Kind of A Big Deal

So Friday morning we said goodbye to another one of our Boot Camp family members heading (back) to Philly for work. This blog post is dedicated to her. I'm proud of the progress she experienced throughout the course of her time here in Pittsburgh. I'm also excited that Emily has decided to step outside of her comfort zone and start down a new road. Good luck in all that you do Emily and we will miss you at 6:00 am!

Chris Guillebeau said, "Never despise small beginnings, and don't belittle your own accomplishments. Remember them and use them as inspiration as you go on to the next thing. When you venture outside your comfort zone, wherever the starting point may be, it's kind of a big deal."

Kind of a big deal? ABSOLUTELY! The mere thought of making changes and leaving your comfort zone can be intimidating. However, it is the commitment to those changes when the REAL fear factor enters in! I hear from a lot of people how they wish they could be more fit. Regardless of the physical differences of each individual, the myraid of excuses they put forth does not vary much from one person to the next.

"I'm just so tired."
"I just don't have the time."
"I don't know how or where to start."
"I can't do it because I'm so out of shape." (one of my personal favorites)

So how do you get from point A to point B and do it successfully? YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN.

Riddle me this. You've always wanted to visit Italy. How do you get there? (Humor me) I would imagine that you would take a few steps that are pretty blatantly obvious but below is how I'd go about it.

• Get the brochure. At the beginning of every experience, you need a mental picture of the end point. What is it that you would ultimately like to accomplish? Where is it that you would ultimately like to be? There are a lot of cities to visit. Identify which ones are most important right now and focus solely on them.
• Buy the ticket and commit. You have got to understand that unless you really want it, it will not hold enough importance to you. If you want something bad enough, you'll pay the freight and make it happen.
• Plan your trip. Setting goals is an integral component of success. Would you seriously fly to another country without a plan? The key to progressing from one goal to the next is to stay focused. Know the plan for any given day and stick to it!
• Find a travel buddy. Share your goals with someone. Writing them down is the first step but it's not until the spoken word comes out of your mouth that you actually put yourself in a position to be held accountable. Sometimes all it takes is a little accountability!

Now with all of that being said (or written in this case), take it and put it to work for you in the health and fitness field. You've already got the starting point covered. That is where you are today. Now take the time to map out your success route.

• Only YOU can determine what it is that YOU want.
• Find a good personal trainer that can work with you to outline specific and reasonable goals. If you do not know of any, let me know and I can offer a little direction to find one.
• Who gets to be your travel buddy? If you're in need - I'm always up for the task! Feel free to share your goals with me. I promise you that we will celebrate every accomplishment!

Just writing it down and uttering the words don't make the commitment happen. You have to come into each day with your game face on and Identify YOUR 100%. I’ve come to think of high performance as showing off. Showing off isn’t about bragging or arrogance. Showing off simply means bringing your best to everything that you do. It’s about being focused and working with the intention of creating results that benefit you in any given situation. Showing off means creating value through accomplishment and finding your "TA-DA" moment.

Can you remember the last thing you did that was wildly outside your comfort zone? Now is the time! Never underestimate yourself!!

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Stay tuned! What's in store for May:

• Follow my training for the Rachel Carson Challenge
• HIIT training - what can it do for you?
• New Clean Eating recipes (Posted the second Sunday of each month!)
• Core move of the month (Posted the third Sunday of each month!)

Thanks for hanging in there with me.
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