Fit for Life: Set the Bar Higher!

Fit for Life: Set the Bar Higher!

I hear from a lot of people that I don’t give myself enough credit for my accomplishments, and the reason for that is that it’s not my place to give “myself” credit. I’ll accept credit from someone else and give it to others, but not myself.

Sure, I recognize that I came from very humble beginnings, and have grown a lot over the years, but I have also put myself in bad situations that I had to dig myself out of.

However, to survive in this world, these are expectations that everyone should accomplish.

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Not something we should reward ourselves for.

When you give yourself too much credit, it feels like biased praise and gets anti-climatic.

It also feeds complacency, and complacency will kill you.

 

Count the Wins

I always tell my clients to count the wins, and give themselves credit whenever they see progress, but don’t do a victory lap until the job is finished and your goals have been achieved.

I tell them that fitness is a lifestyle and not a phase, and we need to consistently attack the hills in front of us every day.

When you lose 20#, it’s not the time to relax and praise yourself for your accomplishments, but it is a steppingstone that will propel momentum and motivation to keep pushing forward.

I also mentally apply this to myself, and subconsciously count the wins and victories, however, I will never get complacent and stop striving to get better through self-development.

A big reason for this is that I have set high standards for myself, and haven’t lived up to my own standards yet on the level of success. I keep failing to reach certain goals, and until I do, I cannot give myself credit or unearned praise.

When you set your standards too low, you will have nothing to strive for.

Sure, I know that I am doing better than a lot of people in this world, but I don’t care about who’s doing worse than me. I set my standards to the level of people doing better than me, and that gives me the incentive to shoot for higher ground.

 

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

Now don’t be confused with comparison syndrome because comparison is the thief of joy, and when you worry about what you don’t have compared to others, you will always find a reason to get depressed.

Several of my closest friends have way more than me.

Houses, boats, exotic cars, etc. but that doesn’t bother me because I watched them earn it and work their asses off to get where they are.

Yes, sometimes I get a little discouraged that they took the risks and made some better moves than I did along the way, yet I never compare my situation based on material things or compare myself to what they have.

Like I said earlier, I know I have it better than a lot of people, and I could stop working tomorrow if I wanted to live a mediocre lifestyle and barely get by, or make ends meet, but that’s not what I have in my future plans.

What I do is set standards for myself, and envision where I want to be, and what goals I need to set to get there, based on what it took others to get there.

The universal trait that everyone successful has, is hard work and discipline, regardless of what goal you are trying to accomplish. Yes, some people inherit a great life or get lucky, but to me, that isn’t success.

If you don’t earn what you have, you didn’t really accomplish anything.

You hear people giving themselves credit all the time. I did this, or I own this, or I used to be this, but it doesn’t have merit unless someone else recognizes your accomplishments.

That is the reason why I don’t give “myself” credit. My standards are high and you will never hear the words “good enough” come from my mouth when it comes to completing any task or goal I set for myself.

You get what you deserve not what you think you deserve, so when you are giving yourself credit for something, ask what you did to deserve what you have accomplished.

You worked hard, you did what others weren’t willing to do, you stayed later, you arrived earlier, are all things that create well-deserved credit.

The same holds true when you feel like you are not where you want to be or didn’t achieve the goals you strived to accomplish.

Ask yourself why and be honest with yourself.

You cheated on your nutrition plan, you missed the gym three times last week, you drank too much, didn’t sleep enough, you left work early, slept late, didn’t make enough sales calls, are all reasons why you didn’t accomplish your goals, so don’t keep telling yourself or others that you deserve more.

The definition of a victim mindset is when you think you deserve more than you are willing to work for, and bad things always happen to you more than they happen to everyone else. However, when you look closer and make an honest assessment, good or bad things don’t happen to you, they happen because of you and your actions.

 

So, in conclusion, let’s summarize what was discussed:

• Don’t give yourself credit, let others do that.

• Set your standards high, and don’t strive for good enough, or better than people in worse situations than you.

• Don’t compare yourself to other people’s material things

• You get what you deserve, not what you think you deserve

• Don’t play the victim if you aren’t willing to do the work to achieve your goals.

 

If you are looking to raise the bar on your health and fitness, and are willing to do the work required, you can jump into our next 6 Week Challenge.

At Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, we will set the standard high for not only you, but ourselves.

We always try to over-deliver, and not just do the bare minimum, but go above and beyond for our clients.

With this challenge, you will be coached throughout the entire process.

We will give you credit when you excel, and we will provide honest feedback when you don’t.

We want everyone to succeed and will do everything in our power to lay out the roadmap for you to reach your goals.

 

Committed to your success,

Coach Matt