Who’s supporting you with your fitness efforts?
Probably sounds like a pretty general question, right?
So let me get to the heart of it.
Who’s there giving you advice?
Who’ s there for you, motivating you, when you’re feeling like you’re not getting the results that you want or when you simply just don’t feel inspired to continue working towards your goals anymore?
Do your friends support your efforts to get into shape, or are they the ones that bag the crap out of your enthusiasm to reduce body fat and improve your health – secretly hoping that you’ll fail, so you can go back to being “one of them” again?
Does your partner or other-half encourage you? Or does he or she attempt to make you feel guilty for spending time on yourself to achieve your goals?
Do you allow the negativity of those who DON’T support you to cause havoc with your mindset, leading to you self-sabotaging your workouts and nutrition?
As part of my one on one PT and Coaching I encourage my clients to list between 1-5 people that you can put down on paper as your support group.
If my clients have 0, 1 or 5, it doesn’t matter, they’ve always got me by their side, to help kick start that support group list.
So “what” is your support group?
This is a group of people who you can be super honest with about things that inspire you. You can discuss your goals with them and know that they’ll have your back.
A group of people or person that gives caring and constructive advice, if they think it would be helpful to you.
A group of people or person that you know you can say things like: “I’m feeling insecure, or concerned about —-“. Or “I’m having one of those days where I’m doubting myself, I need some inspiration…”
A group of people or person that has been there, done that, has experience with their training and nutrition efforts. And understands what you’re going through. It can be a mixture of women and men, if you prefer as well. What ever you’re comfy with.
I don’t mean it’s a take, take, take relationship, complaining to your support group all the time. Believe me, there will be days when they need your encouragement and support as well. And you can provide that in return, and you’ll be more than happy too, even excited to return the favour, because you value them so much as your friend and support group.
You share your ups and your downs. Your dreams and your worries. Your kick ass results and tweaks to your program. Hints and advice on nutrition. You support each other.
I’ll be straight up with you here, and you may not know this about me, but the majority of my offline friends really aren’t into health and fitness related topics, let alone exercising or eating healthy.
They’ll usually only discuss it when they want freebie advice – when they’re freaking out about getting into shape because something special is coming up. They don’t understand how I run my business online. They’re really not that interested because it’s not their “thing”. I respect that.
When I did my photo shoot, they pretty much mocked my dedication and thought it was “crazy” etc, until they saw the photos and the results I got from my hard work. As much as we like each other and care about each other – we just don’t have those things in common.
But I don’t let that get in the way of me wanting to keep in shape, doing things like my photos shoot, or running my business online. Because they’re my dreams and goals, not theirs. And just like you, me or anyone, we are entitled to have things in life that we are passionate about or want to achieve.
Even when I used to work at gyms and fitness centres, the other personal fitness trainer’s used to bag the crap out of my ideas for helping clients, for my new concepts for workouts and so forth. But would eventually copy them once they saw how well they worked. I often used to feel alone. I was always, and still am, inspired to put in that extra effort and think outside the box, because I care about my clients. They deserve the best.
Back 1998, when I first decided I was going to figure out a way to train clients long distance online, other trainers and friends thought I was totally nuts and said some pretty nasty stuff about me. I even tried to get a loan and I was told the internet was a fad and it would never work training clients online. So I had to figure it out myself. I did courses on html, on cgi scripting, I did a graphics course… My nick name at the gym from other trainers was “Nerd”, “Boring”, Ms WWW, and that just made me more determined to keep at it. I did what ever it took because back in those days to create what I wanted to create was too wild and unheard of.
The majority of people in my support group – both in fitness and business – I’ve met online.
Considering my work is online (my one on one PT and coaching is online, the Entrepreneurial Women and Fitness Workshop is online, the platinum membership is online), many of my fitness buddies are online, it doesn’t bother me that the majority of my offline buddies aren’t into what I’m into.
Here’s the thing, when you have access to things like skype using your video cam, or google hangout, it makes things so much more personal. It’s not just a faceless chat session. And then eventually, when they’re in your neck of the woods, you get to catch up in person.
Look, if I can do this, you can too.
So here’s your “take action” homework for this week…
- Find or create your support group.
- Be fussy about who you choose to be in it. Only choose or find people that are willing to “genuinely” share and support.
- Don’t be afraid to ask people for help once you’ve got the group flowing.
- Don’t let your fear of being honest about your insecurities and concerns get in the way of you having the body and the life you desire. If you’re sharing this with the right people, you’ll absolutely thrive.
You’ve heard the saying “you are who you hang around with”. I’m not saying ditch your friends that don’t support your dreams. I’m saying find some friends that do.
As always, I’d love to hear from you.
Do you have a support group for your fitness efforts? What are your concerns about having one? Do you get support from your partner, friends or family?
Leave a comment and let me know. Remember to be as specific as you can because you sharing your experience and thoughts can make a real difference to others.
Lots of hugs
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