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"Get Leverage To Get Fit"

By Pete Piranio

Have you ever procrastinated on an office project or put off cleaning your garage? Why do we do this? Why do some people put things off to the last minute? The answer to these questions is also the secret to achieving your health and fitness goals. Knowing the answers will get you the leverage you need and the results you desire.

The answer is found with what I like to call the "Two Ps" or pain and pleasure. Human psychology tells us that we naturally want to avoid pain and are attracted to pleasure. This may seem obvious, but what is not so obvious is the battle between pain and pleasure. The questions I posed demonstrate how we often avoid the pain associated with starting a work project, cleaning the garage or anything that doesn't offer us enough pleasure to trigger immediate action. The fact is we do not associate enough pleasure with completing these projects and therefore are not overly enthusiastic to get started.

I don't mean physical pain, but the undesirable feeling we associate with having to do a particular task, change a habit, making a decision or even just thinking about how to do something. Anything you struggle to motivate yourself to do is most likely due to you associating too much pain with the process. This is the biggest barrier to fitness and fat loss success for many.

They associate too much pain with the process of exercising or changing their nutritional habits. They have not created enough pleasurable thoughts about how great they will look or how much energy they will have to play with their kids.

On the other hand, we can also utilize pain to our advantage. For some, an effective strategy is to associate enough pain to not acting and therefore action is the only option. It may be the painful thought of having to wear a swim suit on vacation or not being able to enjoy retirement because of physical limitations. The pain associated with this could be enough for someone to stay committed to an exercise program.

Either strategy can be effective, but in my experience the most effective strategy for health and fitness goals is the avoidance of pain. People usually do more to avoid pain than they ever will to gain pleasure.

What absolutely must not take place is lowering your standards (Oct/Nov. issue of FT Magazine) and saying it is "not that bad". This is avoiding pain through acceptance and ensuring that you will stay the way you are. I am not saying beat yourself up all the time, but it is appropriate to listen to the pain you have and utilize it to create leverage.

Before you can create leverage, however, you must decide on what you really want. You must create a crystal clear vision for what you will look like, feel like and act like when you achieve your goal. An effective tool can be visualizing what it will be like when you achieve your goal. Drum up the emotions as if you already achieved your goal. And take the time to write a detailed personal vision for what will be the end result and read this once a week.

After reading your vision, establish weekly goals that are in alignment with this vision. Each group of weekly goals will be steps towards achieving your ultimate vision. Both of these tools done repeatedly can create a neuro-associative condition that will guide unconscious decisions supportive of your goals. It's not enough to just say I want to lose 20 pounds.

After you have decided on what you want, you must create enough leverage to get yourself going. Desires without leverage are merely wishes and wants. Wanting is not enough to push you towards consistent action that will turn your vision into reality. You will make changes in your life when you see changes as important and urgent. This "must" feeling is developed using the leverage of avoiding pain.

I mentioned in last months issue how sometimes this leverage finds us. We have a heart attack or receive some life changing news. Let's not wait until the pain finds us to create leverage. We want to intentionally create our own leverage and be proactive in making positive lifestyle changes.

The question is how do we create intentional pain to gain the leverage we need. The following are examples that, if used repeatedly, can create your leverage:
1. Wear an article of clothing that is one size too small and uncomfortable. Possibly a pair of pants in the closet you used to wear.
2. Compare a picture of the skinny you and a recent picture.
3. Write commitment letters to a few people you respect (see sample)
4. Get a personal trainer or workout buddy to hold you accountable to consistent exercise and health nutrition.

Utilizing these examples may work for you, but the most effective pain triggers are found by asking yourself some tough questions. What is it about my body that I don't like? How long has my weight been a problem? How do I feel about not being able to buy the clothes I would like? The bottom line is that change will only occur when you see change not only as important, but URGENT! Creating urgency starts by leveraging pain to force action and utilizing the pleasurable thoughts of your vision as the icing on the cake.

My Commitment Letter

Dear Sally,
You have been one of my best friends for years now. I trust and respect you immensely. I am writing to ask you for a very important favor.

I want you to know that I am absolutely committed to live a healthier life, take off a few pounds, exercise consistently and maintain healthy eating patterns to get vitality back in my life.

So I have made the decision that I must respect myself and never go back to my old ways. I have a lot of respect for you and therefore I am asking you to hold me accountable to sticking with this decision. I want you to call me on it, even in public if necessary. I want you to know that you will most likely never have to do this because I am never going back to my unhealthy ways.

Committing to you now will help me follow through on my pledge. I will keep you informed of my progress and when we see each other, you will see my progress.

I really appreciate your friendship and support!

Love,
Jan

About the Author:

Pete Piranio is the owner and fitness consultant for Fitness Together in Delafield, Brookfield and Wauwatosa Wisconsin. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Fitness Management and Busness Administration from Carroll College in Waukesha Wisconsin. He is by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

He is also Editor and Publisher of FT Magazine a fitness and lifestyle magazine. He has been an expert contributed to numerous books and publications. Additionally, he is a speaker and consultant to Fitness Professionals throughout the United States. Learn more at www.FitnessTogether.net