Count
Down To Fitness Success And Keep Your Motivation Drive
Alive
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
There are many
fantastic ways to get focused and motivated to begin a
diet or exercise program, but often the most difficult
thing to do is keep that drive and ambition alive for
more than a few weeks and see your goal through to completion.
Within just
weeks of starting, many people have already hit their
first snag or setback, and as a result, have slipped backwards
in the mental focus and motivation department. Setting
goals in writing is an essential step to success, but
how do you stay focused on them? One technique I have
used ever since my very first bodybuilding competition
18 years ago, is...
The "contest
countdown calendar."
I have used
it ever since, through 28 competitions and it will work
for you too, for any fitness goal.
I purchase
a desk or wall calendar - the type that shows each week
stretching horizontally across the page with an open block
of space for each day.
After I set
my goal and place a deadline on it, I do NOT stop there.
I take out my calendar and start counting backwards from
my target goal deadline to the present day.
T-minus 117
days....
T-minus 116
days...
T-minus 115
days....
I also fill
in my workouts for the entire 3-4 month period, which
is the typical length I allow for my mid-range goals like
contest prep.
you would be
shocked - pleasantly so - just how focused this keeps
you. Even better still, you get MORE and MORE motivated
with each passing day you countdown because the deadline
is getting closer
Deadlines are absolutely critical to your success. Little
gets done without deadlines.
There is a
saying in management and psychology that "work will
always expand to fill the time allowed for it's completion."
Remember term
papers in school? when you were given a term paper assignment
and you had the entire semeseter to do it, did you run
home that first night and get crankin on it?
How about after
a week? two weeks? A month? TWO MONTHS?
probably not,
eh?
If youre like
most people, you put it off until the last minute and
you barely got it turned in on time. In fact, there are
always a few people who pull all nighters the night before!
Alas, the power
of the deadline!
In your fitness
endeavors, if you dont have IMPENDING deadlines that give
you that twinge in your stomach that says "take action
now, or else!" then you find it very easy to say
to yourself, ' I have plenty of time so this one cheat
meal doesnt matter... it doesnt make much difference at
this point if I skip this one workout... I have time to
make it up..."
And then, just
like the term paper, you are scrambling at the last minute
to reach your weight goal. But in the case of a your body,
the consequences are more severe and painful than just
a bad grade or late penalty.
Inevitably,
you succumb to crash dieting and overtraining or other
unhealthy fast-weight-loss madness, which eats up your
own muscle like a hungry cannibal and sends you spiraling
into the dark pit of metabolic damage and the inevitable
plateau and weight gain that follow.
But the solution
is so simple: Count your way down to success!
Don't stop
with setting goals. Put your goal countdown on paper,
review your goals every single day, AND know, every single
day, how many days there are until your target goal date.
You will stay more consciously focused and even better,
your unconscious mind will go to work for you in keeping
you motivated, on track, and on schedule. You'll come
in for a landing on your goal deadline date like an F-16
landing on an aircraft carrier.
I just did
my countdown calendar earlier this week... T minus 117
days til my next bodybuilding competition, and thanks
to this simple but powerful technique, I'm already focused
like a laser beam and have been making steady progress
without so much as a hiccup...
Don't under-estimate
this simple technique... Give it an honest test... because
it's often the simplest motivational techniques that are
the most powerful of all!.
About
the Author:
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Tom Venuto is a lifetime
natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning
specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling
e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle. Tom has
written hundreds of articles and has been featured
in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise
for Men and Mens Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide.
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