Dig deep, answer the call.
I remember when I first decided to get my certification in nutrition. I had decided to enroll with Precision Nutrition. I received all of my text books in the mail and to my surprise I also received a free book that was written by the co-founder of Precision Nutrition, John Berardi. The book is titled “Change Maker” and it is a book about taking your passion for health and fitness and turning it into your career. On the hardcover of the book there is a quote that says “Ask yourself…When I die or retire, how will I know that I’ve followed my purpose?” Talk about a gut punch. I remember reading that quote and thinking, “That is what this is right? This is my purpose. I am in too deep for it not to be.” I should have known that wouldn’t be the last time I would be stunned by something from this book. Then I got to chapter two.
Can you imagine my face when just two chapters in Berardi said something along the lines of “If your reason for wanting to do this is only to ‘help people be the best version of themselves’ that is not enough.” Then it followed up with something like “How do you even know whether or not you have the skill to do this? What if you aren't good at it and you are only good at working out?” I remember running to my office mate Bruce and saying “This book is literally stabbing my brain!!!” The truth was, I had to dig deeper. My reason for being a coach needed to be bigger than just to “help someone” I quickly realized that going deeper would require a lot of deep self reflection - which I actually hated at the time.
The book went on to press me and stretch me in every way. The book would take me through some written tasks that would help me to identify my values, my priorities, push me out of my comfort zone to ask people that knew me questions about my character, and most importantly my deep reason for wanting to be a coach.
What I realized after all of this was that the same thing needs to happen for anyone who is looking to enroll in a health program. If the reason starts and ends with “I just want to look and feel better” and never goes past the “I”...It will always be really easy to stop any program, give up, make excuses, and throw in the towel.
See, if relying on ourselves was enough to get us to our goal and remain consistent..we would already be there. That stands true even for me today. The moment I take my eyes off of my deep reason WHY I want to continue coaching and start focusing on myself, I lose all drive and I am okay with mediocre performance.
Friends - your reason for bettering your health has to be DEEPER than just yourself. I recognize that this is almost counterintuitive because it is YOUR body, but true health requires depth and understanding. You are more than just your body to other people. Some of you reading this are husbands, wives, parents, children of elderly parents, friends, leaders in your community, business owners, business leaders, animal parents..they ALL need you too!!
I’ve encountered nurturing mothers who have a hard time prioritizing their health because they feel selfish. I have encountered fathers who take pride in providing for their families, but have a hard time prioritizing their health because they do not see that maintaining their ABILITY to provide in the future as another form of provision for their family.
It is really easy to put yourself on the back burner so that you can care for other people. It’s one of the main reasons why when I first started to exercise I did it EARLY in the morning. I knew at that hour of the day I would not be needed by my family. Plus, I did not want to take time away from my family to get a workout in. I refused to let something spill over into my time with my husband and children. The driving force behind my decision to get up at that hour was my value of family and prioritization of family time.
I wish that I could give you a solution on how to get consistent. I wish there was an easy way to do it, but there is not. The only way to get better at something that you suck at is to practice. The best way to ensure you want to practice is to remember WHY you want to do it in the first place.
Here are some things to consider when developing your DEEP reason for joining any health program :
Your values - Fundamental beliefs that guide your attitudes, choices, and actions. Berardi calls these “Guardrails that keep you on track.”
Your priorities - The things you would consider to be important and take precedence over other things.
When you think you have found your reason why, go FIVE layers deeper than that by continuing to ask yourself why that next layer is important to you.
Here is an example:
Pretend Client says - I would like to look better than I do right now.
Why is looking better important to you? - Because I would feel better.
Why is feeling better important to you? - Because if I felt better I would have more energy.
Why is having more energy important to you? - Because I would like to be able to spend time with my children after work.
Why is spending more time with your children after work important to you? - Because they do not get to see me all day while I am at work and I want them to know I am here for them.
Why is it important for your children to know that you are there for them? - Growing up I had a parent who dedicated a lot of time to their job. It was hard to watch them care more about work than anything else to include their own health and us. It felt like we would get the leftovers. I guess that is why it is important for me to make sure that my children know that I am there for them. In order to do that I need more energy. I need to do this.
Did you notice how what started as a very general answer turned into a much deeper reason? This deeper reason can work as an anchor to bring the client back into focus when life starts to get busy. If the reason for wanting to be healthier just stopped at “I want to look better” it simply would not be enough to keep the momentum going consistently.
HEALTH requires action and effort from us and unfortunately even though our lives quite literally depend on it..we still struggle to prioritize it.
Would you take a shortcut on other important areas of your life?
If your car’s gas tank was empty on a Monday, would you only fill it to a quarter tank and expect it to get you through a week of commuting to and from work?
If you had a broken leg, would you put a bandaid on it and expect it to heal properly?
If you were married, would you only talk to your spouse once a month and expect to have a fruitful relationship?
I am guessing - probably not. So why do we treat our LIFE like that?!
I am not perfect. There are days where I have to cling to my reason for this journey for dear life, and it’s never because I do not want to do it anymore. It is because there is ALWAYS something else that I could do instead. Spend more time with God, cook, clean, spend more time with my husband, sleep in, write, draw, do laundry, write a blog, create content - the list can go on and on forever.
BUT, if I take a moment to think about what God has asked me to do. Even if I have to crawl and drag myself there, I will get there. Why? Because I do not have a career, I have a CALLING. People have been assigned to me and I MUST do all that I can for THEM.
My journey to health may have started being about me, but it’s not anymore.
My prayer for you - is that you GET there. Your calling and your people are depending on it.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28
XO,
Jess
