Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Motivate yourself and you will motivate others


The main reason I started writing these posts is to try to motivate and encourage others to get involved. We don’t need to be reminded of the rewards of physical fitness, but we do need motivation to get started and encouragement to keep going.

Here’s my motivational tip for today: If you start a new fitness program or make fitness a regular part of your life, you will inspire someone else to do the same. 

What could be greater than making your own life better? The answer: Making someone else’s life better.

Talk about what you are doing. You are likely to inspire a friend, a family member, a colleague, or just someone reading your Facebook posts. I have been inspired to exercise because of countless others. Some of the best moments in my life happen when someone tells me that they are getting fit because of the things they have seen me doing or heard me talk about.

Start doing something today. Tell others about it. It feels good to let people know when you have just finished a 5K, are working on a home fitness program, or are participating in a group exercise class.  More importantly, those simple comments about what you are doing may inspire someone else to do the same.

One of my favorite teaching quotations has always been the wisdom of Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence will stop.”

The same wisdom is applied to fitness. You start a fitness routine, and it will inspire someone else to begin too. Then that person will motivate someone else, and on and on it goes.

If getting yourself in better shape is not enough motivation to tackle a new fitness experience, then consider the lives of others. We possess the ability—be it in a blog, a conversation, or a simple Facebook post—to do or say something to motivate another person to improve their lifestyle.

I hope you join me in this challenge to motivate and encourage. 





Monday, April 23, 2012

My regrets


I don’t promote thinking about regrets, but I definitely have several I try to ignore. One of the biggest regrets I have is “Why didn’t I do this sooner? Or more consistently?” 

When I finished my second master’s degree, my regret was that I did not go for it earlier. Life would have been so much better if I had completed this hard work when I was younger, right?

When I earned my black belt, I wished that I had started martial arts at age 6 instead of age 12 because then I would have been so much more advanced.

When I complete a fitness program, I regret that I did not start sooner. What if I had completed these programs years ago instead of doing them now? I think about how much better I would be in shape, if only I had started earlier. I could have found the time if I really wanted to do so. I just did not have the resources or the motivation.

I bang my head when I think of the results I would already have if I had started these programs—and stuck with them consistently—years ago. 

But there is a flip-side to regret. The first idea to apply is that the regrets diminish the moment you start applying yourself. The regrets are bigger the longer you wait, so do not wait any longer to begin the journey for your goals. 

The other thing I tell myself is that I would not be who I am today if I did things differently, and I am happy with who I am. The timing of my second master’s degree led to my dream job. The timing of my martial arts training led to a national award winning martial arts program. The timing of my current fitness goals led to me becoming a fitness instructor, a coach, this blog, and the daily encouragement I try to give to others to get started.

So I want you to picture who you could be and who you could influence if you complete your goals. The potential for inspiration we have is limitless. Do not regret not having pursued your goals yesterday; regret that you are not pursuing your goals today. Make a change, make a commitment, and make a difference. Today.

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