March 16, 2017
by Paden Hughes
One of my all time favorite movies is It’s a Wonderful Life. In this movie the question of what makes someone a success is at the heart of the story. George Bailey is beloved by all, saved many families during the depression from being turned out of their homes and dignified his fellow man through a long line of personal sacrifices.It’s a beautiful, heart warming story suggesting that success takes on many forms and may not look the way we initially envisioned it.
So, as this 2017 year has just begun, what does success in your life mean to you? It’s a great thing to consider.
What makes someone successful? Is it financial wealth? Is it being surrounded by many friends? Is it intellectual contributions we make? Is it in the ability to follow our passion and get paid to do what we love? Is it finding the love of our life and never letting them go? Is it finding something bigger than us to give us purpose and impact?
What does success look like? While we may all have a different personal definition, we can likely see eye to eye around what makes a successful mindset. We can unite around what principles and decisions are needed to find success as an athlete, parent, professional, business leader and/or spouse.
In this series we are looking at the 10 things to eliminate from our mindsets to be more successful in 2017.
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how removing the five things mentioned below from our mindset would result in a more successful year:
In this continuation of the topic, we’ll explore five more things to get rid of in 2017 to make this one of your best years yet.
We can be so gullible, believing any advertisement attempting to convince us that a product and service is the “magic bullet” to solve our problems. As we age and mature we start to realize the allure of the “quick fix” is a myth.
Most successful people I know say their success took time and lots of work. Why? Making small, consistent improvements over time transforms into true success in the long run. They would rather improve 1% every day than spend time seeking an overnight success story.
In fitness we certainly realize many members would rather write a check to lose 10 pounds overnight than work hard for a year to lose the same weight. We also have members recovering from an injury or seeking to reduce their pain who have become disheartened by the ups and downs on the road to recovery. Our encouragement is always consistent. True sustainable results take time. It took years to add on that extra weight or compound that dysfunction into the painful injury it is today. We know building their success story will also take time.
Trust us, if there was a magic bullet or quick fix we would give it to you. But we also believe the journey to recovery or success is more transformative than simply reaching the destination.
An “ah-ha” moment for me in the last year was recognizing that the compulsion of needing to control everything is often rooted in fear. Fear in and of itself is not bad, as it serves to “wake us up”, like a smoke alarm in the middle of the night. It’s what we do with fear that sets us down a path of success or failure.
I love the serenity prayer, which says,
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference”.
Identifying whether you can change something or not is truly the first step of letting go. Successful people know to stop trying to control something they acknowledge as being outside of their ability to change. Essentially it’s admitting you will fail if you try to change something.
A successful athlete places more emphasis on their mindset and attitude than trying to change their circumstances. They know that sometimes “shit happens” and they can only control only their reactions and responses to outside forces that cannot be altered.
I remember the first time someone told me that “when you say Yes to something you are inadvertently saying No to something else”. There is so much out there that distracts us from where we want to go, all we have to do is let it.
An athlete that says yes to four beers, sugar-heavy foods and deep fried foods the night before a race may at the same time be saying NO to achieving their PR the next day.
Successful people build a sensitivity and awareness to their choices. They know each choice has an impact that could compromise their bigger goals. They know how to say no to instant gratification in pursuit of a longer term more meaningful goal.
Think about the five people you spend the most time with. Are they empowering? Uplifting? Supportive? Or do they suck energy from you? Are they negative and dysfunctional?
Now consider this quote:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn
It’s like hearing your parents tell you in middle school that “you are who you hang out with.” But it’s true. Ever notice how we start to assume similar mannerisms and vocabulary to those we spend time with?
In fitness, if your workout partner is more athletic than you, do you think you will work harder to keep up? You bet! In the long run, will this strengthen and better your athletic capabilities? It certainly will.
Successful people know that if they surround themselves with intelligent, hard working, inspiring, and empowering people that they will themselves will advance. By taking inventory of the relationships around them and how others impact and influence them, they make changes when they identify a
toxic influence.
This can seem harsh. This isn’t to say stop trying to be a nice or good person? The emphasis is on the word “need”. To need to be liked infers that the approval of others is of more value than the decisions you make, what beliefs you hold and how you go about pursing your dreams. It actually becomes a cage you live in and struggle to break out of. You will spend too much energy trying not to stand for anything that offends another (which essentially means you won’t stand for anything at all) and/or not do anything too amazing so others aren’t threatened by you.
Successful people know that to do important things and to change the status quo means you will not be welcomed by all.
I love the below quotes from Marianne Williamson:
“It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us…
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you…
As we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same…”
Athletes who dedicate themselves to excellence, who get up daily at 5am to get to their workout, who say no to unhealthy food choices throughout the week, may make others who observe their lives feel inferior but they may also inspire others to sacrifice to achieve their own goals. We can’t take ownership for how others respond to us, but we can continue to pursue our goals without being confined to a prison of caring about what everyone else thinks about us. Successful people certainly maintain their focus and pursue their dreams, not with the intention to offend others, but without making what others think a determining factor about how they live.
When it comes to 2017 and building success, it is our hope as fitness professionals to partner with each member to help them achieve their goals. We know we can only make as much headway as each athlete allows, but the more successful the athlete’s mindset, the more likely sustainable results will be achieved.
We are truly impressed with our fitness community and the caliber of successful locals who choose to train with us. We have been told my many locals that Gymnazo is the fitness home to some of the most successful professionals in the county. This honestly does not surprise us. I do not mean that in a prideful way, but what we witness daily in Gymnazo is a successful mindset at work in our members more times than not. The level of dedication and pursuit of excellence, willingness to try new things, to push to new levels is inspiring to us. We think we have some of the best jobs and are so thankful to enter 2017 with you.
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