Plan for Success, Not For Failure, By Axis Labs Athlete Josh Black
Plan for Success, Not For Failure, By Axis Labs Athlete Josh Black
Have you ever went on a road trip on the spur of the moment? You jumped in your car and just drove, no directions, no map quest, just hoping to arrive safely at your destination in a timely manner? You didn't pack any clothes, budget for food, gas, housing, or entertainment. Did your trip go smoothly? Were you heading in the right direction? Did you arrive?
Has a general ever lead his troops into combat without a battle strategy? A NFL coach without a series of scripted plays for every situation possible, a contractor building a house without blueprints, a business man starting a new business without a business plan, a teacher without lesson plans, I could go on and on.
It is no different with achieving your goals on your fitness journey. One of my favorite quotes, "If you FAIL to plan, you are planning to FAIL". Benjamin Franklin
January first is quickly approaching. Every year I see the gym filled to the brim with new faces, faces with some hesitancy and nervousness, but excited nonetheless. They are beginning their new journey to living a healthy lifestyle. Yes it is annoying that there are more people on the equipment that I want to use, but it's exciting to see people get the bug and take that first big step.
As the weeks go on, like a plague swooping in and killing off a population, many people die out and disappear. The survivors are very few. What separates the survivors with the deceased gym goers?
They have a plan!
Yes having a plan is so important but just having a plan is not good enough. Having the right plan is the secret to your success.
1. Make sure the plan is tailored to your goal/s-
Whether it be weight loss, muscle gain, endurance, performing better at a sport, having more energy, whatever your reasons are, make sure your coordinates are dialed in to the right destination. My recommendation, go to bodybuilding.com and choose an individualized plan that aligns with your goals. The plans are free and they are written by some of the top trainers in the world. Everything is mapped out for you including training, nutrition, and supplementation, yes they carry all of Axis Labs products!
2. Begin Your Journey with an official announcement-
Tell EVERYONE that you are embarking on this journey. Call, text, Facebook, tweet, Instagram, blog, email, whatever way you choose to communicate. Doing this does a few things. First it creates accountability for yourself. You are way more likely to follow through with something if you let everyone know about it. If you tell everywhere they will ask you how things are going, they will hopefully give you encouragement. Side note, be prepared for those who will hate and try to bring you down. Whenever you set out to achieve something great you will always have those people who will want to discourage and bring you down. My recommendation, use their words of discouragement as fuel for your motivation to be successful.
The second thing that announcing your journey will do for you, it will turn on your internal commitment button. Once you make that official announcement I promise you that a switch will go off inside of you and you will mentally commit. Those who fail, fail in secrecy because their goals are kept secret.
3. Remember why you are doing this in the first place-
Achieving your fitness goals is not an easy journey by any means. It is the road less travelled. If it was easy, everyone would take this trip and arrive at their destination.
Because this will be a very difficult journey your need to remind yourself often of why you are doing this in the first place. Everyone, I mean everyone, has hard days where they have to push through setbacks. It is in those moments of challenge that you must somehow mentally dial back in to why this is important. Ask yourself how much better your life will be by sticking with your game plan.
4. Envision and believe-
As corny as it might sound, believe in yourself. Envision what it is that you would like to become and believe that you can achieve. The power of self- perception and the will to achieve is something like a muscle, it can grow with time and experience. As you start to see little success you will begin to believe more and more. Celebrate the little successes and use them as checkpoints to help continue to move you in the right direction.
5. Patience-
I keep referring to this is a journey, not a drive across town. Be patient and enjoy the ride. Realize that big changes take time, and more importantly consistency.
Have you ever went on a road trip on the spur of the moment? You jumped in your car and just drove, no directions, no map quest, just hoping to arrive safely at your destination in a timely manner? You didn't pack any clothes, budget for food, gas, housing, or entertainment. Did your trip go smoothly? Were you heading in the right direction? Did you arrive?
Has a general ever lead his troops into combat without a battle strategy? A NFL coach without a series of scripted plays for every situation possible, a contractor building a house without blueprints, a business man starting a new business without a business plan, a teacher without lesson plans, I could go on and on.
It is no different with achieving your goals on your fitness journey. One of my favorite quotes, "If you FAIL to plan, you are planning to FAIL". Benjamin Franklin
January first is quickly approaching. Every year I see the gym filled to the brim with new faces, faces with some hesitancy and nervousness, but excited nonetheless. They are beginning their new journey to living a healthy lifestyle. Yes it is annoying that there are more people on the equipment that I want to use, but it's exciting to see people get the bug and take that first big step.
As the weeks go on, like a plague swooping in and killing off a population, many people die out and disappear. The survivors are very few. What separates the survivors with the deceased gym goers?
They have a plan!
Yes having a plan is so important but just having a plan is not good enough. Having the right plan is the secret to your success.
1. Make sure the plan is tailored to your goal/s-
Whether it be weight loss, muscle gain, endurance, performing better at a sport, having more energy, whatever your reasons are, make sure your coordinates are dialed in to the right destination. My recommendation, go to bodybuilding.com and choose an individualized plan that aligns with your goals. The plans are free and they are written by some of the top trainers in the world. Everything is mapped out for you including training, nutrition, and supplementation, yes they carry all of Axis Labs products!
2. Begin Your Journey with an official announcement-
Tell EVERYONE that you are embarking on this journey. Call, text, Facebook, tweet, Instagram, blog, email, whatever way you choose to communicate. Doing this does a few things. First it creates accountability for yourself. You are way more likely to follow through with something if you let everyone know about it. If you tell everywhere they will ask you how things are going, they will hopefully give you encouragement. Side note, be prepared for those who will hate and try to bring you down. Whenever you set out to achieve something great you will always have those people who will want to discourage and bring you down. My recommendation, use their words of discouragement as fuel for your motivation to be successful.
The second thing that announcing your journey will do for you, it will turn on your internal commitment button. Once you make that official announcement I promise you that a switch will go off inside of you and you will mentally commit. Those who fail, fail in secrecy because their goals are kept secret.
3. Remember why you are doing this in the first place-
Achieving your fitness goals is not an easy journey by any means. It is the road less travelled. If it was easy, everyone would take this trip and arrive at their destination.
Because this will be a very difficult journey your need to remind yourself often of why you are doing this in the first place. Everyone, I mean everyone, has hard days where they have to push through setbacks. It is in those moments of challenge that you must somehow mentally dial back in to why this is important. Ask yourself how much better your life will be by sticking with your game plan.
4. Envision and believe-
As corny as it might sound, believe in yourself. Envision what it is that you would like to become and believe that you can achieve. The power of self- perception and the will to achieve is something like a muscle, it can grow with time and experience. As you start to see little success you will begin to believe more and more. Celebrate the little successes and use them as checkpoints to help continue to move you in the right direction.
5. Patience-
I keep referring to this is a journey, not a drive across town. Be patient and enjoy the ride. Realize that big changes take time, and more importantly consistency.