While many of you look forward to the holiday season as a time to kick back and party, I am refining the first half of 2012 – yes, 2012! No, I’m not trying to rush the years (LOL). Rather, I’m a firm believer in “buying the generator before the hurricane arrives” – if you know what I mean.
Most folks don’t understand this concept, INCLUDING the folks who teach “goal setting.” In fact, many of you are probably planning your next holiday party, thus leaving the plans for 2011 off the radar until…well, 2011. I’m not suggesting that you don’t enjoy a little down time, but rather than stopping for an entire month to smell the roses, I recommend stopping a little here and there, on a consistent basis.
Many of you will go into 2011 with big goals, yet – a clear lack of ingredients to achieve those goals. That kind of UNstrategy is no different than planning a Thanksgiving feast, but forgetting about the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc.
Without the right ingredients,
NOTHING HAPPENS!
It’s true.
If one of your personal goals is to lose weight, then there are certain “ingredients” needed to make that happen. No, I’m not talking about that new pair of New Balance 1226 sneakers or the new Under Armour shirt (that you’re not quite ready to wear). What I’m talking about are the larger, more crucial factors that will either make or break your efforts (i.e. proper training, smart nutritional counseling, etc.)
Most folks don’t plan very well – simply because they don’t know how. It’s like planning a motorcycle tour of the Southwest, but forgetting to note the locations of the gas stations. Uh oh. When someone with the means doesn’t know how to plan, they call on a life coach.
Many life coaches are like some folks who go after a BS degree in psychology: They are folks who also DON’T KNOW, but are trying to figure things out. In other words, that person has a world of problems, yet believes that he or she can help everyone else work out THEIR issues. Yes, I know – that statement is going to piss some people off, but only the ones who are actually trying to figure things out (LOL).
In my experience, there are a lot of folks with the recipe (for whatever needs to be accomplished), but very few people who can provide you with the EXACT ingredient list you need to pull off your “dish” (goal). Just look around at any health club on January 2, 2011, and you’ll see lots of folks with lots of goals. And yet, come February 28, 2011, nearly half the folks who start working out on January 2, 2011 will be nothing more than a memory. Bye-bye…thanks for coming!
When folks attended my HEADSPACE SEMINAR in Las Vegas (October 2010), most thought, “Swerdlick does have a big mouth, but there’s no question that he’s a straight-up guy. A straight shooter.” I don’t believe that most attendees of that seminar were aware of what they’d be taking away from that event. Nearly two months later, most of the attendees who joined me in Las Vegas in early October, are still at it and working more realistically (vs. conceptually) toward their goals.
The reason that most of these folks are still “with the program” is because I forced them to consider the ingredients as much as I did the goal. Most trainers don’t do that, and most life coaches don’t know how. That is THE REASON why I am now being sought after by, you guessed it, life coaches. Big surprise, huh? After all, if you really want to be a great life coach, then you really need to have the best trainer.
Lest you believe that this is a shameless plug for my services, let me remind you that my purpose today is to make YOU look at your own ingredient list. What do you REALLY need to be successful in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and beyond? Will a goal be enough? I think not.
Have A GREAT Day!
…Dr. Marc Swerdlick