yours. Remember that.
An anecdote- I have never, ever, in my ten years of pursuing a healthy life been shamed, condemned, or ridiculed for what I've accomplished. Losing a total of now 87 pounds and maintaining a healthy 176-pound weight for years now is something I was afraid of when I started because of what people might think.
More than once, people have commented that I have become "Too Thin" or asked if I've been sick. Nope! Just striving for health and it only looks sick or thin because our view of healthy has become distorted (that's a whole different topic for a post).
Ok, back to the topic of "fear."
We can convince our selves of a "fear" that it will manifest in our life. Are you afraid of getting a headache? How often does that fear come true? What about the days you don't fear it? Does it still happen? Not likely. See!
Now let's use "fear" for motivation. I was afraid that my poor habits were going to lead me to a life with heart disease. When I stepped on the scale at age 25 and weighed 263 pounds, I was sad. I was afraid I would never know a life without aches and pains. When I rushed to a hospital with chest pains, I found out my blood pressure was dangerously high, and my bad cholesterol was through the roof. I was afraid my life was doomed to suffer from these things forever.
I took that fear and turned it into action. The fear drove me to lose 50 pounds in 90 days and make some serious dietary and exercise habit changes. The fear worked! I was healthy in 3 months from what I feared would take me a lifetime to undo. Fear was a strong motivator.
Then something magical happened. I stopped being afraid and tapped into the second motivator.
The second motivator is the CHOICE. But I mean SERIOUS choice, not just some willy-nilly decision you "try" to see if it works. No, you are choosing to do all the things required to get that goal. The choice is certainly not natural, but it is far more motivating.
You see, accepting your choice frees you from the fear. Taking your chosen path gives you the ability to enjoy the process and experience all the goodness. You begin to overlook the momentary temptations and start to look at the broader picture. Trust me,
I see these types of Meme's and none of them apply to me. When they start showing up about "your forties," I won't apply to them either.
SO WHY SHOULD YOU!?
Choose differently. Take the hard path and enjoy the easy life. Battling through 30 minutes of exercise each day and eating some damn delicious food you've prepared with quality ingredients that are full of nutrition will pay off quickly. Doing these things can reverse YEARS of damage your body has endured. Don't believe me? Do a search and on reversing aging and you'll see the top two things cited in every article are Diet and Exercise.
That's why there is an army of people who endorse the use of some products. There are millions of people who will swear that they never thought they could do it, but then made a decision of change that worked.
So what I am saying is use FEAR to CHOOSE to follow a plan, give it your full effort, and see what happens. Decide that this time will be different, and it will be!
Look, I am happy to offer guidance and even connect you with the programming I have been using for the past ten years (I'm rounding up a little), but needless to say, it has worked well for me. I have absolute confidence it will work for you too. But to get you started without any commitment to me or my crap...
Here's what I want you to do. Seriously, do this and see how you feel.
Take out a piece of paper and write down your "fear." Take a good look at those words and see if you feel powerless or powerful.
If you feel powerful, write down a decision you're going to make to change that fear into a motivator.
You can keep that paper for yourself in a place where you'll see it each day, or you can take a snapshot and send it to me via Facebook or Matt@MattMaus.net, Subject: My Decision. Then I'll hold you accountable.
Once you do that, your next step is to take action — That's where I can come in and help you out with a plan. I can even get you started for FREE! How cool is that?
Have you made up your mind? GREAT!
Let's get to work.
Peace,
-Matt