“What are the consequences if nothing changes? Are you willing to settle for that?”

Disclaimer: I will admit that these questions were on a sales pitch ad for a book with more sales pitch ads and responses. That doesn’t make them any less important or valuable.

My dad is very into education. He was a high school math and industrial arts (metal/wood shop) teacher. He’s taught in community college and at 4 year universities. It would be easy to think he ingrained in us the value of education and how important it was to graduate from college. He did. BUT, while a degree was high on the list, he emphasized learning and critical thinking skills more than anything. As teenagers are wont to do, I mistakenly thought my parents wanted/expected straight A’s. What took me years to realize is that they wanted me to do my best and knew that would get me A’s and maybe some B’s. Ah, the luxury of hindsight.

I bring this up in a gym newsletter because of the critical thinking skills I was pushed to develop. I had a natural tendency to question everything. I am a bit of a rebel/contrarian that way. My dad is, too. The challenge is asking better questions. (My yearly resolution.)

One of my dad’s favorite questions is, “Who prospers?” Who prospers if something happens? Who prospers if something doesn’t happen? Which brings us to the first questions I mentioned above. Consider that there is no good or bad. Just consequences. Are you willing to live with that? Then consider that is essentially what you are choosing. There is no settling for a result. I think that when you choose a path you are choosing the result. If the result isn’t what you’re wanting, then it’s not the end of the path.

Bring it home, Tim. Here goes. At some point we all have had enough of whatever we’re doing and we change.  Change is likely to be uncomfortable, but that is how we grow. Pain had to happen for us to change. So, if you’re happy with how things are going, keep going. If you’re not happy, change it. Maybe it’s simply changing our attitude towards something to make all the difference. Maybe it’s quitting a job and moving across the country/world. The fun part is the uncertainty of making the “right decision”.

What’s the question you need to ask yourself? Maybe you know the question, but refuse to answer because of the consequence. We do not sign up 100% of the people that attend our introductions. Maybe they don’t like my jokes, the scheduling requirements or the way the gym is laid out. Perhaps they haven’t considered the consequences or the pain of where they are at isn’t enough to stop settling for it.

Here’s what I like about this line of thinking. I always have a choice. To steal a phrase, I have a choice of the hard in my life. I can choose the hard of discipline now or I am choosing the hard of life later on. There are myriad ways of saying this in a “fitspirational” way fit for a meme on social media. This is a note encouraging you to choose the hard now.

Show up for all your classes. Start your day with protein. Cut out candy. Stop drinking calories. Take the stairs at the airport or at work. Start small. Build momentum. Tell someone about it and build yourself a community with accountability. Just start.