Fit for Life: You Get What You Deserve‼️

Saturday, May 04, 2019

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

I was listening to a pretty intense podcast the other day when something the guy was saying hit me like an open-handed slap in the face. It changed how I look at life, and what we deserve as humans.

We all feel that we deserve to be happy, healthy, feel & look good, and have great success within everything we do from our jobs to our relationships, when in truth, we don’t deserve any of that.

If you think you do, then you are thinking with an entitlement mindset, and what I am about to write will hopefully change your perspective on a few things.

I feel that the only thing that we as humans actually deserve is opportunity. Everyone should and does have the opportunity for a healthy and happy life, however with opportunity there comes cost.

When we are born, our survival depends on other people.

Let’s face it, we are brought into this world as helpless underdogs, that can only survive with the help of our parents.

If they don’t feed us, we starve. If they don’t change us, we sit in an uncomfortable diaper and cry. If they don’t clean us up we stay dirty, and if they don’t love us, we become hard, cold, and hateful.

Every baby deserves to be cared for.

It wasn’t their choice to be here, and if we as adults bring one into this world, we need to consider it a blessing, and do everything in our power to assure it gets the opportunity to grow strong and prosper.

After a certain age, it is up to that individual to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

Let me elaborate.

You think you deserve to be fit and healthy, yet you don’t exercise, you eat garbage processed man made food on a daily basis, take medication every time you feel “off” your game, and you sit in front of a screen hours per day. You do nothing that will help your situation improve and rely on the medical system to cure your ailments.

Do you still you think you deserve great health and vitality?

If so, then why?

Look at the person that gets up every day and hits the gym.

The same person that reads labels, preps their meals, says NO to things that provide instant gratification like sugar and alcohol and stays active all day long.

They are conscious about everything they do to help promote better health and fitness.

They sacrifice the things they crave for the things they need.

Now that person deserves better health and fitness.

Wouldn’t you agree?

How about the person that feels like they deserve a great job with great pay.

Does this person go above and beyond and do more than what is expected of them, or are they just doing the bare minimum?

Do they clock in late, leave early, and only show interest in the organization when the pay checks arrive?

Are they spending company time on social media, and hours a day gossiping with co-workers?

The person that deserves the corner office and higher salary would be the one that shows up early, leaves late, helps the organization thrive, and is a positive team player.

The person that cares about the people they are serving, and the organization they represent is the person that will find success. They are the ones that deserve what they are getting, and if that all goes unrecognized, then you have the opportunity to work elsewhere.

The bottom line is that the person that works the hardest, sacrifices the most, cares more and is willing to go above and beyond their expectations is the person that deserves to succeed.

The problem is that most people take the shortest, fastest, easy way out, and are alway looking for the path of least resistance to achieve results.

The people that are thorough, look for the best way to do something, and are willing to put in the extra time and work are the ones that deserve to succeed.

And they usually do.

A good example would be if you were doing one of our transformation challenges at Providence Fit Body Boot Camp.

The people that succeed are the ones that roll up their sleeves, flip the mindset switch, and focus 100% on what they are doing.

They go all in.

They prepare their meals, schedule their workouts, drink the required amount of water, and get to bed on time.

It is non-negotiable that they do all these things regardless of the situation they are in.

They sacrifice sweets at parties and on the holidays, they miss tv shows that are on late at night, and they avoid social functions that will be too tempting to maintain their discipline.

They realize that the reward at the end will be greater and feel more satisfying than the slip up they allow during the process.

They realize that you shouldn’t be rewarded until you finish the job and you don’t deserve it until you do.

That’s the mindset successful people instill in themselves.

On the other hand, the person that isn’t successful is the one worrying when they can mess up and have that cheat meal.

Instead of looking forward to a positive end result, they are looking forward to regressing and indulging in the harmful ways that put them in their current situations.

They are the ones that try to alter the program to suit their needs. They eat on the go, stay up too late, miss workouts, have “one bite” of cake at a party, and have “just one glass” of wine at a social event.

This isn’t the mindset or actions required to become successful and maintain it.

I hate to sound harsh, and criticize people’s actions, however this holds true with everything we do on a daily basis from work to fitness.

This isn’t my opinion, it’s the facts, and being self-aware of what you are doing wrong is the first step to improvement.

Instead of being thorough and going the hard way, most want the short road to success, and it rarely exists.

Everyone that is fit, successful, and has happy relationships, put in a lot of time and energy to get where they are.

Nothing comes easy, and nobody deserves something for nothing.

In conclusion, we don’t deserve anything except the opportunity to become successful, and it’s there for all of us if we are willing to put in the time, effort, and discipline to make sacrifices.

Don’t blame others or your current situation for your lack of success, you have the opportunity right in front of you.

You not only deserve it, but you are worth it and obligated to take the steps necessary to reap the reward at the end of the tunnel.

Committed to your success,

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.