NEVER GIVE UP

There is only one thing you need to know to reach all your goals in life, fitness or otherwise. Stay positive, never give up. I always tell my clients, "if you never stop walking you have no choice but to reach your destination," and I whole heartedly mean that.

Too often we compare ourselves to other people or to a hypothetical person who already has what we want. When we do this we make a few mistakes that hold us back in life and in health. The most common mistake I see in my clients is thinking they should have already reached their goals. It is easy to wish that we already have everything we want but things that come easy to us will also leave easy. Life is about the journey to our goals, not the goals themselves. Second, we have a tendency to think that other people are different than us or that they know a secret that we don't. I hate to burst your bubble if this applies to you but the secret is: There is no secret. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.

It is understandable why we humans want to already have everything we want, life would sure be easier. But the analogy I like to make is that of the pyramids. Each layer of the pyramid takes a little but less stone to build than the one that comes below it. Each layer, therefore, takes less time to build. We spend the largest portion of our efforts building the base and for good reason as it is the most important layer. Without a solid foundation our pyramid will collapse. So we stay persistent, knowing that if we keep building we will eventually have a great pyramid. After much hard work we have several layers of a pyramid built but to a passer by it looks like we have accomplished very little. No one is impressed by what is basically a huge platform. We don't let this stop us, however, and we continue to build. After years or persistence we are nearing the top of our goal. When we have 90% of the layers of our pyramid built people will start to notice. These layers are much smaller than the lower levels so we can complete several levels very quickly. Passersby see us completing several levels in a short period and think it looks easy for us. This is what happens when we see people in better shape than us and we think it is so easy for them. But we know better. We know there isn't a difference between them and us. We know that to have everything we want in life all we need to do is work hard every day and never give up. We can build a great pyramid.