Your results are reflective of the choices you make

A recent observation I made and to me it has been somewhat of a ‘light bulb moment’ in my ever evolving coaching skills is that people often set themselves up mentally for failure before they even begin. This shows up through their language patterns. They affirm that they are going to ‘try’ to do something. They ‘hope’ that their weekend will be good when referring to the foods they consume.

What a student will receive very quickly from me is a proverbial 'splash of cold water in the  face'. I enlighten them to the fact that what happens to us is almost always governed by the choices that we make.

You CHOOSE to consume that extra slice of pizza, it didn’t just jump into your mouth.

You CHOOSE to get drunk and stay out until 4am which then compromises your recovery and leads you to having a shitty workout on Monday morning.

You CHOOSE to react negatively and aggressively to a work colleague because of a mistake they might have made, raising your cortisol levels and making you fatter.

As a wise little green man from a popular science fiction movie once said “do or do not, there is no try”.

This little guy had some wisdom

Yes I accept some events are out of your power to control; for example a train is delayed which makes you late for a meeting. However you always have the power to choose how you react to it.

You can choose to get worked up and pissed off about it or you can choose to take a deep breath and practice some patience. Getting angry is not going to help this particular situation and the latter is going to be more beneficial to regulating you stress hormone levels which is crucial if fat loss is your goal.

The emotional largely governs the physical response when it comes to the stress. A great book on this subject I recommend which goes more into the science being this is ‘Why Zebra’s Don’t get Ulcers’

Another book a highly recommend about choosing your reactions is ‘Man Search for Meaning’ by Victor Frankyl. Its an account of a Austrian Jewish psychiatrist chronicling his experiences as a concentration camp inmate.

It goes to describe how some people chose to give their power away and loose hope and how others despite how awful and terrible their situation was CHOSE to make the most of what they had and remained. The last freedom the Nazi guards couldn’t take away from there was their right to CHOOSE how they feel and reacted to things. 

I find reading this book a real leveller and gives you can give you a sense of perspective. Is loosing your WiFi connection for 60 seconds so tragically bad that you have to get all worked up and stressed out about it??

This is not to say that you should accept and be content with what you have, I understand it takes pain and unhappiness to spur growth and achievement. You often have to be sick to your stomach of something to be ready to change it.

This ‘spark’ could something such as a small comment someone makes about your weight, or maybe more profound such as a doctor telling you that unless you improve your blood results you will likely die in five years. There is always a breaking point where you have absolutely had enough and are ready for change. You reach that point where you are ready to CHOOSE to change you reality.

Are you ready to realise how powerful a being you are and that you are absolutely capable of choosing the successes you make in life? 

Here is a good video I highly recommend you watch- Secrets to Success by Will Smith

Big changes take persistence, patience and hard work, are you ready to CHOOSE to do the work? If so consider getting in touch.