Eye on the prize

Keeping your eye on the prize    

A common trait in people who reach their goals is never taking your focus off what you really want to achieve. If you notice and pay attention to those around you, just look and observe those who make new year’s resolutions. 97% of them fail as previously discussed and there’s a common trait amongst those people. If those people are trying to quit smoking, then that’s hard enough, but if you are trying to quit and you have had a couple of drinks, then someone in the pub offers you a cigarette outside, most people are tempted and will take up the offer, swearing it’s their last! Of course, most people end up regularly smoking within a few days. What they have done is taken away their focus on their ultimate goal, and its easier to fall back into old habits, than it’s to keep their new healthier habit going.

This applies to all bad and good habits. When you’re on a diet, isn’t it harder to stay on track than to accept friend’s invitations to pig out? Excuses for not eating well most of the time include “we had friends around”, “it was Chinese night”, “we were home late so grabbed something easy-from the takeaway”, “you can’t beat the smell of fish and chips”, “I always eat badly when I have a drink”, “I can’t stick to it!! I’m not strong enough”!! etc etc.

If you do go off track, and we ALL DO, at times, then isn’t it healthier to accept the fact that you will have treats from time to time, and as long as you get back on track to eating well the next day, then there’s not much harm done surely? As long as you eat well and healthy at least 80% of the time, then any rubbish won’t stay in your body for long, as your exercise habits and good eating again will get rid of it. It’s when the treats start happening most days that the problems start and the weight starts to come on.

Here’s an old tried and tested way to think of your eating, if you had a puncture in your car and one tyre was out, would you get a shotgun out of your car and shoot the other 3 tyres? Simply because one was out, the other three may as well get trashed too? This is the thinking many have, have a bad Tuesday after initially good intentions, and because of that write the week off, pig out the rest of the week, not exercise and start “next week” and next week never comes? Ever been through that way of thinking? And somehow you blame the programme you were on?!!

Write down your goals and the big thing you want to achieve from the start, and when you get tempted to quit, look at your diary again and what that goal of being in great shape really means?

Successful people never lose sight of their ultimate aims, and always get back on track when life sometimes throws a spanner in the works.

Practice it and most challenges somehow become easier to recover from.

Keri