The hump. The rut. The plateau.
We’ve all been there.
Its that point after you’ve embarked on something wildly new and exciting. It could be a goal, a hobby, or a new career path that you’ve long put off but finally mustered the guts to pursue.
You get up… no you jump, from your bed and attack the day with intense focus, feeling more alive than you have in years. You strut through life, pointing and winking the whole way. People stop and stare and say to themselves,” Whatever she’s having, I want some.”
This pep in your step usually lasts for a couple weeks.
Then it hits you. The luster of your shiny new grail has faded and been replaced with the oh-so-vile-gut-check-time plateau.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets comfortable, rests his feet on the coffee table, and says:
“I’m staying for a while, and Yes! I’d love to sleep on the couch!”
Its the albatross of achievement. Countless men and women who have come before you have submitted to the rut you find yourself in. It’s the man-maker of life.
It’s the reason you want this in the first place, because others say you can’t, because they can’t. For them the uncertainty of the plateau is too much to bear so they turn back and insist all others who dare, to do the same.
This thing we call the plateau is actually not a plateau at all. It’s what Seth Godin calls the Dip.
Its no longer new and others no longer pay attention. What’s left is the drudgery of hard work. A steep climb to the summit of that goal that got you so excited from the outset.
Its the point when your new wildly successful fitness regimen that has you down 10 pounds with another ten to go, but has yielded no more weight-loss after 3 consecutive weigh-ins.
It’s the 6 rejection letters you received from your dream schools, your screenplay, dance company or the last remaining spot in Thunder From Down Under.
It’s Simon Cowell leaning back in his chair as he’s about to serve you a dream-shattering appraisal of your “Absolutely HARR-ible” performance in his signature United Kingdom cadence.
Under a cloud of serious doubt, you begin to ask yourself…
Why am I doing this?
Is it worth it?
Do I really have what it takes? Or were they right?
The above questions are the reason many people, if not most, don’t attempt or obtain anything meaningful in life. Pursuing those deep yearnings that you have inside you forces the long hard look in the mirror.
Adversity Clarifies Commitment
It forces you to ask yourself if you reeeeeeallly want this. In light of the hard stuff you get to find out if you’re willing to stick it out.
You may or may not be. This is not a manifesto to admonish you from ever quitting. Quite the opposite. In fact I encourage you to quit if you don’t think its worth it or if you’re not in this (the Goal) all the way.
You should quit anything and everything that you are half-heartedly committed to so that you can find those things that set you on fire.
Find the answers to these questions mentioned above and I am certain you will overcome the dip.
In the case of fitness. Knowing if you’re really IN THIS you would not be worried about minutia like:
– Whats the best fat loss pill?
– Lean Cuisine or South Beach?
– How can I put on ten pounds of muscle in a month?
– Whats the latest fit fad to get a bikini body in 2 weeks?
The above are tactics towards fitness ends. But tactics alone are short term and for faint-of-heart dilettantes. Those who dabble but aren’t serious.
Results require strategy and consistent implementation, i.e pick up a FEW good habits and stick to them.
We as trainers coach you and provide you with the tools and knowledge to make the changes you desire. But we cannot hand them to you on a silver platter.
I can help you learn what will give you a better chance for success but I don’t know you or your passion. What you care about, what gets you excited and what you are passionate about in life but its these things that will keep you going when things get hard or mundane.
I am here to tell you it’s not as hard as you may think it is, and if you come present and focused for the workouts, follow some simple dietary guidelines and stick with it you will get fitter faster stronger. And it will all happen much sooner than you think.
Start NOW because the quicker the start the sooner you can begin changing your life.
Take a moment and list out your hesitations and what’s stopping you from success.
Stay healthy my friends.
image by kokoperry