Hello Clients:
As you can see by this week’s title, we’re already half way though the first year of Body Designs. No, I wasn’t quoting the bridge of Jon Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer”. Don’t worry; if you missed him this past week at Staples, you can see New Jersey’s real favorite son, me, as often as you want. As most of you know, I’ve been appearing at IFC every day of every week for the last 12 years!
But I digress.
For some reason, my thoughts this week revolved around how successful you (all of you) are in various aspects of your life. Many of you are attorneys, doctors, entrepreneurs, executives (“industry” and otherwise), actors, writers, musicians, dedicated spouses and/or parents, community leaders or retired and financially secure individuals.
Please, before any of you email me that I left your profession or “call in life” out, I sincerely apologize and know that I respect and admire each one of you.
That said, let’s continue.
I was also thinking about the common thread that all of you have or had in order to get to where you are or were going.
To my knowledge, nothing was given to any of you.
I know this may sound a bit obvious, but I think it’s that you either wanted or needed to succeed so badly that “failing” was not an option. That’s the difference between those who succeed more quickly with their health and fitness goals and those who take a little longer to achieve them.
Think about it. It’s about making a decision! When climbing your ladder of success, no matter what was at the top, you had to decide what it was you wanted and how you were going to get it. If you wanted to be a lawyer, you didn’t go to dental school. If you wanted to build your business from nothing, you had to make sacrifices.
The same is true for succeeding at the gym. You can’t just show up a few times a week and think you’re gonna climb the ladder of fitness success. You have to put in the extra effort. You have to show up early, make all of your appointments, and be prepared for them by eating right (always) and work overtime by doing extra cardio on your off days. By the way, I mean doing cardio! Not reading a magazine or watching TV while walking on the treadmill. Remember, it’s called “working out” for a reason!
Take it from me, being in shape is easy. Getting there is the hard part. Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t already, and make your fitness goals as much of a priority as anything else you’ve already achieved.
One last note…
I remember when I was about 10 years-old, my grandfather (my mom’s dad) gave me a block of wood that was cut in half and had hinges affixed to its back side. I was so excited when I read what was stenciled on its top “The Secret Of Success”. I couldn’t wait to open it. My grandfather and grandmother were high powered New Jersey lawyers and I was sure they were passing something special on to me, and I was right. I lifted the top of the block up to read, “Work!” To this day, that piece of wood has followed me everywhere and now sits on my desk where I can see it every day!
