Your Want Is Your Fuel
If you’re the person who already knows it’s a good idea to be healthier because Facebook, your family, friends or significant other is telling you every day.. don’t worry this isn’t another article that is going to shame you for being lazy, it’s actually here to help you.
Exercise and leading a healthier lifestyle can give us so many amazing things, the things we really want in life.
And that’s the key in all of this, remembering what it is you actually want, that’s the only thing that will keep you exercising long term, and is the most important thing in getting you started.
What do I mean by that?
It’s not the exercise we actually enjoy, it’s the result of what the exercise actually gives us that makes the effort of leading a healthier lifestyle all worthwhile.
Equally, it’s not the other people in our lives telling us to be healthier that makes us what to lead a healthier lifestyle, but rather our own wants and desires that will inspire us to transform our lives for the better.
There’s a very famous book by Dale Carnegie “How To Win Friends & Influence People”
The book outlines the importance of when trying to inspire people to be better, it’s vital to do it in such a way that makes the other person want to do it.
I’ll give you an example from personal experience, I was once a shy and socially awkward guy…unbelievable right?
Well I was, I didn’t feel comfortable in my body, and as a result felt like I couldn’t be myself in public, as well as having very little confidence.
I didn’t show it, but this used to affect me deeply. I think my dad recognised this, he said I should start the gym, but he did it in the right way.
My dad said to me on a family holiday if I grew some muscle I would stand taller, feel more confident, feel relaxed in social gatherings and told me because of my height, it would make me look like my favourite action film stars.
Guess what, I started doing push ups in the hotel on that very same holiday!
See how smart that is?
He knew what I wanted, and he told me how to get it.
To get the things I wanted, I started the gym and have never looked back since, completely transforming my confidence and body which makes me extremely proud every single day.
What you may not know, is that my dad was really into the gym too, when he went to university in Southampton he started the gym to build muscle and get strong (possibly for the same reasons)
Apparently when he got home, his mother told him “oh my god, you’ve gone a funny shape!”
But it made him happy, so my dad has lived & learned the value of exercise, and has passed his experience on to me. But the key wasn’t the information, it was how it was delivered that counted.
My dad made sure to communicate it in a way that made me want to do it. He didn’t say “you need to” or “you should” or “this is what I did so why don’t you” or even “just do this”
He said if you grow some muscle this is what you can get, and made sure to list the things he thought I wanted.. and he was right. That’s what made me want to get in shape, not anyone shaming me or telling me what they expect, or want me to do.
So remember, the key is remembering what it is that YOU want. Think of all the things you’d like to do, and will be able to do once you have improved your health.
Don’t get healthy for anyone else, do it for yourself, that’s how you’ll keep that fire burning.