Unseen Cost of the Dream Life

We all have a vision of what our dream life is.

For some its a life on the beach and for others its family, kids and big house.

For most, its somewhere in between to varying degrees.

Whatever it is, so many people forget one important thing...

The dream will come with headaches.

The sandy beaches will track sand into your home and make a mess.
Those kids will be noisy, expensive and a ton of work.
That big house will come with a big mortgage, big electricity bill, lots of upkeep.

You get the idea.

But you don't let these things get in the way of pursuing your dream life.

You do what it takes to realize these things to the best of your ability.

You get the job to afford the house.

You make the personal sacrifice to have the kids.

You must do the same with fitness and health.

Living a pain free, strong, energetic life comes with difficulty.

It doesn't matter how easy it looks for some.

The dream comes with headaches.

Time in the gym, food prepping, discipline, having a things planned out, etc.

Except many don't look at fitness this way.

Why is that?

I have many theories. 

One being that being overweight or unhealthy is becoming more and more acceptable.

Obesity is being diagnosed as a disease now which takes all responsibility off the person. Pills are being prescribed left and right for metabolic issues that could be cleared up with a consistent diet and exercise regimen.

People are being pushed into learned helplessness. 

This is where people have a learned sense of feeling powerless. 

Its not that some people don't have real health issues making it difficult.

but difficult and impossible are two different things. 

And most peoples health issues are avoidable.

Here's what to do instead:

Get specific on what you want. What is the dream? what is the vision? This is like plugging in your end route in your GPS. Sure you can go anywhere and do anything but having the end coordinates in mind makes the drive and trip 100x easier.

Why is achieving (insert fitness goal) so important? You better believe it must be important because this will help you show up when its tough, when you don't want to, when the dream creates headaches.

Let me just say that when I started working out it was because I wanted to look like a pro-wrestler and wanted to look good! It was very surface level. That's ok, that can be the motivation to start but it wont always last.

Later on, I kept working out because it enhanced every other part of my life.

Surface level to start and then depth and meaning to keep doing it.

Don't overthink it to start but circle and appreciate the extended benefits that you are not able to see before you start.

Have a plan. How are you going to do this? Get clear, get specific, get intentional. When you know what you want, and then why are doing it, you must know the path to get there. 

Here's the thing, you won't know exactly the right path. You will try, fail, have setbacks. 

That is good because you can then cross off what doesn't work. I always remind my clients that failure is just feedback. No right or wrong just information on how to proceed going forward.

Have a plan, try it, commit to it and if/when it doesn't work you have better ideas on how to proceed.

If you are always winging it and just throwing shit at the wall, then you aren't really trying. You are pretending to be trying. 

In short,
Think big, get clear, make it important, have a plan. Repeat.

Until next week..