I finished listening to the latest audio-book, "Lead the Field" by Earl Nightingale this morning as I returned back to the office from a client I train in the city. In the audio programme, he discusses a very powerful concept - the challenge, and the rewards that are brought about from a challenge. Although a self-help book, this is a very powerful philosophy that has a great degree of relevance to health and fitness. So, I thought that I would translate this concept to have relevance to this industry and add a few other concepts I have learnt from other books.
A challenge forces us to step outside our comfort zone and bring out the best in us. It requires us to "think" and really apply ourselves. By thinking, we learn and become creative. A challenge only brings about failure when we give up and brings about victory when we find a solution.
By embarking upon a challenge, say in this context, a health and fitness goal, it gives us a sense of direction. This gives us something to strive for, keeping us happy and motivated.
The real power of a challenge is when you finally achieve your goal - the reward and satisfaction that you achieve. For had you not set about this challenge (note, it's a challenge - something to test yourself), you would not be able to appreciate the work involved to achieve this goal. You are now far wiser for having strived to achieve that goal with hard work, consistency and dedication.
Now, let's assume that you wish to lose 50kg of weight. Which would you rather:
- A pill that will make you lose the weight within a week (no, there isn't such a thing, but it's just an analogy).
- Spending the time and effort to change your lifestyle, exercise and eat in a healthy fashion, taking a year to accomplish the goal.
Let's consider both options.
Option 1: A pill (a magic one at that). Sure, you lose 50kg almost immediately. But what do you gain from this? What did you learn? How did you grow as a person?
The answer - nothing. Whilst you may improve your health by no longer being grossly overweight, you get absolutely NOTHING out of taking a pill. You stayed within your comfort zone and you're exactly the same person, just 50kg lighter. In fact, without the reliance on this "pill", you will revert back to your original weight in very little time because you are exactly the same as a week ago - your body just needs a little time to catch up.
Replace "pill" with "fad diet". Now consider the logic behind fad dieting: no effort required, large amounts of weight loss. It seems idealistic until you realise that the non-existence of a challenge means that nothing is gained at all. The ability to appreciate the weight loss and sustain the weight loss is greatly undermined by the somewhat superficial focus on "fast and easy weight loss".
This is unfortunately what results in yo-yo dieting. Many people lost vast amounts of weight in the short-term. But far fewer people can keep it off.
Now consider option 2. You spend the time to learn about yourself and find out what you can enjoy whilst making positive progress toward your goals. You set goals and achieve them. You put in the hard yards and earn your weight loss. You can therefore not only appreciate the effort involved in getting to your goal, but you are also a stronger person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You have learnt about yourself on many levels - not just what you look like 50kg lighter.
Put in this context, whilst option 2 may take 52 times longer to achieve your goal weight, it still seems the more desirable option doesn't it? I mean, you get so much more than "just" weight loss from option 2.
The irony is that with the majority of people, one year later, people who pursue option 1 would be unhappier (in themselves and their body), unhealthier and less motivated than option 2 pursuers.
But hey, it's human nature to go for the short-term fix. So if you've done this in the past then that's nothing to feel down or guilty about - it's hardwired into our genetics. We all want instant results without the hard work! But having read this post, I hope that you can see that short-term "fixes" have very little credibility in the long-term. The hard work is where the true rewards lie.
