Fit For Life: You Passion Plan

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Matt Espeut, GoLocalWorcester Health +Lifestyle Contributor

Goals, we all set them, but not all of us accomplish them. Why is this? Do we set them too high? Are we unrealistic? When you were in fifth grade and the teacher asks you what you want to be when you grow up, and you said an astronaut or the president, chances are that wasn’t going to happen. Look at the odds. Over the past 200 years, under 100 people have accomplished both of those professions, put together. But when people set more realistic, albeit stretch goals such as losing 100 pounds or rising to the top of the corporate ladder, or running a marathon, or being a doctor, or learning to surf, why do so many fail, yet so many others have accomplished these things? Because thinking, talking, and even writing it down isn't enough.

Purpose.

You may make a great plan, have lots of great ideas, but unless your heart is in it, and you take immediate action, it isn't going to happen. Yes, these are all great first steps, but you need much more than an idea to accomplish anything in life. First, you need motivation. What is going to motivate you to get started? Is it money, is it health, or is it something you have on a bucket list? Whatever it is, it needs to start from within. You shouldn't attempt anything because someone tells you to, or because everyone else is doing it. Of course, if it’s a life or death situation, or you are financially backed into a corner, that's a different story, and that motivation that comes from an urgent need can be short-lived once the need is satisfied. You need other elements to become successful and achieve your goal.

Plan.

Drive and direction are required actions to complete any task. You need to be dedicated, focused, and have a plan or you are wasting your time. If you want to lose weight, just joining a gym and showing up isn't going to cut it. You need to crank up the intensity, bust your butt, sweat and work hard on a consistent basis. But even before you do this, you need a plan. At Providence Fit Body Bootcamp, I always start with a plan. If you follow it, I guarantee results. But just aimlessly throwing weights around will not only waste your time, it will get you hurt, and nothing will derail your plan like an injury. Just like showing up for work isn't going to make you successful, or even bring you advancement and more money without a strategy or a direction to follow. Having a plan, and executing it, however, will help you accomplish your goals.

Passion.

Plans are necessary to achieve your goal, but in order to sustain what you accomplished you need to have passion for what you are doing. In the case of fitness, if you workout daily, eat healthy, and have the drive, you will get there, but you need a deep down passion for taking care of yourself for sustainability to take place. You see, health and fitness isn't a quick fix, it's a lifelong commitment, and unless you have passion and drive to continue, your results will diminish. The same holds true for your career. Sure you may find a way to make a lot of money quickly, but unless you love what you do, you can't do it that well for that long. You will burn out, and the quality of your work will decline. You, your boss, your coworkers, and your clients will sense your lack of passion, and things will regress or go downhill from there. If I didn't have passion for what I do I wouldn't be able to perform at a high level every day for so many years, and if I didn't show that love and enthusiasm, not too many clients would stick around. So, short term goals are fine. Do your marathon, climb a mountain, break a sales record, ride a bull, but anything of importance that will have sustainability requires a true love and passion to make it last. And, anything worth working hard for is worth keeping.

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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Fit For Life: You Passion Plan

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