So you want to be healthy and get back in the gym.
That’s great, but why?
Why is being healthy important to you?
Way too often people approach me ready to workout without having asked or really thought out the answer to that question.
Most often, people try to detach the emotion from working out and do it simply because it’s the “right” thing to do.
But just because it’s the “right” thing, doesn’t make it easy to commit to.
I know driving the speed limit is the RIGHT thing to do, but that doesn’t mean I never speed…
I know a salad is the RIGHT food for dinner, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never had ice cream for dinner.
You and I aren’t different, you KNOW the RIGHT things, but what stops you from consistently doing it is the lack of passion.
You and I get wrapped up in the things we SHOULD do or that we’re TOLD to do.
That works for a while, until we decide that what we should do isn’t all that great.
Finding passion and understanding for those RIGHT things keeps you motivated even when in you’re head you’re telling yourself it’s not that great.
It develops consistency, and THAT is the key to success.
You’ve taken care of Step 1: Learn What Is Right, so now it’s time to take care of Step 2: Find Your Passion.
Here are 6 Steps to finding your passion:
Perspective Shift
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that the view you hold of yourself and this life weighs heavily on your probability for success.
If you head into a workout or diet telling yourself it will be the worst possible thing, it will be a real battle to get through.
Same goes for finding your passion.
If you tell yourself that finding your passion is going to be hard, you are exactly right!
Challenge yourself to choose the perspective that you CAN eat and exercise in a way that fits your lifestyle and makes you happy.
Free yourself of the mindset that you have to do hours of cardio and follow an incredibly restrictive diet in order to lose weight.
Quit telling yourself that lifting weights and strength training are going to make you get
bigger and prevent you from losing weight.
Find a style of workout and eating that fits what YOU love.
You just like going for walks? There’s a plan for that.
You love pizza for breakfast? There’s a plan for that.
But that process begins with telling yourself that you CAN (and should) do what you love and see results.
Identify Peak Moments
Once you’ve set yourself in the right mindset, it’s important you identify all the things you do enjoy, and yes, the things you do not.
Do an evaluation of your life, and think about the times you were happiest. You should be able to quickly identify some ‘Peak Moments.’
Once you’ve identified those moments, break them down.
Ask yourself what made you so happy?
What were you doing?
How or what were you eating?
What did your exercise routine look like?
Were you satisfied with yourself physically? Or was it a Peak Moment for a separate reason in your life?
Lay these out and start to recreate what was different about your life then and now.
I also challenge you to take a look at some of the low Peak Moments in your life to assess what was different or what was missing. You may find those moments teach you far more than your most positive moments.
Narrow It Down
Now, you (hopefully) have a lengthy list of happy times in your life; therefore, it’s time to start breaking that list down.
The goal is to look into all Peak Moments, and find a few common themes.
In my own life, there was a point where I hated working out. I was throwing workouts together everyday that I didn’t even want to do. My passion was non-existent.
I went back and searched for Peak Moments, and to no surprise athletics provided a fair share of Peak Moments.
Then, I looked for common themes.
There were two common themes:
- My workouts served a greater purpose (I was training to prepare for competition).
- A high amount of body movements with cardiovascular training coming from those routines (I STRUGGLE to do cardio, more so mentally than physically – working on it!).
I also found that during these times I felt less anxious and insecure about my body image.
It was clear that once I identified my passion, it would fuel my competitive self and train in a way that limited the straight cardio aspect to keep workouts enjoyable.
Determine Passion or Interest
I needed something competitive with only a little cardio, in the moment that sure didn’t seem to shorten up my list.
To that point, I had only built the skeleton of my passion, and I had yet to fill it with organs and muscles.
That’s when I started to research and look at different forms of workouts.
Let me tell you, this was HARD for me. I work in this space, so a lot of different styles of workouts INTEREST me but I was looking for PASSION.
It took a lot of testing and soul-searching to really assess if the things being added to my workout routine were leaving me energized.
CrossFit – Hot topic and definitely interesting, but did I want that long term?
Strongman – Competitive with REAL heavy lifting.
Olympic Lifting – Very competitive, but all those memes and Instagram videos of #gymfails.
The research was hard because sometimes they appear SO similar and the internet isn’t always right (WHAT!?).
I’m not even quite sure how I came across the idea of powerlifting, but I remember watching a few videos and local meet results and thinking “I could do this.”
I met with a coach who warned me that there’s a very good chance I wouldn’t like it.
He was right.
I loved it.
I loved the technique building, the fine-tuning, and how it charged up my inner competitor.
I knew I had found a workout style I was PASSIONATE about.
The cool part?
All of those things I was interested in?
Those things still get sprinkled into workouts every now and then so my brain gets a break from powerlifting, relax, and test out some of the other things that interest me.
You don’t have to try out powerlifting or use that as your passion. In fact, you probably won’t!
The great part about finding YOUR passion is it is just that – YOURS!
Prepare for the Haters
Now, my feelings aren’t hurt if you don’t like powerlifting, but it wasn’t always that way.
When I started this, it raised a lot of eyebrows.
“What if you get hurt?”
“What about your back?”
“What happens if you get muscular and bulky?”
“Are you really a powerlifter if you haven’t competed yet?”
Oh, they rolled right out.
I questioned myself every single time someone asked about it.
Was I making the wrong choice?
Am I sure this is my passion?
And then I thought back to my first few sessions and fire and drive to master the technique better for next time.
The moral is that you need to forget the haters.
YOU took the time to find YOUR passion, so don’t let anyone else ruin your work.
Here’s my thought about haters:
- They’re either questioning you because they care and love you OR they’re envious of you because they have yet to find their passion.
If you’re able to recognize either of those things next time you feel someone ripping on you, I can almost guarantee you will come to a rational explanation of WHY this is your passion.
A note to all of us haters in there (yes, I believe all of us, at some point or another, act as a hater to another, so listen up):
- Be mindful of what you say. Take a second to think about why you, yourself, is hating on someone else’s passion – does it fit either of those characteristics above? If yes, then change it.
Identify Limiting Beliefs
“You can do anything you put your mind to!”
I love that statement.
It’s very true, but with one condition.
You identify and rid yourself of your limiting beliefs.
Outside haters are “easy” to tune out and explain to yourself why they are the way they are.
But that inside voice?
He or she is a KILLER.
Once you’ve identified your passion, start putting together a list of all the worst case scenarios, the reasons you cannot succeed, and the reasons you feel you will fail.
Take that list and read through everything, even better if it’s done with a friend, and
breakdown the falseness of each statement.
Start crushing the story building in your head as you reflect on the journey to find your passion.
Keep the list close so you can always reflect back when that voice of self-doubt creeps back in because it will come back. It will come back ready to take down your passion.
Answer that voice with the reason you are choosing to live out this passion because you KNOW being healthy is the RIGHT thing, but that negative inner voice is what pulls us away from that passion.
