Yup, you read this correctly. People tend to avoid fitness and a healthy lifestyle. I find in far too many situations where people say to me on a daily basis “I don’t have the time to workout” “I don’t have the necessary discipline to maintain a balanced diet” “I can’t stop drinking alcohol” “I can’t stop smoking”. Many of the reasons to why people cannot maintain a healthy lifestyle can attribute to children, multiple jobs, mental health concerns, a lack of family/friend support, or having pets at home. That’s valid, but I would still argue that there is no reason to why you shouldn’t eat healthy, drink a a healthy amount of water, and find a few days in the week to workout in the gym or at home.
With the emergence of social media, it has become advantageous to become the best version of yourself. The access of phones have given people in society a mass amount of resources to learn just about anything you want to learn. If you do not know how to workout, there are apps on the internet that can teach you how to workout (that come with an expense). If you do not wish to pay for a workout plan, there are workout tutorials on YouTube that one can follow at home without the need for workout equipment. One can get into tip top shape with outdoor running and calisthenics. All in the reach of your home! Imagine that. Getting in shape without being at a gym. So tell me. What’s truly stopping you from wanting to achieve top-tier goals?
I think what’s problematic to me is that society and the masses do not value being unhealthy as an issue. I also think people have a tough time looking in the mirror to truly tell themselves that they need to change. My biggest fear in life is waking up in the morning and seeing a huge gut. I could never. I also want to live to 100 years old. Hence to why I drink a mass amount of water on a daily basis, to a balanced healthy diet, in addition to exercising 4-6 times a week. I get it. It is not for everyone. People constantly ask me why I do the things I do. Well, in a simple form. I want to be in the best physical shape possible. I want to live for a long-time. And I wish to avoid long-term health concerns now and in the near future. I saw something on the Internet recently. I am 30 years old. I recognize that I have officially entered my “Unc stage” in full embracement. Somebody wrote something along the lines of “You’re bad habits you have performed start to show at 30. You either look 25 or you look 45”. That’s a fact to that statement as well.
Invest in yourself people. Believe me. We are getting older. Our friends are getting older. And the younger people we thought were children are growing taller and becoming older too. Guess what, we may not be getting taller. But, by the year, we are getting older with age whether we want to accept it or not. Find your mentor. Sign up at a gym. Hire a personal trainer. Hire a nutritionist. Buy a healthy cook book. Replace the sodas with water and healthy teas. Mitigate eating out daily to once a week. Find your accountability partner. Invest in yourselves people. If you don’t no one else will.
David Goggins was over 300 pounds before he left for bootcamp. This man last over one hundred pounds before he left. He didn’t make excuses. No matter how difficult it became, he showed up daily, and stayed consistent. My late and great former assistant college basketball coach once said to me “Showing up in life is crucial” “You did the hardest part- which is showing up”. I never realized how accurate that was until I started working in my professional field. We come into work, out workouts, and some fun events with a mass amount of trauma, emotions, and burn out from what we are going through on a daily basis. But, we are showing up. That’s the battle. We show up for our children, our jobs, and our pets. Why can’t we reward ourselves in the same manner and apply this to health and fitness? It’s a matter of choice. And far too many times people in society our neglecting the most important thing that gives us true health and longevity. Health is TRULY WEALTH.
Just show up. Remove the expectation. If you’re tired, find a way to burn some calories. You may not need to go as hard as you did the previous day, but you are capable of getting some work in! Everybody is! The battle is within your mind. One thing I learned about life is that it is one HUGE psychological warfare. It is a non-stop war. We have to combat that daily. We have to combat that daily to avoid addictions and toxic things to the human body.
People are dying daily due to health issues. Whether if it is from a bad alcohol addiction, bad smoking habits, a lack of movement, or a poor diet. People are developing long-term health concerns due to these things. And then in turn, people are dying at a young age due to an unhealthy lifestyle. You should want to be here on this Earth. There are elderly people that wish they can turn back the clock. There are physically disabled people that wish they were able to run and get in the gym. There are mentally disabled people who think highly of life that wish they had the opportunity to operate like you. We often take things like this for granted. We take life for granted!
We should want to live in our primes for as long as we can. We should want to appreciate this life for as long as we can. People look up to us. GOD birthed us for us to experience life here and give back to him as he has given to us. We need to repay that for him and to ourselves. I truly wish I could snap my fingers like a genie and transform everybody on this Earth to a fitness guru. We would all treat each other better, the world would be a clean place, and we would all live for a long time. But, the reality is that cannot be done. We have to enforce that upon our selves. I want you to truly reflect on the next 10-15 years of your life. How would you feel if your body started to shut down? How would you feel if the things you were once able to do, you cannot perform due to unhealthy habits? What if you showed up to a doctor’s office and you were told you have a few months to live? Is that scary for you? That certainly scares me. The beauty is, we have the power to control that narrative and avoid these issues!
Make a vision board. It starts with a dream. The saying “You can do anything if you put your mind to it” is 100% true. Again, it starts and ends in the mind. If you dream it, envision it, implement it, and stay consistent you will see results. The journey is never easy. There will be days where you will be tested physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. 75% of those three things are apart of the mental warfare. As you continue to become more consistent, things that were once challenging for you, may not be as challenging for you now because you have learned to train and discipline your mind to push past your personal limits.
Change your environment. Maybe you need to throw away all of the bad food in your household to create change. Hang up your vision board in a place in your house that you can see daily. Put affirmations on your wall that you can see daily to keep you on your journey. Find your accountability partner. Read the book “Atomic Habits” that can help you rewire your brain to change your habits. FIND A NEW IDENTITY. Write down and see these things daily. “I AM HEALTHY”. “I WILL PUSH PAST MY LIMITS”. “I WILL BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF MYSELF”. See these things daily to remind yourself of the goal. Temptation will always be floating in the air. At home. At work. In the community. In life generally speaking. My pastor always tell me to keep my eye on the prize. What’s your price? What’s your why in life? Find your prize. Find your why. Look at yourself now. And now envision what it would feel like to be the best version of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Now that is HEALTHY!
Lastly, do not compare yourself to others. Don’t let numbers discourage you. Stay consistent. Show up. Remember this journey you are about to take on does not happen overnight. Learn the skill of radical acceptance and patience. This is what I look like now, but with consistent time and effort I will become a better version of myself. This how you should approach this. This may take on months to years to overcome your personal battles. That’s fine. This is your journey. As everybody’s journey is different. And then when you become the person you want to be, you will inspire many others in which people will then come to you for guidance and inspiration. And the same thing you did for yourself, you can now grow within others. You see what you’re doing now? Impact. Positive change. Breathing life into others! This is why we do it.
With Love and Respect,
Mr. Creator
Mr.Creator blog 