Why did Christopher manage to achieve his goals, but J couldn’t?
Two men in their 40s came to me separately with a goal of losing 10kg (1.5 stone) and
getting fit.
Why did Christopher, person 1, manage to get fit and lose about 5-6% of his body fat in
just 10 weeks and J, person 2, make almost no progress for weeks whatsoever?
I have been studying these people for a while so I know the reasons. Would you like to know?
First of all, no one can make you do something unless you want to. If I had the best French teacher in the world and had his/her unlimited attention and time for a year, could I be fluent at the end of the year? Only if I wanted to.
Here are the reasons of their success/failure from my study and observation:
Goal Setting:
- Christopher came to me with a time limit. He said, I’d like to lose 10 kg. Can I do this in 10 weeks?
- J came to me and said, I think I’d better lose some weight and get fit. Maybe about 10 kg. I am not bothered about how long it takes. (Mind you, I explained SMART goals and the importance of time).
- Christopher wanted to know exactly what else he could do outside of his PT sessions. So I gave him a detailed workout plan via my online app and he also followed a strict healthy eating plan (without starving himself).
- J not only ignored me when I said he needed to do some additional activities in his own time but also tried to persuade me one hour a week PT would be enough as he was very busy.
Mind Set:
- Christopher had already made up his mind before he booked his appointment with me that he wanted to be fit and healthy.
- J hadn’t. He was magically expecting to be convinced to do that. It’s like I will enrol Dulwich College (a Private Top Secondary School in South East London) and expect the headmaster to convince me to be a brain surgeon.
- Christopher planned his weeks in advance for his nutrition as well as his workouts. He travels to a few countries a week for seminars, so you can imagine how hard it is naturally, but he still did it.
- In about a few weeks, J thought losing 10 kg was too much to achieve as he didn’t break down his goal into bite size achievable pieces.
- Christopher had a great reason. He had his son’s wedding soon so he felt he had to be fit and healthy.
- J had no real reason other than some peer pressure. So he wanted to have a go.
- Christopher saw this as a weekly progress so this helped him not to get overwhelmed during the difficult times.
- J thought he could just take it easy and see how he feels.
- Christopher put on his earphones, put on his gym gear and got on with his workouts at the gym (the homework exercises I designed for him) without feeling self conscious as he had his main reason in his mind all the time.
- J found it difficult to complete his exercises as he compared himself with those super fit guys at the weights room and forgot why he was there in the first place.
Creating Support Around:
- Christopher had fantastic support from his wife and kids and his colleagues.
- J didn’t even mention to his wife that he set some goals for himself. So nobody knew about his weight loss goal other than he booked some PT sessions.
Are you Christopher or are you J?
Now we have compared Christopher and J and their main differences, let’s see how you can be Christopher.
Let me teach you where to start from and what steps to follow for the successful outcome!
My Fitness Book for Men 40+ is coming soon. It is going to be your guidance from day 1.
It will hold your hand and walk you through all the necessary steps you should be taking.
It is a work in progress. When you finish the book and apply the methods, you will be fitter, lighter, happier and healthier. All the key aspects of nutrition, exercise, sleep and mood are included.
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Best Wishes
Gökay
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