There are many times when I hate to train but my goals force me to do otherwise. I’ve set high standards for myself and in turn I must live up to them for me and only me. That is the importance of having goals and actually sticking to the process of achieving them. Of course quitting is easier but the results from quitting are terrible and the same as everyone else’s. Dare to be different!
But what if you woke up one day and you had achieved all of your health and fitness goals? Now what would you do because we all know that you can’t just stop and go back to where you started right? But the sad fact is that once you achieve your ultimate goals you come to a VERY boring place called maintenance. Many of you would say “Get me there and I will figure it out.” As good as that sounds, if you didn’t build that success on some pretty solid positive habits and lifestyle changes there is a high likelihood that you will eventually slip back to where you started.
There’s good and bad news to this scenario. Oddly enough they are both the same…the good news is that it will take most people quite some time to get to maintenance and the bad news is that it will take most people quite some time to get to maintenance! But once you do get there your goals can become less specific in order to maintain your level of success.
You may have started out with goals like “tone up”, “get healthier” or “lose some weight” but in order to actually make lasting change your goals need to be A LOT more specific. Such broad goals just don’t cut it. Sure you can start out like this but the more successful you become the more targeted your goals need to be in order to stay on the right track and stay disciplined. Once you’re in maintenance, you can put your journey on cruise control. You are simply looking to zoom out and keep working on the positive habits that got you where you are most successful.
Yes, consistency leads to great results…the desired result is to be in maintenance but it is an awesomely boring place! It truly is the ultimate gift and the curse.
