Understanding the Connection between Your Goals & The Journey

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." - Tom Landry (NFL Hall of Fame Football Coach)


We all have dreams and goals in life, whether they are "big" or "small", these aspirations are very meaningful on an mental and emotional level to us as individuals.  Some of these goals are derived from past experiences, other goals are based on proving the nay-sayers wrong.  Whatever the original motivation is for these goals and dreams that we have, we have been told by society that there are ways to gain what we want.  Yet those outside forces are very judgmental of us because we are climbing towards the mountain top instead of falling into the crowd.

Today's society wants immediate results; it has been forgotten how important hard work and the value of having a plan is in achieving goals and dreams.  The Roman Colosseum was not built in a few weeks, neither was the Golden Gate Bridge or the Pyramids.  No great achievement was gained from a short term mind set.  Nothing that is worth having is attained without patience and hard work.  But the question is "how do we do it?"  Let's review the three important steps to attaining any goals or dreams, no matter how "big" or "small".  For context, we will make an analogy with a car going on a road trip.


Step 1: Start the car/Start the journey
You will never reach your goals and dreams without starting the journey towards those aspirations.  You must be committed to taking the steps forward, because staying in one place is not progress.  To achieve progress, you must make the commitment emotionally and mentally to move towards those goals.
 
Ask yourself, what great accomplishment was every attained without there being a commitment made to go after it?  Today's popular culture calls it "hustling", the old guard calls it "hard work"; whatever you want to call it, you can't get something without going after it.  Whatever burns inside of you, what causes you to wake up and go to sleep with in the back of your mind, you have to work hard to make it happen.  No race was ever finished without taking the steps to get to the finish line.


Step 2: Review the Map to get from Point A to Point B/Have a Game Plan
When you go on a long road trip, you look up how far it is to get to your destination and directions to get there.  You will never reach your destination unless you have an idea how to get there.  Even on long trips, we figure out a pit stop or place to take a break that is possibly halfway to our destination, to either get food, have a bathroom break or just as a mental marker to say "I am halfway there!"

The same applies with the journey to achieving your goals.  You need to know how to get there, have a plan on what to do to succeed at gaining your dream and even have short term goals that are different stages in the journey to the ultimate, long term goal.  Thomas Edison was asked about how many times he failed in his efforts to invent the light bulb; he responded "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  You will not always succeed with the first game plan, you may not get the ultimate result at first, but the longer you strive after the ultimate goal, the more small successes you will achieve and you will figure out what works for you!


Step 3: Car needs Fuel in the Gas Tank/You need Fuel to get to your Goals
Media and society have bombarded us with miseducation about what we need to succeed in life.  We see all types of diets and programs for people to "lose weight", but many of these are not founded on long term results; instead they are predicated on short term gratification.  We all want achievements that are tangible as we progress towards the ultimate goal, but if we are not properly fueling the journey we will not reach that destination.

In the health and fitness world, an individual cannot make weight loss or athletic gains without the proper amount of Macro Nutrients (Protein, Fats, and Carbohydrates).  These nutrients are integral in having the fuel the body needs to not just attain desired results, but also not to regress and have negative results to one's health both physical and mental.  Too many times people fuel their bodies with either the wrong nutrients or not enough, leaving them malnourished hanging below the baseline for healthy living, because they have been misinformed.

When you want to attain a dream or goal, you have to have a positive input into the vehicle that is going to get you where you want to go.  If you fuel your mind or body with negativity, that negativity will hold you back, like a poison.  But when you make sure what you fuel yourself is positive, you will get positive results, short and long term.  The adage "You are what you eat" is actually in the ballpark of reason.  We can change it to "You will produce what you absorb".  If you want to achieve greatness, you want to make progress; you want to live your dreams then you MUST make sure that you are fueling your mind, body, environment and life with the right elements.



So there you go, you can be successful by getting the journey started, having a plan with short term goals along the way to reach your ultimate goals, and finally you need to the right fuel to get there.
Lastly, you need to be honest with yourself.  Remember there is a difference between being a realist and a pessimist.  A Pessimist is a person who sees or anticipates the worst, in other words, is negative consciously and subconsciously in their every life and actions.  A Realist is a person who tends to view or represent things as they are, in other words, someone who is objective consciously and subconsciously in their everyday life and actions.  When you are objective, you are more likely to be balanced with your life and goals.  You can aim big, have large scale dreams, but you also need to know where you are coming from and what the amount of time and work it will take to get there.

You must as well have a willingness to re-evaluate your goals and destination as you go along your journey.  Also, as you make progress, when you remember where you started, it puts into context how far you have come and how your ultimate goals are even more attainable.


"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States)

Overcoming Health Obstacles for better Health and Fitness

Imagine if you were lactose intolerant, suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, couldn't eat corn or almost any greasy foods without major GI Track issues, have chronic lower back and nerve issues, multiple knee injuries, tendinitis in your left arm and you do not make the "big money" to buy those specialized foods & medicines to treat any of these problems...sounds like a great excuse to not have a healthy diet or be fit, right?

Well that scenario describes my world.  I have lived most of my life having to be extra careful what foods I eat and what supplements I take.  The honest truth is that I take no prescriptions for any of my "health problems" because I have found through being cautious about what I eat and drink daily I can manage my health issues.  I have found that many of those "medicines" mask symptoms instead of actually helping to fix the problem.

Whatever your situation is, i doubt that it is ideal, fiscally or physically.  The solution to being fit and healthy lies within the choices you make every day.  I want to give you my tips to get you on the right path to making more informed decisions to make it easier to be healthy and fit!


1. Read the ingredients before buying it
Ask anyone that has ever been involved in marketing or advertising, how you present your product has a major influence on potential customers.  The colors, trendy adjectives, nutrition grids, suggestive health benefits; all of these elements factor into your decision to consider buying a product.  Instead, you need to jump to the ingredients section to see what exactly is in it before buying it.

This goes for everything now a days because companies are putting so much unnecessary stuff in products;  Does apple sauce really need High Fructose Corn Syrup?  Does your "100 percent whole wheat bread" still sound "healthy" with Modified Corn Starch and Mono and Diglycerides? Why do chips need Olestra? And lets not forget those Boars Head Cold Cuts with the "healthy heart" symbol still has MSG in it!

Our society has been so programmed to read the front of the package instead of the back leaving many people to wonder why they may have GI Track problems after eating a "healthy meal".  So be an informed consumer who is picky at the store, read the ingredients, know what you are putting into your body.  You cannot make gains if what you are putting into your body is a farce.


2. Attack Your Cravings, Don't Ignore Them
I see these commercials for these Diet Programs and they claim they are going to help you "fight your cravings".  But do you understand why you crave certain foods?  Sometimes if you are craving certain "unhealthy foods" its because your body is in need of something healthy such as Calcium or Magnesium.  Do not ignore your cravings because there are psychological and biological reasons for them.
 
Some psychiatrists and rehab clinics recommend for those with addictions go through Replacement Therapy, where the patient is weened off the addiction by finding a substitute.  Examples include cigarette smoker becoming a gum chewer or a drug addict switching over to caffeinated coffee.  The same psychology can be used for food cravings.

Do you love chocolate candy or Oreo's?  Find a protein powder or protein bar to substitute instead of buying a candy bar.  Do you love cinnamon buns?  Buy some Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread and put some organic fruit preservatives on it.  Find other foods to eat instead of immediately falling back on the craved foods.  If you do your best to eat healthy 80 percent of the week and treat yourself the other 20 percent, over time you will become more accustomed to not give into the "junk food" and the more you understand the reasons behind your cravings the more you will be able to handle the urges.


3. Question those toppings, remember food is fuel for the machine that is your body
If you owned a Lamborghini you wouldn't put Regular Unleaded gasoline in it, right?  NO, you would Premium Plus in it because that car is special.  This is because that car needs the best quality fuel to operate.  Well the same goes for your body; the quality of what you put in your body equals the quality you get out of it.

As a society we have been raised to have an unhealthy relationship with food, having to put condiments on everything while not always cooking food to be tasteful, instead cooked with a bunch of stuff to add flavor to it.

In the long run, many of those dressings, breading, condiments, etc are made with a bunch of stuff your body doesn't need.  Start looking at what you eat as something that is to fuel you, not just taste good.  If you like beef, then get some steak; but do you need to drown it in A1 sauce for it to be good?  No, a little seasoning while the steak is cooking goes a long way.

If you are lactose intolerant, you may not realize how many salad dressings and sour creams are made with dairy products or if you are Diabetic, how many refined sugars and syrups are put in products such as ketchup and barbecue sauce.  Then you wonder why you don't feel good later after eating that salad or that steak; its because the "healthy" meal was covered in unhealthy junk that your body is having a negative reaction to.  Take the time to re-evaluate what you are eating and how it effects you physically.  Good fuel equals good physical performance.


4. Let go of your ego and be well equipped.
I hate when I see memes and posts online putting down people who use knee and wrist wraps/braces or those who use weight lifting belts as lesser people because "real athletes" and "real men" don't that is such a subjective claim.  The truth is that if you let go your ego or what others think of you get in the way of your progress, you will hurt yourself more often than not.  I have suffered multiple knee, back and wrist injuries while also going under the knife for multiple foot surgeries.  If I need a wrist wrap, knee braces, and weightlifting belt to do certain workouts, you better believe I am because I will not let that stop me from making gains and progress beneficial to my health!
 
The same goes for you.  Most good wraps, braces and belts are not that expensive; look at these items as tools that you are investing in to help you get where you want to go.  Don't let other people or excuses get in the way of your success.  I was 284 pounds in March of 2008, in 2012 I was 176 pounds and 14 percent body fat,  today I am 185 pounds and 9 percent body fat; how did that happen?  I did what was necessary to make gains!  I didn't care if I needed to wear two knee braces, a wrist wrap and a weightlifting belt cause to me I am going to do what is needed to overcome the odds.  Also, if someone is putting you down because you wear a brace, then they are punks who are not interested in you bettering yourself.


In summary, the solution to overcoming whatever is in your way is educating yourself about what you are doing to your body.  Knowledge is power; you can't make progress inside or outside the gym if you lack the information needed to succeed in life.  The more you evaluate how what you eat effects you, the better results you will get from the food you eat and that will lead to less plateaus and side effects.