Fit For Life: Nothing Good Comes Easy

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

As the saying goes, “Nothing good comes easy”, and that is a saying that holds true on many levels.

I was driving home from training the High School Football team that I have been working with the past five years and started thinking.

I was thinking that this is a big time and energy commitment.

I own a business that requires a lot of time and energy, and I am working hard to grow it and make it profitable, so I started wondering why I am devoting so much volunteer time when I should be focusing on making money with the business.

My business coaches are always saying to avoid distractions and focus only on the things that will move you and your business forward. So, I ask myself over and over why I am taking 3 hours a week of my time and spending it with a group of high school kids that I have no other affiliation with other than football.

The answer is…. because it’s the right thing to do, and even though it doesn’t make me money, it pays me back with satisfaction knowing that I am helping someone on some level by educating these kids on a health and fitness level. And helping people is the right thing to do, which is the subject of today’s article.

Doing the right thing.

In most cases, it’s uncomfortable, scary, awkward and difficult. And few do it.

Yes, doing the right thing is not an easy task, and when you are doing the right thing, you are usually out of your comfort zone.

On the contrary, doing the wrong thing is always the easy way out.

I will give you a few examples, so you can see where I am coming from.

Let’s start with fitness, because this is the field that I know best.

Being fit and doing the right thing for yourself is simple, but it’s not easy. Here’s why.

First, it’s a time commitment and few will carve out the required time to invest in themselves in order to get fit and healthy.

Something that should be non-negotiable is a difficult task to most people.

I hear the term “I don’t have the time” on a lot of occasions, and it’s the people that surf the internet, watch tv, spend time gossiping, or wasting valuable time in other areas that frequently have this complaint.

At Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, we run 30-minute sessions all day every day, so if you really wanted to, you could find the time to work out daily.

But it’s the right thing to do, and many people have no interest in doing the right thing because it’s easier to do the wrong thing.

That’s only half the battle to becoming fit and healthy.

Let’s talk nutrition.

It’s so much easier to eat cheap processed food than shopping and preparing your own, that we are looking at an epidemic with the health of this country.

Shopping, cooking and eating whole foods that nourish your body is the right thing to do. Everyday. But few do it, because the path of less resistance is at the drive thru.

The right way to live is to not be overweight and popping medication for all your ailments but because it requires more time and effort, few will ever know what feeling and looking good is like.

Yes, it’s fun to eat junk food once in a while, and I believe we all should indulge but don’t make it your lifestyle.

That brings me to the last topic that I will discuss and that’s being a successful businessman.

I know this first hand, because reaching success status has eluded me for years, and is taking a lot longer than I expected.

Like fitness, success is difficult and time consuming, so few will ever accomplish it because doing the right thing and working hard isn’t as easy or fun as doing the minimum to “just get by”.

Its taking a lot longer because I haven’t always done the right things to get me there, and I still let distractions side track me from growing to where I want to be.

I do a lot of things right, like get up early without hitting the snooze button, working my ass off daily, and focus on going in the right direction, BUT I still do too many things that I “like” to do over the things I “need” to do.

Why? Because its more comfortable to do certain things over others.

Like learning technology and making sales calls. I tend to neglect the importance of these tasks, because I don’t like to do them.

I get intimidated, feel awkward, and uncomfortable. It’s easier to do the things I like to do, but I know that those are the things that will move me forward.

Over the years I have gotten better at doing the right things, but I still need to make improvements.

There are a lot of tasks that I need to stop doing, and when I do, I will see results. (training my high school kids isn’t one)

It’s a work in progress, and I know that by managing my time better and saying no to things that take time from doing the right thing, success will follow.

So, I leave you with this:

Doing the right thing will always be more difficult, require more discipline, take more time and energy, and will never be as much fun as doing the wrong thing, but as the saying goes “Nothing good comes easy”.

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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