Over the years I have coached and educated tens of thousands of people. This includes my time spend teaching high school, working as a lab instructor in university, presenting at conferences as well as working in a fitness setting with everyone from business professionals to elite athletes. And you know what? There is a common thread unifying all of the ones who have had the greatest success. This common thread is that they made a mental commitment to do what it takes to realize success. They bought into the plan and made the sacrifices to realize their goal. Their efforts were symbolic of a direction rather than a destination. And the success they have enjoyed has spilled over to other areas of their life and given them the confidence to succeed at whatever they choose. I believe it may have have been the basketball coach Bobby Knight who said, 'everyone wants success but not everyone wants to works for success'. Until we decide we want to work for success we are subconsciously resisting our potential for success.
The second item that must be present for success is to eliminate negatives. In a fitness setting we want to ensure all the bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and muscles interact optimally. As soon as we detect an alignment issue we use the best methods available to clean up the deficiency and restore proper function. If we do not take the time to address and correct these issues then the chance of injury increases and the effectiveness of our workouts decreases. It would not make sense to continue adding load to the bar during our workouts if we noticed an alignment issue, or worse pain, during the movement. We must eliminate what is wrong first before proceeding towards our goal.
Another way of looking at this is from a nutritional perspective. Many realize the importance nutrition plays in achieving optimal health and performance and will often times seek out a supplement to enhance their progress. While there are a lot of great supplements out there, look first to see if there are any negatives you can remove from your nutritional plan before you add something. Are you eating fast food and trans fat? Do you drink soda or any form of high-fructose-corn-syrup? Do you drink enough water? Do you eat enough fibre? Do you eat before and after very workout? Do you have fish at least three times a week? Depending on your answers to these there may be some things that can be eliminated from the diet to improve your health before you seek something to add.
I believe these to be the two best pieces of advice for success and can be applied to many other areas of your life. You are all in different fields and can probably think of ways this may benefit your customers, friends and family. Pass along your wisdom and I will post for everyone's benefit.
All the best.
Chris
2 Essential Items for Success
