Today we will be covering the topic of lifestyle and decision making, especially those that pertain to improving one’s fitness levels. Nothing is a coincidence, and mindlessly waiting for your life
to drastically improve without putting in the effort is like turning in your lottery ticket without filling
out the numbers first. Great things are done by great people, and great people make great decisions.
Great decision making is a skill, and just like any other skill, if practiced regularly, it will
become second nature. What defines a great decision? That is easy. If your decision takes you one
step closer to your life’s one year, five year, or life’s goals, then it was a good one. If your decision
takes you one step further from your life’s one year, five year, and life’s goals, then it was a bad one.
Your life can literally be that easy. This technique is called “Zoom Out”, and has saved my life on more
occasions than I can dream to begin to count. Zoom out to your one year, five year, and life goals
whenever you have to make any decision.
Do you see yourself fit with a six pack and bulging muscles
in a year from now? Maybe it would be wise to choose that high protein steak and mashed potatoes
over the pizza for dinner today then. Do you see yourself opening a business in the next five years?
Then maybe reading five of the latest and greatest books on the subject would be more useful than
watching the entire fourth season of Game of Thrones for the forty fifth time. Want to travel
extensively for work? Then learning how to cook amazing meals using basic ingredients from
anywhere will be vastly more important than remembering a couple of words in the native language
of the country you plan on visiting for a weekend or two. The key phrase here is think long term,
more specifically, think long term in lines with who you want to be and what you want to be doing
with your life.
When setting your one, five, and life goals, limit your list to no more than three main goals
for each category, keeping it as specific as possible. Want to lose one hundred pounds in a year? Set
that goal and find out what it takes to get it done. Hiring a personal trainer or nutritionist instead of
another meal plan or supplement. Buying a comfortable pair of running shoes and a fitness tracker
instead of new clothes that you will never wear. Finding an adaptable workout routine instead of
another pointless weekend retreat. Learning how to prepare five “healthy” meals from home instead
of relying on take out. These are the type of decisions you will have to make if you are serious about
hitting your goal. But once your path is clear, all you ever have to do is zoom out to this goal when
about to make a difficult decision. Out with friends and the topic of grabbing pizza comes up? Sure,
you right now would love some pizza. But you in a year? No. That person, that “better” version of you
says no. That new version of you has made better decisions than that, and now, finds themselves
much healthier, happier, and leaner than ever before. If your social circle does not support your
zoomed out goals, that does not mean you have to find new friends, but, simply that it might be time
to expand that circle a little bit with like minded individuals. Nothing derails a good decision maker
like external doubt from their loved ones. If your friends and family can not see the new you, then
maybe that is for a good reason. There are billions of people in the world. There is only one you. Only
you can decide what you want, and how to best get there. Zooming out a little bit makes what you
want just that extra bit clear.
Luck does not exist, sorry to inform you. Luck is what happens when an unbelievable amount
of unseen hard work, preparation, blood, sweat, and tears meet opportunity. You don’t walk into a fit
body anymore than you walk into driving a Ferrari. The higher the goal, the higher the toil. It is all too
easy to point fingers at those in powerful positions and dispel our negative opinions on them. You
know not how hard one had to toil to see the fruit of their labor, but most often the case, they were
relentless in the pursuit of their short, middle, and long term goals. Some times you have to put on
those horse blinders and sound proof head phones and just bulldoze through your life and its
doubters. The more you toil, the luckier you will get. The more you sweat, the more water will fill your
cup. The more you believe, the more the universe will put opportunity in your way. But it starts with
you, and the decisions that you are going to make today. Choose the harder path. The one your future
self would be proud of, not the little child inside of you right now demands. Patience is the ultimate
virtue and hard work is the ultimate currency. Fight the good fight every god damn day and see your
fortunes, physically, mentally, spirituality, and financially take off into the stratosphere. They often
say that the fun lays in the journey and not in the destination; nowhere is that more true than in
achieving your fitness goals. As the fat melts off your body, and the lumps of muscle begin taking
form, your reflection begins to always smile back as your confidence begins to rise. This confidence
attracts people who want to know your secret sauce. This secret sauce lands you your dream. Define
that dream. Make the right decisions. Form the right habits. And crush your life’s goals.
If all else fails, the Japanese, as always, have found the easiest and elegant solution. The
samurai had a special honor code for just this sort of living called Bushido. Boiled down to the
simplest and most basic principal possible; “In between doing the right thing and the wrong thing, if
you even think about doing the wrong thing, you have already failed.” Powerful stuff.