Why do we always give up after starting a diet or exercise routine? Neil Tuck answers.
What’s the number one reason people fail when starting a diet or exercise plan?
When the particular plan is too ambitious, vague or without connection to a broader vision. A way to try and minimise the risk of failure is to ensure that you adhere to the S.M.A.R.T.S principles of goal-setting:
S= Specific: Don’t be vague or too “open-ended” when setting your goals. For example, “I want to start exercising from next week”. You are making a statement of desire, not intent. You need to be more specific about when, where, what and how.
M= Measurable: In order to motivate yourself as you progress, you must make sure that you have some means of measuring your progress along the way. This allows you to track progress more easily and allows you to correct or adjust your efforts sooner rather than later.
A= Attainable: Be realistic and fair on yourself when setting your eating or exercise goals. Yes, goals must be set that make you feel like you are “stretching” and exerting extra effort and energy, but you need to ensure that they are not too ambitious. Set a few smaller targets as you move towards your ultimate goal.
R= Relevant= All too often, we set goals which are difficult for us to see how they fit into the bigger picture of our desired future. We need to ensure that we begin with the end in mind. It is so much easier to pursue specific goals if you know how they connect to a broader vision (a clear description and picture of what successful accomplishment of the goal will look like!)
T= Time: Be sure to put specific timeframes to each of your goals and sub-goals.
S= Support: Identify the kind of support systems and resources that you require to ensure that you achieve your goal. It may be that you need to convince a friend to become a training partner or that you need to co-opt the support of your spouse to partner you in achieving your nutritional goals.
What are the facets of optimal health and wellbeing?
Physical: Understanding that there is a difference between being truly healthy or simply free of illness.
Emotional: Knowing what makes you tick and why, having a good repertoire of interpersonal skills, and being an effective stress manager.
Mental: Being able to harness the immense power of your mind so that ultimately your powerful mind is your ally and not your enemy!
Spiritual: Identifying your core life values and life purpose, having an inspiring life vision as well as a game plan to achieve it. Exploring and meeting these challenges, could make the difference between merely existing and living a purposeful and fulfilling life.
What’s the difference between someone who strives and achieves and someone who gives up?
The difference is largely attitude and mindset.
Our attitude and mindset are ultimately determined by broader belief systems (about ourselves, others, and the world in general). These belief systems in turn, are influenced by our upbringing, past experiences, current circumstances, etc. So, to understand and eventually change our attitude (from can’t-do to can-do for instance), requires us to understand which of our belief systems are positive and serving us well, and which are clearly not serving us well and resulting in a negative attitude. (eg. If you have a healthy belief system about your self-worth and about your positive impact into your world, you will be more likely to maintain a positive attitude of confidence, persistence, and optimism when facing any life challenge).
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