There Is No Shortcut To Success

One of my biggest complaints with my industry is that it’s afraid to tell people the truth, as if not telling the truth is helping them. What I’m referring to is the truth about shortcuts—that magic workout, or pill, or special diet that will magically give you the body of your dreams. I’m here to tell you that there are no real shortcuts. 

If you ask someone who has had a nice body for a while, for the most part, you will find that they have rituals—things that they do all the time that have allowed them to look and function the way they do.

I believe that over the years, the industry has compromised itself by buying into everyone’s need for instant gratification, letting the “quick-fix” have a voice—the pills and the diets that make outrageous claims but don’t give lasting results—and by minimizing the amount of effort it takes to have real change. With all of the conflicting information that is readily available for the average consumer, most people are so confused that they end up just giving up. I believe that if you give people accurate information, then they can make an intelligent decision about what will work for them. That way, they know what they are getting into and they won’t have a “wait what?” moment when they find out what they really need to do. 

I love my industry and I would do anything to protect it, but we need to stop the madness. If you can’t sustain what you’re doing for the rest of your life, don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. I had a client tell me that he had a friend that lost 30-lbs in thirty days. For someone who desperately wants to lose weight, this sounds like a dream come true, but what we know is that rapid weight-loss will result in a major rebound when you go back to your old habits. You’ll end up putting on way more than you lost.

There just aren’t any real shortcuts; if you’re choosing to do something that you can’t do for life, you will fail. 

If you don’t change your habits, you will fail. Remember: the habit that got you where you are will not take you where you are trying to go. But who wants to hear that? What we want to hear is 10-lbs in ten days. Good luck with that.

If you think about it, we don’t become overweight, get out of shape, or become weak or stiff overnight. It happens to us over time. Just think: if you only gained two pounds a year over five years, you would be ten pounds heavier without really noticing. My point is that your body has checks and balances for out-of-the-ordinary events. If you have a bad weekend and you eat and drink too much, when you get back to your normal routine, your body will kick off the new weight that you gained. It’s only when we string bad weekends and bad weeks together that we end up with a problem.

Consistency always wins—for better or worse. 

Now comes the hard part—making the necessary change to get the weight off, or to get your strength up, or to improve your flexibility, or to strengthen your core. The amount of information and theories available is overwhelming, and much of it is contradictory. This leaves all of us confused and unsure of what to do, so we resort to the latest pills or diet plan that are marketed to give you results overnight and give you the body of your dreams in just two weeks. I will openly admit that I used to fall for this every time. Something new will come out with these great claims of overnight success, and after I spend my money, the only thing that has changed is my wallet. They prey on our need for success without the pain of the process. 

The process is where real growth comes from. When I was competing, I was sure that the supplements I was taking were giving me the edge. But in retrospect, it was my diet, the massive amount of load I put on my body, and my hour and a half to two-hour workouts. All of this combined with the vision of what kind of body I wanted, made the real difference—not the supplements I was taking.

My point to this is that I’m just like everybody else. The habits that got me where I am will not get me where I want to go. I understand how difficult it is to change what you do every day or even how you think about things. So you can make better decisions. It’s a process, and real change takes time. Don’t be fooled by the dream-come-true. If it seems too good to be true, then it is. I encourage you to enjoy the process; it’s the stuff along the way that will give you lasting results.

If you need help with your lifestyle change let us know - we are here to help. You deserve support and guidance and having someone to help along the way makes all the difference. Email us at one of our locations Ivy Road or North to get in touch or use the button below to book a Complimentary Strategy Session today.