For years, the fitness industry, the government, and others have been telling the public to start exercising and eat healthy. They shared the consequences of what would happen if they didn’t. What is the result of all this? We’ve gotten fatter. We have more fitness facilities, weight loss programs, weight loss foods, diets, gym equipment and more than ever before. We’ve gotten fatter.
The Baby Boomer generation should be the ones that should get and stay fit and healthy. You would stay young. You’ve gotten fatter. As a fellow boomer, it’s crazy that my generation (the one that should make a difference in society and focus on youthfulness) is now unhealthy, fat, and old.
The younger generation is even worse because they started being unhealthy at an early age. So many young people just sit at home and either watch TV, play computer games or engage with their smart devices. They are not as motivated as me and many others when we were young. We wanted to play outside and had to be dragged back in by our mothers.
The motivation to get healthy and fit has simply disappeared in society today; except for a few who still want it. I don’t blame those who aren’t motivated. You may not have a reason why. And that mindset began years before many of them were born. After the Second World War and in the 1950s, the focus was on a leisure life. We would have escalators so we wouldn’t have to strain to get around. We would have quicker food choices including TV dinner (and later fast food). It was all about the easy life. From the late 1960s to the present day, our food supply has changed as has our diet. In the 1970s, farmers were subsidized to grow corn products, leading to cheaper sugar (high fructose corn syrup). Life was changing and another generation helped drive that change. Today we cook less at home and eat out more. We move less and sit more. It is time for a change.
We can take back control of our own lives and those of our children. It’s about motivation. And that motivation starts with the “reason why”. Without a “reason why,” we simply won’t take the necessary steps to get into health and fitness. All action begins with how we think and believe.
Here are three keys that will help boost your motivation to get healthy and fit:
- Identify your personal “reason why” you want to get fit and healthy. It has to be emotionally strong enough. It can be for your children. In fact, our children are influenced more by our actions than by what we tell them. Another “reason why” could be health-related, including avoiding heart disease, diabetes, or other lifestyle-related illnesses.
- Create a vision board about what it means to you to be healthy and fit. Steven Covey, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, talked about beginning every goal with “the end in mind.” A vision board gives you a visual representation of the outcome of being healthy and fit. It creates more clarity and reality for you.
- Whenever you have any thoughts related to health and fitness, take action immediately. Doing this will help create a neuroconnection and embed that thought into your subconscious. Each time you do it, the connection grows stronger and leads to the creation of a habit.
Getting fit and healthy is your right. It’s also about taking personal responsibility. Take the first action to discover your “reason why” and move on to the rest. JUST DO IT!
Thanks to Robert Choat
