Too many people, fitness professionals especially, put a short term emphasis on health and wellness. Even when you look at the fitness industry as a whole, most focus on short term fixes rather than life long changes. A new 90 day fitness program. A new 6 week diet. They are great ways to get started, but most people fall into the “whats next” conundrum and have no idea where to go after the initial time frame. This causes most people to go right back to where they started, only to jump into another diet or workout program that will only yield the same results. This creates the yo-yo effect that sadly too many people go through when it comes to their health.

Read more…

One of my goals in 2012 is to give you more tools to help you accomplish your goals. One of those avenues is to start podcasting and get my message out to more people. I am pleased to launch my first ever podcast. Please note this is my very first one and is rough around the edges, but I got the new mic yesterday and wanted to get one up ASAP so I did just that.

Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Through this series on how to set, achieve and exceed goals, we have covered the whole parameters of setting a goal. First, we went over defining what it is that you want to do. Then we discussed how to create your road map. Then we moved into how to use your road map. Next we chatting about overcoming obstacles, then last time we discuss not stopping at success, but keeping pushing forward.

So what is there left to do? Why a 6 part series?

I did a 6 part series so I can have one lesson to drive home one BIG point: Taking action is the only way you will get your goal accomplished. As much as I think this post series awesome and great for establishing all the needed tools for creating, accomplishing and totally killing your goals, if you simply just read it you will not get results. None. Zilch. Nada. The only way you will hit your goals is to go out and hit your goals. Very simple point, but very important in the same sense.

Take Action Now

So the 6th part of the series is basically to tell you don’t wait until the 31st. New Year Resolutions are one of the biggest let downs. Like diets, they set you up for only short term success. Waiting until once a year to create your goals doesn’t make sense. Then you fall off the wagon one time, and you use the excuse of “I’ll just try it again next year”. How many years are you going to spend NOT hitting your new year resolutions until you realize that something needs to change. So instead of making a New Year Resolution this year, start right now.

I’m not joking. Right now. Do something for your goal right now to start yourself on the journey. You have your goal. You have your road map. You have your motivation. You have everything you need to be successful except one key factor. ACTION.

Take that action right now. Get up and go do one thing to start you on your journey. Take that first walk. Take that first store and get healthier foods. Research that gym membership. Go purchase your TRX. So review your credit cards. Go start automating your finances. Go start researching what you need to get your degree. Don’t wait for your pseudo starting point before you start taking action. There is no better time than right now!

So remember in the end, you can plan your work till you are blue in your face but until you start working your plan, you will get no where. The journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step. Take action on your goal right now and start BEFORE the new year.

I hope you enjoyed reading this series as much as I liked writing it. I hope it encourages you to get up and start doing. As always, should you have questions, or comments, email me at info@nintemanfitness.com or leave a comment below!

To Your Health,

~Z

First thing first: I have created a dedicate page to this series. You can visit our Goal Setting Series page here. So if you are new to this, check out all the other posts then come back and read this one.

Now back to the good stuff:

In part 5 of this 6 part series (we are getting close!), I am going to discuss how to completely surpass all your expectations. After all, I called this series how to achieve, succeed and EXCEED your goal setting. So now we are going to get into the exceeding part. Setting a goal and hitting it is nice. Setting a goal, hitting it and keep surpassing it is even better.

One issue most people have is they set a goal, hit it, and they are done. Most of those people end up right back where they started from simply because they don’t know where they go from here. . In the first part of this series, you should have set a goal that isn’t easy to reach, but isn’t impossible at the same time. So first, if you hit your goal, pat yourself on your back because if you set your goal up right, you have done one hell of a job.

Then, re-adjust the result. I have mentioned before that there are no such things as failures. A “failure” is only a result. If you re-adjust the result, you will get a better result in the future. The same thing with successes. Once you hit your original goal, readjust the result. Re-establish your goal, re-established your road map, and re-establish how you are going to get there. Then go crush it again!

Get Rid Of Your Limiting Beliefs

Most people think they can only go so far in life. And when I start to question how far they have tried to go, no one has ever told me they went to far. Most people tell me they have never tried to push their limits. Most people don’t know their limits. I am not talking about jumping off of a cliff to see if you are indestructible. I am talking about your personal limiting belief system. Your will to push yourself until you truly can’t push yourself anymore. I am talking about hitting your goal, then going farther. People think they can only lose 20 lbs. They can only make so much money. They are only so good at something. I am here to tell you if you think that way, then you are. You are exactly who you think you are.

I am going to say that again because it is kind of a big deal: YOU ARE EXACTLY WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE.

If you think you are just a C student, you are. If you think you can only lose 20 lbs, you can. If you think you can only make X amount of dollars, you will. If you think you can only run a 5k, you will. When you wrap your head around this concept, it is HUGE! Your mind is what controls how far you push yourself. Your mind is the limiting factor to most of your success, or lack of. If you doubt yourself on not only hitting your goals, but exceeding your goals, you will never know how far you could go. Don’t limit yourself to your end goal. Once you reach your end goal, odds are you probably have pushed yourself farther than you originally expected. That is outstanding. Now go further. Keep going and going and going. If you hit a plateau, don’t tell yourself that is the end, tell yourself that is a hill. You need to find a new way around the hill, and keep getting the results. Always strive to keep finding ways to hit your goal. I am telling you that if you do this, there is no way you will not hit your goal (given your goal is not outrageous).

So when you accomplish your goals, stop only long enough to congratulate yourself on a job well done, then re-assess where you are at, where you are going, and how you are going to get there and keep pushing forward.

I have only one more posting in this series which will finish us up just before the new year. I hope you have been enjoying this. I know I had a great time writing this. I hope you found it useful and can truly hit, and exceed all of your goals in 2011.

To your health,

~Z

In the 4th part of this 6 part series, I am going to discuss how to overcome the inevitable obstacles that will get in your way. We previously discussed how to set your goal, then how to create your milestones. The last post in the series covered how to accomplish your milestones. All those posts are the main bulk of the information. But there are still little things that get in the way. This post is how to keep pushing through until you accomplish it.

Let’s face it: If you had a 100% success rate getting from point A to point B without ever losing your way or falling off track, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. Since you are taking the time to read this, you probably need help getting on the right track. And I am here to help. If you think that you will make your goal, go along your path and “Just Do It” to success without any hiccups, that is great. You have the right mindset to be successful. However, that is probably not the case. There are things that come along that try to push you off the path. Holidays are a great example. People who try to lose weight get so freaked out around the holidays because there is turkey, and bread, and stuffing, and pie, and candy, and fruitcake, and whatever other treat is out there.

Do you know what the most typical length of time someone holds on to their new years resolution is?  According to ProactiveChange.com, 75% will hold their resolution past the first week, 71% past 2 weeks, 64% after 1 month and only 46% will hold it long that 6 months. I hate to say it, but the odds are actually against you. People expect you to “fail”. How does that feel? Defeated? Worthless? Why Bother?

Well, show ‘em they are wrong. Most people do not succeed because they already think they are going to fail. They already have all these thoughts of not succeeding last year, and all the things that will get in the way, and all the doubt the comes along with “can I actually do this”. You CAN do this. Don’t let all those thoughts get into your mind. If you want it bad enough, which I assume you do being that you are reading part 4 of this series, you can do it.

Another reason why people “fail” is they think that if they fall of the wagon one time, they are done. No way to catch back up. They quit. Quitting is the only way to fail. I don’t believe in failing. I also don’t believe in quitting, no matter what the scenario is. Quitting = failing in my book. If you quit, then yes, you did fail. Pat yourself on the back and get ready to do the same thing next year. If you want to succeed, do not ever quit. NEVER EVER EVER. I don’t care how many cheat weekends you have, or how many times you binge and breakdown and completely run the other way down your path. Quitting won’t get you to the other side. Getting up, brushing yourself off, creating a mental inventory of what happen and how you can prevent it in the future, then running right back down the narrow path is the only way you will succeed. Instill in your mind that there is no such thing as failures. There are only results. Missing 5 consecutive gym days is a result of being lazy. Binge eating on that weekend with the boys is a result of no control. Going on a shopping spree when you really didn’t need it is a result of impulse. They aren’t failures. They are all results. Adjust the results.

How To Adjust Results

Most of the time, people are well aware when they cheat from what they are suppose to do. They actually know before, during and after. Anyone who says “I didn’t know what I was doing” is wrong. It was a weak moment. Everyone has them. That moment that your conscious gets the best of you and you fall into temptation. Although the best way to success is to stay on your path to the end, it is nearly inevitable that something will happen and you will fall off the wagon. When it does, don’t be too hard on yourself. But be somewhat hard on yourself. If you binge and fall off the narrow path and aren’t difficult with yourself, you are very likely to do it again because there is no punishment for yourself. But don’t get so down on yourself you lose sight of the big picture. It is honestly not the end of the world. You can come back. Here is what you need to do when you fall into a moment of weakness:

• Admit to yourself you cheated. Don’t try to justify it. Don’t tell yourself it is OK because you are too tired, or you were depressed, be honest with yourself and you will get results. Know you did wrong, accept it, learn from it, and move on.
• What went wrong? Why was it bad? You are not looking for the justification on why you did it, but look for the habit. Was it a certain food? Was it a certain time of day? Was it a certain store? Was it a certain….find out what went wrong. Knowing the habit/incident that happen is a very powerful way to tell your brain “ok, I did this, it was bad and I will try to not to do it again”.
• Adjust the result. This is the biggest thing you can do to fix what happen – adjust the result. The result clearly isn’t what you wanted, so readjust your thinking and get back on track. Most people do not succeed because they fail to adjust (they quit). Don’t let one bad day (or a million bad days!) effect your determination to accomplish your goal.
• Keep moving forward. Put the falter behind you and keep walking straight. Be aware of what happen so you don’t dip again, but keep pressing on, following your path and milestones to accomplish your goal.

Set backs will happen. It is how you handle the set backs that will determine your success. Some falter off the path then quit. Prove to the world that you will not be like everyone else. You will set your mind to something and succeed. You can do this if you try and keep going. If you quit, you will never do it.

So the take away: Look long term. Yes, you will have hiccups along the way. The journey is long and hard, but you will get there. You will never get there if you stop trying to get there. I leave you with a video from a Rocky movie. It has a great message about getting hit, and keep on going. The quote from this clip is underneath and fully worth reading itself to get the message.

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place… and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain’t about how hard you hit… It’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward… how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying: You ain´t what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain´t you! You´re better than that!” (Rocky Balboa)

To Your Health,

~Z

I always amazes when people talk about things they want to do or accomplish. I hear it ALL THE TIME.

I want to lose weight. I want to start eating better. I want to start this business. I want to launch that idea. I want to travel the world. I want to make more money.

Read more…

This is the 3rd part in a 6 part series on how to set, succeed, and exceed your goals for the new year. We previously discussed how to find what you want to do, and how to find the stepping stones for your goals. Now we get to the nitty gritty of the series: How are you going to do it?

If you think that just making a goal and figuring out the milestones will get you to accomplish what you want, you are sorely mistaken. I am not one of those “think yourself thin” guys. I am a get-your-ass-of-the-couch guy. So if you liked the first 2 postings and you think that this next post is going to be all happy go lucky, pat yourself on the back, you can do it Forest type stuff, you are in for a surprise.  How do you get what you want? By going out and getting what you want. No one got anything by being lazy except a bad case of obesity.

I may not tell you something you haven’t already heard. Maybe I will, who knows. But what I am hoping to do is to tell you in a way that you put all the pieces of the puzzle together and start getting the things accomplished in your life that you have always wanted to do. So without further ranting, here are a few things you NEED to do in order to get from point A to Point B on your road map.

Plan Your Work

If I explained how to make your plan for each and every goal that each and every reader had, I would probably start setting records in length of posts, and boredom. But if you need individual help, drop me an email and I will do what I can. With that said, one of the biggest things you can do is make a list of things that you need to do in order to get your goal accomplish. Workout more, eat less, eat healthier, hit the gym, save $100 more, enroll in school, sign up for job announcements, whatever it is, make your list of things you know you need to do in order to accomplish this goal. For the most part, you know what these are. These are the little things you are going to do in your day to day life to hit your goal.

Work Your Plan

Now that you have a list of things to do, do it. What is the best way to get something done? By doing it. Simple, right? Taking massive action is the ONLY way you will get stuff done. And your goals for the new year is no different. If your goal is to be more active, watching the Biggest Loser is NOT going to allow you to do that. You physically need to get up, and go for a walk. You need to take action. If you have a financial goal, sitting in your recliner dreaming of that 5k in your bank account isn’t going to put 5k in your bank account. You need to work, make money, and save it. If you read any self help books (I read a lot of them) you know that this is one of the main things the books always break: TAKE MASSIVE ACTION. You know your goals, you know your milestones, and you know what you have to do to get there. Now go get there.

Just Do It

Seriously. I cannot stress this enough. Want to know the #1 reason on why people can’t lose the weight or can’t save the money or can’t land that job? They don’t do it! It is simply easier to make an excuse on why you WILL NOT do something rather than mustering up the courage to get off you ass and just do. NIKE has probably one of the best slogans ever in my opinion with their JUST DO IT slogan. If you really want to accomplish the goals you set out to do, adopt the NIKE way of thinking and JUST DO IT. When you had a long day at work (everyone does) and you get home and eat dinner with the family, then plop down on the couch, you will probably think that you should work out. Get up and go workout. Don’t tell yourself you are too tired and you will do it tomorrow. Tomorrow won’t bring anything different. If you want a change, get up and just do it already. This is the best way to get changes to stick. Don’t wait around for some fairy to magically come through and *POOF* you are in the best health of your life. It won’t happen. Get up, and work.

Stay Focused

Keep your mind on your goal. You made a specific goal for a reason. Keep your goal in your mind. If you want it bad enough, staying focused on your goal will get you to where you want to go. Remind yourself everyday of your goal. Put your weight loss goal on a piece of paper and tape it to the fridge, so everyday when you get home and you just need that little snack before dinner, you will see your goal and keep your mind focused on where you need to go. Tape your financial goal to your credit card, so when you are tempted to just slide that plastic, you will be reminded of what you want in life.  Make sure your goal for 2011 is something that you honestly want to make a lasting change for. If you kind of want to do it, chances are very good you won’t care enough to finish it. Pick something that you have always wanted to do. Something that you want to accomplish so bad, you can stay focused on it day and night until you succeed. That thing that once you succeed, you continue on the path and completely BLOW AWAY your original expectations. Always set reminders to yourself on why you are doing what you are doing.

NEVER EVER GIVE UP. EVER EVER EVER!!

Life is hard. I get that. I know you work 40 hours + , you have a family, you have a social life, and whatever else that you do. I understand. I am not saying give up everything you have already in order to make your change. I am saying that’s life. You need to deal with it. Giving up is NOT dealing with it. Finding a way to fit your change in your life is what I want you do it. That is how you deal with it. If you don’t hit your weight loss goal one week, should you give up? NO. There is never a reason to quit or give up on ANYTHING for ANY REASON. There just isn’t. Just because you are not getting the results that you doesn’t warrant any reason to give up. Change what you are doing. Change how you go about it to get a different result. But don’t QUIT! Quitting and giving up is probably one of the main reasons you are in the position you are in now. Always push forward. Always. There should be no other option in your brain. Giving up and quitting should never EVER be an option regardless of what you are doing. Get out of that mindset and you will break barriers you only once thought were possible. You are stronger, both body and mind, that you realize. Don’t sell yourself short and give up.

Take away message: Just do it. Keep doing it. Never quit. This will get you results. It isn’t glamorous. It isn’t easy. It probably isn’t fun. But it works. So you can keep doing what is fun, easy and glamorous, or you can get down and dirty and get results. It is ultimately your choice.

As always, if you need help with this lesson, contact me and I will do what I can to help. There is never any charges to talk. : )

To your health

~Z

In the last goal setting post, we discussed going big and thinking of the goal that you want to try to hit next year. In this post, we will be going over how to create the steps to get there. I will be using some examples to what I think most people will use. So let’s dive right into it!

One of the biggest reasons people fail is due to the fact the simple don’t know how to achieve their goal. They have a goal, they have a general idea on how to get there, but they don’t make a plan that is simple enough to get from point A to point B. It is the equivalence to someone giving you directions by saying “go that way”. You don’t don’t which way that way is, or how far you go, or even how long it will take. A good road map will take you many places.

Having a road map for your goals is no different. You are going from one place in your life, and need to go to another place. You just can’t wander through hoping it will happen. You need to make it happen. And having a good plan will help guide you the right way to ensure you will make it happen.

So what do you need on your road map? You already have the starting point. You already have the ending point. Now you need to fill what is in the middle. The best way to do this is to think of the milestones along the way.

Create Your Stepping Stones

Creating milestones, regardless of your task you want to achieve, is a great way to track your progress and ensure you stay on the right page. This is the process of breaking down your goals to a very specific timeline.   Here is a great way to start creating your stepping stones of success.

• Start in the middle – You have an end point and a starting point, now find the middle. If you wanted to lose 50 lbs, the midway point is in the middle of the year (we set a goal for a year’s time) and you should be at 25 lbs weight loss. If you had more of a conceptual goal (be active 5x a day or something that really doesn’t have a hard number behind it) your end result will be to be active 5x a day. I am hoping you are planning to work up to your goal, like any other goal. So your half way point should be to be consistently active for 2-3 days a week.
• Find Your Midpoint Midpoint – Now, find the goal halfway between your start and your midpoint, and then your end and your midpoint. Example again with the weight loss: If your goal is 50 lbs, your midpoint is 25 lbs. So your midpoint midpoint’s, which we will call your 1/4 goal, is half of your midpoint, or in this case, 12.5 pounds. Do the same on the other side of your midpoint. If your midpoint is 25 lbs, your 3/4 goal is 37.5 lbs, halfway between your midpoint and your end goal. You now should have a starting point, a 1/4 goal, a midpoint, a 3/4 goal and of course, your end result. Move on to the next one.
• Find your midpoint midpoint midpoint – Break your goal down one more time. Half way through your starting point and your 1/4 goal, find the halfway. For our weight loss example, this would be half way of 12.5 lbs, which is 6.25 lbs. Do this for the 1/4 and your midpoint, your midpoint and your 3/4 goal, then your 3/4 goal and your ending point. Then…
• Do it one more time – This is the final breakdown (there is a method to my madness so keep crunching the numbers). Break down all those points again. I know these numbers get crazy, so see my visual below on what your final result should be like (using a weight loss example – if you still need help, drop me a line at info@nintemanfitness.com and I will help).

CLICK TO ENLARGE

So what did this exercise accomplish? It broke your goal down into mini goals. For  example, our first milestone is losing 3 lbs. That isn’t a huge amount of weight loss but it is a step in the right direction. Most people create their goals with just the end in site. If someone tries to push for 50 lbs and only saw a 3 lb weight loss in the first month and a half, they would get very discouraged and probably quick, because they didn’t create their stepping stone goals and they don’t realize that 3 lbs is on the way to 50 lbs. A big, daunting number in front of you is a quick and easy way to push your goals off to the next year. Breaking it down gives your brain a visual path of the goal that you need to take and you are more likely to get the goal you want. You are more likely to be successful if you look at your bigger goal as smaller little goals and keep your eye on the prize that way. You now created a road map for you to hit your goals!

In the 3rd part of this series, I am going to show you the nitty gritty of how you will use your road map to get results. You have a goal. AWESOME! You have a road map. EVEN MORE AWESOMENESS! But the way you will get the result you want is to put your road map to work and start on the journey. That is what the next installment will be.

Until then, get your road map created and ready to roll out.

To your health,

~Z

This is the first part of a new 6 part post series on how to set, achieve, and exceed your goals for 2011. If you want to read a primer on this series, READ THIS.

Part 1: What Do You Want?

This maybe a harder question than you think. Most of you already have an answer and that isn’t a bad thing. But think about what it is you just blurted out and really ask yourself if what you said really is what you really want to do and if it is specific enough. You basically want to think of what you want, then funnel it down to get a specific, attainable goal. Saying the first thing that comes to mind, or choosing a goal you have attempted in the past probably isn’t a best idea. If you keep doing what you have always done, you will always get what you always got.

So the first thing you can do is think about something broad that you want. Maybe it has to do with your health. Or your financial situation. Or something for your own personal development. Or maybe a business goal. Whatever it is, get an idea of what you want to do. I am doing this exercise as well. My goal is a financial goal.

Start Getting More Precise

Once you have a broad sense of what you want, start breaking it down. If your goal has to do with health, break it down farther to lose weight, or be more active, or complete a marathon. If you have a financial goal, maybe it is to make more money, or save more money, or to purchase a house. With personal development, maybe you can go back to school, or learn a new hobby. For business goals, maybe it is to increase your business sales, or open another facility, or improve customer service. For my financial goal, it is to save money in the upcoming year.

The 3rd part of this exercise is to get even more specific in what you want. This is where you get that actually number you want to hit. That point when you hit it, you know you achieved the goal you wanted. Think big on this one. There is something called the Self Fulfilling Prophecy that is in effect everyday in our life. It basically states that if you think you are something, you are that thing. If you think you can only lose 10 pounds, odds are you will only lose 10 pounds. If you think you are a C student, you are probably a C student. People that know they are successful are successful. So think BIG on this one. Push yourself to your farthest limits with your goal, but be realistic. For me personally, I want to save a TON of money, but it just isn’t realistic for me to say to save a million dollars. Although it would be nice, I just don’t make enough money to save that much (plus if I did make that much, I would probably be spending it on travel : ) ).  But I want to pick a number that will push me, but can be obtainable. I am choosing to try to save $10,000 in the next year. And when I say save, I am talking pure extra money sitting in a bank account that can be used as an “emergency” fund should something ever happens and I have to pay my mortgage and car payments and feed my family. This goal for me isn’t a walk in the park, but can be done with planning and dedication, which we will discuss in the future postings.

Keep this in mind when setting your goals: if you don’t hit your goals, did you fail? NO. There is no such thing as failures, only results. If you wanted to lose 100 pounds and you only lost 75, did you fail? No. That is still very good. You need to make adjustments and you will hit your goal. If I only save 5k this year, did I fail? No, I need to figure out where I went short, adjust my plan and keep pushing to my goal. So push yourself when setting your goal. You WILL get there. I will help.

Another reason to push yourself is a sense of accomplishment. Sure, you can set your sights low and be happy when you hit your goal. Big deal. Where is the satisfaction? What if you sense your sights beyond what you think you can do and get it? How elated would you feel then? How much power would you hold in your hand to basically set your mind to anything you want and get it accomplished? What will stop you? NOTHING. Setting your goal low and cruising through life won’t get you there. Trust me. Push yourself, think beyond your limits and you will find the power that you have hiding inside of you. It’s there. We are going to bring it out.

When you figure out what you want, make sure you instill it in your brain what it is. Print it out and put in a place you will see it everyday. Tell all your friends. Get your friends to make similar goals. Post it on facebook. Do whatever you have to do to get this goal in your brain so it is locked in there.

If you need help pinpointing your goal, feel free to email me at info(at)nintemanfitness.com and I can steer you in the right direction in your goal setting. Let me know what you have so far and we can fine tune it. On the next post, I will help you lay the groundwork for how you will get to your goal. For now, just make sure you have a specific, attainable, big goal that you want to accomplish in the next year.

To your health (and prosperity!)

~Z

It is that time of year again. Good old holiday season. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Besides for over indulging on cookies and pumpkin pie, there is something else that people are going to do in the upcoming months. People are going to start thinking of their new years resolutions. You know those goals and promises you make to yourself every year, only to falter and say “well there is always next year”. I am here to help you make sure your new year resolution not only stick and get achieved, but you exceed them beyond your wildest possibilities. But first thing is first:

Read more…