You hired a coach and they gave you a ton of great info. Then, you made ZERO progress on your goal. :: Jeff sticks his hand up:: I was this coach back when I was getting started.
I thought I could change the game for people if I knew enough and meant well. I didn’t have money or resources, but I had the gift of gab and boy, I could sell a sun shirt to a solar panel. I mean it; I was so excited, YOU needed to calm down.
I knew the fitness formula, I was enthusiastic, hella-handsome, and you were buying a membership and training with me at the bodybuilding gym I managed.
Well.
As it turns out, pumping people full of calorie-counting, obsessing over macros, and progressive overload didn’t fix shit.
I talked the talk, but in reality, I only knew what made me and my 20-something-year-old friends fit.
I had to walk the walk. Well, I’ve been walking so long, Pepperidge Farm remembers. And man, I can tell you, “It ain’t an info game.”
“Give me a long enough lever, and I’ll move the earth.”
-Some old dude in a robe.
If information made people change, everyone would be skinny, happy, and rich.
Info doesn’t inspire action. Emotion does. We get emotional in response to the info we hear.
Then we build a story around that emotion and info.
People who’ve been exposed to a lot of criticism or conditioned to get depressed when they feel bad will have to claw their way to feeling good about themselves. I know I was one, and sometimes I still am.
But the person who’s conditioned themselves out of that depressive response is free to feel good and immediately move to take action that brings them progress.
Your weight is what it is. Your bloodwork is what it is. But your emotions hold you back or propel you forward about it.
I’m not telling you overweight people are depressed. I am telling you that depressed people find it much easier to gain weight.
I’m not telling you that fit people do CrossFit, I am telling you that people who do CrossFit become fit. Extremely fit.
You have to give it time. You must keep the story in your head and journal, your YouTube playlist, and your Spotify account upbeat while you’re transforming.
Because if you keep the negative story, then you’ll likely be depressed, and you won’t move off the situation. But if you reinforce a positive and true story about your situation, then you will move into action.
You’re getting conditioned anyway; this way, you can choose what kind of conditioning you will reinforce.
Then, the story you tell yourself about where you’re going- improves.
Then, the actions you take to get there and the people you build a community with- improve.
And the story changes over time from “I can’t” to “I’m doing it, this is the way” to “I did it. Here’s how.”
Have Fun With It,
-J
