Over the last 18 months, I have finally achieved consistency and results in working out, controlling my eating and losing weight. Here is what I have learned from my recent success and previous failures. Your own goals for achievement may be in different areas, but I think there are real insights from my experience that may help other leaders.
Let me start by describing the results I have achieved. Over the last 18 months, I have steadily lost one pound per month until I can now fit into the same clothes I wore in college. I consistently work out 3-5 times a week, for half an hour. I eat reasonable portions, not skipping meals, and I have gone a whole year without getting sick. I regularly get comments now, asking me what I have changed or telling me that I am looking great. To tell you the truth, I have kind of been surprised by the results, and it has caused me to reflect back on what I did differently in the last year and a half to produce such significant change.
Two years ago, I set a New Year’s resolution that was a little different than what I had done before. Instead of a lofty goal, I had a simple mantra of three words, move every day. I thought by setting a simple and achievable goal that I might make progress on getting back to the fitness level I enjoyed 10 years ago. But after a few good weeks, my good intentions fell to the wayside, and it wasn’t until Easter weekend that something truly changed.
Ironically, it was my mother-in-law, whom I overheard asking my wife if I was getting any exercise. That comment got to me, and I began to reflect on what I was letting get in my way. I thought back to the past when I had a consistent exercise regimen and remembered that I had always worked out with someone else. But, whenever I tried to start something alone, I would still taper off a few weeks in.
Putting Some Skin in the Game
The next week I drove to a gym near my house and signed up with a personal trainer who worked with people in small groups of three or four. It was not cheap, but I knew I had to do something different.
The combination of working out with other people and making a significant financial investment was highly motivational. The added commitment, along with peer support, helped me get through the first several months of feeling like a total wimp. Including one night when I had to eat sugar cubes, drink apple juice from a juice box, and lay down flat on the floor to avoid passing out. I also participated in a food journal challenge that began to reshape the foods that I ate and the size of my portions.
Success Breeds Success
As I began making small gains, my success encouraged me to be all the more committed. I started to see changes in my body as well as my energy levels. I also felt a sense of friendly competition with the other guys who were training alongside me. My achievements became self-reinforcing, and I didn’t want it to stop.
What I Learned About Achievement
Over the last 18 months, I have learned three valuable lessons about personal achievement. First of all, initial motivation matters. My general discontent was not enough. My New Year's resolution was not enough. Even a little medical scare was not enough. But, overhearing feedback from the outside did the trick and set me off on a new journey of commitment.
The second lesson is you have to find a way that works. There were good reasons why my previous efforts to get back into a discipline of exercise had failed. I had been overlooking the fact that my last successes all happened alongside exercise partners. When I reflected on what had worked in the past, I discovered how important that aspect of achievement is for me.
And the third lesson is to use initial gains as the fuel for more significant achievements. I counted wins every week and sometimes every day. At first, it was a win just to keep going, but then I began to count my reps, to watch my weight drop, to see my muscular change in the mirror, and finally to start hearing comments from other people. These early achievements fueled my drive to reach higher.
These three lessons can be applied to many other areas of work or life: initial motivation matters, find a way that works, and use small wins to feed a bigger achievement. I would love to hear your own success stories of when you have achieved something significant to you and what you have learned from it.
Follow us on LinkedIn to get thoughtful articles on the bridges leaders must build and cross to inspire greater performance.
