No matter who or where you are on your journey toward improvement, it is our goal to provide the tools necessary to keep you moving forward.
In our experience, folks find themselves in one of four phases (potentially oscillating between several):
- they lack the necessary information to move forward;
- they are in a stage or state of life in which they believe they cannot make a meaningful change and therefore lack the motivation to try;
- they’re not sure what the next step is to take, they are not surrounded by a group of like minded individuals, or lack the accountability required to make a change;
- they aren’t receiving feedback, guidance, or direction on the actions they’re taking to assess whether or not the actions are in fact moving them toward or away from where they want to be.
All four of these states come with a myriad of emotions.
Regardless of who you are, if you are attempting to solve some perceived or real problem(s) in your life (aka attempting to rewrite the script or narrative to include a different future), you’re somewhere in this cycle.
SCENARIO:
- UNAWARE OF PROBLEM AND/OR SOLUTION:
Completely unaware that there is a lifestyle problem. Denial. Downplaying red flags. Ignoring doctor’s recommendations. Fighting with family/friends when they voice their concern.
- AWARE OF PROBLEM BUT UNAWARE OF SOLUTION:
Bought a new pair of shoes! Decided that Monday-Wednesday-Fridays are official training days. Has thrown out all the junk food at home and has already traded pop for water! Now what? Where to go, who to turn to? What “IG Hall of Fame” can be trusted? Keto, Intermittent fasting, cleansing shakes, high fat vs low fat, how much protein is optimal!? HIIT? LISS? Weight lifting?
PROBLEM:
We live in an era of “INFORMATION OVERLOAD”, and we are constantly misled by the media! And sometimes we are the one’s misleading ourselves.
SOLUTION:
If you’re stuck in this first phase, try to surround yourself with people and professionals who are equipped to enlighten and educate you. Sometimes it takes somebody so far outside your ‘’circle’’ to identify underlying issues or areas of concern. Beyond that, it takes a certified professional to lead you safely, effectively, and efficiently towards your goals.
The first step toward making a meaningful change is:
AWARENESS OF THE PROBLEM
AWARENESS OF THE SOLUTION
A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO POINTS
SCENARIO:
- “I’m not worthy of change.”
- “I will never be like so-and-so…”
- “I’m not as fortunate as others and my circumstances prevent me from being successful.”
- “They look the way that they do because they don’t have kids!”
- “I’m too busy, it’s impossible.”
- “My nagging shoulder prevents me from being active.”
- “I’m too old.”
PROBLEM:
If you don’t believe you are worthy of change or you don’t believe that it’s possible for you to achieve, that is likely to leave ripples of fear, anger, sadness, and/or disgust –powerful emotions that prevent you from acting on your goals!
SOLUTION:
Information in and of itself is relatively powerless to enact action without the proponent of belief that what we’re about to do will actually do us any good. This is a debilitating stage for anyone who finds themselves here.
If this is where you find yourself caught, lean into your coaches to help speak confidence, courage, and conviction into your journey. Surround yourself with people who believe in you until you can believe in yourself!
Vocalizing your fears/internal gremlins can help identify just how irrational they truly are. It’s key to separate reality from perceived-reality. Are the things that you tell yourself excuses or explanations? There is a huge difference between the two and it’s not until you can clearly identify them apart that you’ll be “en-route” towards your goals!
SCENARIO:
- You have the knowledge to get where you want to be…You have the belief that if you do what it takes you will in fact get what you want…Yet you just aren’t doing it…
PROBLEM:
Steps 1 and 2 are complete…but you just can’t seem to get into motion. You talk the talk but cannot walk the walk.
Inactivity is is the antithesis of growth. Nature abhors a vacuum, and if you never start you will absolutely never finish.
Right after believing that we in fact have the faculties to effect change, the most necessary and potentially impacting stage in the process is taking action on the information and beliefs we have worked to form.
SOLUTION:
Surrounding yourself with the right people (friends, mentors, coaches) is absolutely crucial in helping keep you become the person you want to be.
“THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE IS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF THE EXPECTATIONS OF YOUR PEER GROUP. CHOOSE YOUR PEERS WISELY.” -TONY ROBBINS
Question to ask yourself if you find yourself stuck in this state:
- Do you know the next thing that needs to be done? What is it?
- Do you have the relational support structure necessary to continue?
- Are you taking the right actions?
- If you continue doing what you’re doing, where would you end up 3, 6, or 12 months from now?
Remember: doing anything is almost always better than doing nothing.
SCENARIO:
- “I’ve been working out for 5 years and look/feel no different?!”
- “I’ve been dropping my calories weekly and have not lost any weight?!”
- “I workout 5x a week and don’t seem to be getting any stronger?!”
- “I’m always tired, but why?!”
PROBLEM:
Spinning your wheels and doing what Einstein called insanity:
“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”
SOLUTION:
The last stage in the process is to evaluate whether the application of information through action was beneficial or not.
Reflection on if what we’re doing day-in-and-day-out is in fact getting us closer to where we want to be is often a foreign subject for many people. It can be very useful to have another person, especially one who is known and trusted, help give this feedback.
In the realm of feedback and guidance, often the greatest teachers are perspective and experience. Couple those traits with caring for the individual and you are beginning to define who a coach or mentor can and should be.
If you’re trying to facilitate change or transformation in your life without some type of feedback it’s likely that you’ll eventually give up as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result rarely works in our favor.