Ask Yourself These 4 Questions When You Feel Like Quitting
Ruts… plateaus… relapses… whatever you want to call them, they are bound to happen in this thing we call life. Long term fat loss success hinges on the ability to survive the dips – those inevitable stretches where time and/or motivation are in short supply. If you’re in one of those “eff it” kind of mindsets, ask yourself these 4 questions…
1. Would you be happy if you gave up and your life remained the same?
Think about your current state of health. Are you truly happy or even minimally satisfied with where you are? It may be that there is generally nothing wrong with you from a health perspective and that you are completely happy with the way your lifestyle is. If not, the answer is simple; keep going.
2. What’s the worst that could happen if you keep going and don’t achieve your goal?
Would you feel as though you’ve wasted time? Energy? Money? Emotional resources? Or…you might feel that even though you haven’t achieved EXACTLY what you want, that your efforts are paying dividends. How are you feeling? How are your energy levels? What was the result of your last physical compared to the one before you decided to change your life?
I’m willing to wager that the benefits of continuing far outweigh the downsides.
3. How would it feel to tell other people why you gave up?
Imagine telling your significant other that living a longer life with her was not as important as eating more vegetables and cutting back on fast food. Imagine telling your children that you aren’t in good enough shape to bike with them because you wanted to watch more of your favorite TV shows.
The purpose here isn’t to heap guilt, but rather to think about the long term consequences of today’s actions or inactions. Sometimes it’s more of a reality check and holds more power to think about how it affects our loved ones.
4. If you go back to your old way of living, would that genuinely make you happier?
Think about how you were living your life. Think about what drove you to desire the changes. Despite the extra work and patience required to change your health, would you REALLY be happier going back to the way things were? Think about the pain and discomfort of NOT making those changes. Would this outweigh the enormous benefit of the changes?
It will be a matter of when, not “if” when it comes to obstacles. Asking yourself these 4 questions can do wonders in keeping you on a path towards better health.