Fit For Life: Mind Set is Everything. Your Decisions Make You Who You Are Today & Tomorrow

Sunday, January 07, 2018

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

Every day we are faced with decisions.

Some easy, some tough, but regardless of the difficulty or ease, every decision we make shapes and molds who we are and what we can become. Some decisions are forced on us, and we have to react on instinct, and others are voluntary and we need to make the right one in order to succeed.

I was reading an article written by my business mentor Bedros Keuilian and he was comparing how we live today to how the Spartans lived many years ago, and he described how you have to have a Spartan mindset to be successful in business.

In my opinion, you need this mindset in every facet of life.

A good line I took from his article that relates with the first paragraph of my article is:

“When you have structure, it takes you out of decision-making mode (which is in your head) and puts you in action mode (which is in your gut).”

This line is so true in so many ways that I wanted to include it as a backup to what I am about to write here today, so let me follow up with my own interpretation of the “decision making” subject.

Many times, we have to make the decision to do what we need to do rather than what we want to do.

Take today for example.

We are in the midst of a winter storm, and I need to go out and clear the snow from my driveway, so I can go to work tomorrow.

Now I don’t particularly want to do this, but I know I need to. So, I structured my day to write this letter and then go tackle the storm (also making it part of my workout).

The decision is done, now I am in action mode, the thought process is over and in a few hours, this article will be complete, and my driveway will be clear.

Take your own fitness for example.

Many people don’t particularly want to exercise and eat well, but everyone knows they need to in order to achieve good health.

Therefore, you need to make the decision to change, then put yourself into action mode and join Providence Fit Body Boot Camp so you don’t have to decide what to eat and how to exercise anymore.

All you need to do is take action, and we will take care of the rest with our done for you program.

A big part of this process and what will make us either fail or succeed is how much resilience we have, and how often we will make the tough decisions and do the things we need to do rather than take the easy way out.

Another example is running a business.

I made the decision to open my own business, but I am faced everyday with tasks I don’t “want” to do. In these cases, I need to be resilient, put myself in action mode, and get every task done. Otherwise failure is inevitable. I love what I do but when I think about the tasks I don’t like doing rather than take action, it brews crippling anxiety. In a book, I’m reading the author recommends taking action to overcome anxiety. What’s in your head can get in your way, therefore being resilient is a necessity.

I took this line from an article by Kim Perell and it really hit home because it is so true.

“Without resilience, we are at the mercy of the universe. We’re left feeling battered by the unexpected, overcome with emotions and incapable of making strong decisions. Yet, adding an ounce or two of fortitude and self-determination to our lifestyle flips the script. Suddenly, we can fail and come back stronger. We can accept life’s uncomfortable lessons and use them as stepping stones. And we can come face to face with setbacks and still smile.”

Life is tough and trying to live a healthy successful life is even tougher.

Hell being poor and out of shape is easy. We can all become poor and unhealthy in a matter of months. Just stop getting up for work, and eat most of your meals from a fast food drive thru. It takes strong decision making and much resiliency to avoid this type of lifestyle, and only a few are willing to make the sacrifices.

Our lifestyle is based on what we decide to put up with and the choices we make.

If you hate where you are working, and you just show up and go through the motions everyday as opposed to seeking new employment, things will never change.

If you are in a bad relationship, and rather stay there than taking a chance of being alone, then expect misery for a bit longer until you take action and move on.

I was listening to a podcast called Crimetown and a mobster was talking about the decisions he made and the life he lived was 100% his choice. He also made the decision to get out of the mob life before he died. He didn’t have much time to think about it and he needed to act fast! He knew if he stayed, the results wouldn’t be favorable. Now he is a successful business man, not looking over his shoulder and living with the stress of being a gangster.

We live with what we are willing to tolerate, and your problems will exist as long as you allow them to.

We are faced with tough decisions every day.

We may not have to make the same ones the Spartans did, but every decision we make will shape who we are and what we become, so make wise decisions, and take action!!

Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.

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