Doing it for the right reasons…

After having a discussion with a close friend this week on all things gym related, it really dawned on me to delve deeper into why we do the things we do.
Why do we take certain paths, make certain decisions or avoid certain things?

For most people, the decisions we make on a daily basis largely dictate the sort of person we are/wish to be.

Sub-conscious habits and behaviours are all part of our daily routines and can be perceived as positive, negative or neutral.

A typical routine for someone in the morning might be the following : wake up, have a shower, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, go to work.

Now if you look at something you’ve been doing for a while that you want to change (potentially something negative in this case), this could take years to modify or remove this particular type of habit and/or replace it with something else.

What you might not realise is that these particular habits might be ingrained into your routines and having willpower alone will only last for so long before you slip back in habits that you’re not fond of or resent.

Before we look into establishing routines which may need to be changed, it’s important to think about what you want to do and what is the sort of person you want to be.

For example, if you’re seeking a physical change and want to change how you look, are you doing it to :-

• get lean for an upcoming holiday or event
• look good naked for yourself or partner
• gain self-confidence
• impress your friends
• so you play with your kids without being in pain
• to improve overall health markers
• for absolute vanity

There isn’t anything wrong with any of the reasons I’ve listed above. They all have their pros and cons behind them, but ultimately if you’re unhappy underneath it all, they will count for nothing on the quest for self-improvement and development.

One thing I would ask yourself before embarking on a new journey is:

Are you doing it for the right reasons? Are you happy within yourself? Do you want to make certain discussions because it will make you feel better?

If the answers are no to any of those questions, I would have a big think about what is it is truly valuable in your life and then look to apply changes in small increments.

When it comes to my own health and fitness goals, I make certain decisions based on the fact that it makes me feel energised, strong and great when I wake up in the morning. This includes doing regular weight training sessions, eating nutrient dense foods, going to bed early and spending time with loved ones.

For me, this outweighs the idea of heading out and getting so drunk, I can barely move the next day and puking my guts out.

This is not to say I won’t ever do this, but it’s not something I do regularly because it causes negative feedback to my body, thus the reason I typically avoid binging.

I also make these decisions because looking at it from a deeper level, I’m in a serious long-term relationship to my fiancee that I love and admire, I’m lucky enough to have a very kind, caring and supportive group of family and friends, I do a job that I have a real passion for/love and I have a good work life/balance infront of me.

I do however think its important to socialise with friends, do the things we enjoy and have a good time… BUT if these decisions are happening at the expense of your health and deep-down you feel unhappy with yourself, something will have to change for the good to avoid potentially sabotaging bouts of behaviours which make you feel miserable and maybe even a lack of self-worth.

What needs to change? Adopting a new set of systems to ultimately get you feeling great. What could this be you may ask?

Instead of opening a bottle of wine when you get home, don’t buy any wine but put your gym gear at the front door and put that on and get outside for a run. Hit the gym after a day’s work instead of going to the pub, make a home-made meal with your partner instead of ordering Domino’s Pizza.

Immediately you’ve replaced a potentially negative habit with a positive one.

if after a run you still want the wine, then at least you’ve expended some calories and moved.

This could be one simple modification which could then yield a succession of behaviours which could make a massive difference to your lifestyle.

As long as you’re doing it for the right reasons and you can be consistent with it, I believe there are no limits to making improvements to our routines that shape as human beings.

One thing I often say is : we don’t want perfection, we want improvement.