The United States has become an extremely fast paced society where the weak and vulnerable are left behind if they're not quick enough to keep up. We live in an "I need it and I need it now" society that doesn't need anything. We want it and we want it now. Lately I find myself slipping to the side of this not because I am weak or vulnerable, but because I do not need it now. I can wait because I am not in a rush to die.
Every year people commit to a New Year's Resolution to get back on track, get in shape, become healthier, or whatever they seek to make them happy. The week following Christmas has many people starting to think about what they can commit to in order to fill the status quo of having a resolution. Come January the masses of people, who have decided the New Year was the time to change, begin on their journey. I would really like to see statistics on how many people achieve their goal, how many fail, and when they fail (or quit). Committing to a New Year's Resolution that involves fitness, weight loss, or becoming healthier probably sits in the top 3 every year. The problem is many people "want it now".
I'm a Lifer. If I were to ever make a resolution, it'd be to add 30 or 40 pounds to my bench press, by next January not 12 weeks or 6 months. What happens, when a person commits to a goal and says, "I will lose xx amount of weight by March 1st", is that they have already decided their fate. Come March 1st and that "resolution" or goal has not been reached, what is going to happen? Many people will quit and go about their lives as they do every year. March goes, April springs, May flees, June and July you were too drunk to remember, August you're on fire, September you're getting the rest of the summer out before October and before you know it, it's Holiday Season and "Nobody" has time. After those 8 months of being "too busy" or failing to make proper steps to be successful, it's time for your "resolution" once again.
I'm a Lifer. I don't focus ten months in advance. I worry about the weight I'm going to be moving on Monday not Friday. I make long term plans with various levels of achievement and chip at them one at a time. I do this because in order to reach your goals you need to be diligent in your planning while not getting ahead of yourself. Start your 30 day shred or P90x without a plan and you'll have to do it again once you're done, and this is very discouraging. We don't have to keep this focus on just your level of fitness or body fat, look at your professional life or your finances. Everything needs a plan and nothing happens overnight. You will be far more successful in anything if you make long term goals that have shorter term goals.
Right now I have it planned that I am going to compete in my first Powerlifting contest come September. I need to make my weight class of choice so the weekly focus is based around getting as strong as possible without gaining weight. My long term goal is to become competitive and for that I have given myself 10 YEARS. Yes 10 years.....I'm a Lifer. Why should I care about becoming competitive right now? It won't happen and that is not a negative thought/emotion or putting myself down, it's reality. I don't hide behind the truth hoping it ain't so. I am not in the level that current competitive lifters are at and it will take those 10 years until I am. I'll be 40 in those 10 years and I don't care, that is just a number. That is why I am a Lifer. I need to be a lifer because I need to make sure I do it right everyday so that in 10 years I have a better chance of being competitive and that at 40 years old I am healthy enough to even be able to hoist a few hundred pounds on my back. I am not in a rush for a trophy, I just want the experience, and if it happens in 5 years- good- I worked hard enough.
Being sick and tired of the way you feel everyday or the way you think you look is a good way to start on a plan towards whatever makes you feel better and feel happier, but in 12 weeks.... don't quit. Just because you lost twenty pounds in twelve weeks doesn't mean you're done. Maybe you lost fat doing some fad diet during that time but how healthy are you? I am a Lifer because I first and above all care about my health and longevity. When you're 80 years old in a nursing home, I'm going to be on the home front sipping my beer while still having the ability to wipe my own ass.
I am a Lifer!
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