Resolutions Continued

About a month ago I wrote about the new year and how many of us are excited to start off the new year with all of these new "resolutions" that we want to start to improve our lives. In reality, you just don't change your life. I believe you evolve with the choices you make. The time it takes to make your "change" a consistent and permanent habit is a lot longer than most will follow. Something will come up to side track you or challenge what you are doing. This is the first big test of the universe. You must push through the test and realize that what you are doing is so you can be the best you.
So why do you want to change to make your life better? Your "WHY" must be right with what you want to accomplish. If your WHY is not big enough, then you will most likely not stick it out.
Let's look at exercise for example. A lot of folks use better health, better fitness, more exercise, diet, etc. as one of their "resolutions". The reason WHY you want to accomplish that has to be much bigger than you think. There are too many temptations and excuses that will get in the way if your WHY is not big enough.
I want to maintain a fit, healthy lifestyle. I want to do that so that I can live everyday with more energy and enthusiasm for life. I want to stay fit and healthy so that as I age, I will not be as impacted like others and I will be able to continue to do the things that take high levels of energy and stamina. Things that I enjoy doing, like: Travel, hiking, biking, skiing, hockey, playing with the kids, someday playing with grand kids, running races all over the world, volunteer work, fund raising, and ultimately inspiring others to do the same.
I have my challenges to face as well, we all do. One thing I will not allow is excuses. Excuses like: I don't have enough time or I will make up that work out tomorrow. All that means is that it is not a priority in your life. After about 3-4 months you will have lost your enthusiasm to exercise & eat healthier, then you will be back where you were. Which may be where you are happy anyway. You will exercise when you feel like it, be sore and then exercise when you feel like it. You will eat unhealthy and make the excuse that you will eat better tomorrow. It's a viscious cycle.
We are a product of our environment. The habits you practice everyday today will impact your life in the future. You will not know when it will impact you, but it will. Every decision you make will have an impact in the future whether positive or negative. So when you exercise you have to know that you may not know the significant impact for 30-40 years. However someday you will look back and say one of two things:
1. I am sure glad I stayed in shape.
2. I sure wish I had stayed in shape.
Which one do you want to say?
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, he coined the terms cardio/aerobic back in the 60's, said: " it is much more fun and enjoyable to stay in shape than it is to try to get back into shape." How true is that? I have been in and out of shape in my life and I can tell you that as I get older it is way harder to get back into shape. I am much happier and feel a lot better about myself when I am exercising consistently. I call it loving thyself.
So getting back to "resolutions"...how many of us have already used excuses to get in the way of a lifestyle change that we believed would improve our lives? I bet a lot. Think about exercise and how long it takes to make it a habit...at least 6 months of continuous exercise to make it a habit where your body craves it. 6 MONTHS!! Most people think that is an eternity let alone accomplishable. They want a quick fix. I'll work out just enough to not gain weight. Guess what, it will catch up to you in your forties for sure where you start losing muscle mass like crazy. You may not be gaining weight, however all that muscle is turning to fat and you are going backword really fast. You may not realize it until your fifties or sixties, but you will realize it. We all need weight training just to maintain muscle mass as we age.
If time is your hangup, then figure out how to sneak in a 30 or 60 minute walk or workout in. There is always time. Watch less TV or watch while exercising. I once asked one of my mentors if he watched a championship hockey game and he said: "Yes, I rode my bike trainer during the whole game!!" That was very inspirational to me. I tried to do that during a whole game and it is really, really, hard. Do you think he is in great shape?
10 years ago I made the decision to make exercise important in my life. About 5 years ago I got really serious. Then 3 years ago I started getting up even earlier to get in longer workouts when I needed them. Dean Karnazes gets up everyday at 4am and runs for 3-4 hours. EVERYDAY! If he can get up early to workout, so can I. Jenny and I now make sure that exercise & living a healthy lifestyle comes first. Without good health, how can we enjoy everything else?
These are lifestyle choices that are part of life's journey. Make wise decisions everyday and choose that ones that will make a positive impact in your future.
Make the lifestyle choice now! Keep the resolution alive!
To your health and abundance,
Steve Aune