This is an article I wrote almost two years ago and it still rings true today. You can find this article in the "articles" section of the gyms website at http://www.elitefiteducate.org/.
“I am a single parent.” “I have an unsupportive spouse.” “I work too much.” “My kids have such and such activity.” "I'm too tired."
"I've got a bad back/shoulder/knee/ankle."
"I'm not a morning person." “The weekends are my day off.”
"I'm not athletic."
"I don't have enough time."
"I don't know where to begin." “ My kids have to come first, I can’t justify spending the time on myself when my kids need me” “It’s not convenient” "It's just too hard.” If only I had the right training."
"I'll do it tomorrow..."
"I'm too old."
"It's useless -- my genetics are working against me." “I just have a slow metabolism.”
"I've got a bad back/shoulder/knee/ankle."
"I'm not a morning person." “The weekends are my day off.”
"I'm not athletic."
"I don't have enough time."
"I don't know where to begin." “ My kids have to come first, I can’t justify spending the time on myself when my kids need me” “It’s not convenient” "It's just too hard.” If only I had the right training."
"I'll do it tomorrow..."
"I'm too old."
"It's useless -- my genetics are working against me." “I just have a slow metabolism.”
If you have ever said any of the above excuses then please continue reading. If you have some other one’s please email me them so I can add them to the list. The problem with excuses is that although sometimes they are very valid, they will put us in what is called a “victim” mentality and prevent us from accomplishing the task at hand. In order to help you overcome this I want to teach you about a concept called Accountability. We are all familiar with the term “Accountability” but I want to possibly give you a new understanding of the word. Webster’s Dictionary defines accountability as having to answer to, justify, or explain oneself. I do not like that definition at all because it focuses on the past. Once you have reached the point of having to answer to, justify, or explain yourself, it is too late. Whatever happened has happened and we cannot do anything about it. I prefer to look at accountability as something I put on myself, rather than let someone else hold me accountable. Here is what I mean. True accountability has four parts.
1. See it- You have to see the problem for what it is and recognize that it is in fact, a problem. The second part of this step is to also see how you might be part of the problem. This takes a lot of courage to do. Not only do you have to realize that there is in fact a problem, you also have to accept the fact, that you may be part of it. This is always true when it comes to weight loss. I am here to state that there is no “Fat gene” that makes us overweight. It is not bad genetics; it is not because your parents are overweight. If you are not happy with the way you look and feel, you have no one to look at except yourself. That is very good news. It means that if you want to change, you just have to make that choice.
2. Own it- You have to take ownership of the problem. It has to be yours and yours alone. If you take ownership in a problem then it makes it difficult for you to come up with excuses. Think of yourself as a business owner. Business owners know that they have to overcome multiple challenges because at the end of the day, if the money does not come, they do not pay bills. You have to take the frame of mind that no matter what happens you will find a way to overcome the challenge and not allow the challenge to make you a victim. I know from time to time, that stuff just happens. I also know about 200 people that had stuff happen to them but they were able to find a way to overcome “the stuff” and find a way to be successful. This will only happen if you take ownership in your problem and decide that “If it’s got to be, then it’s up to me.” That quote was taken from John Maxwell who is a very inspirational writer and one of my mentors in life.
3. Solve it- You will rarely succeed in anything in life without a clearly defined plan. This step has two parts just like the first one. The first part of this step is that you must possess the wisdom to solve your problem. The second part is having the wisdom to realize when you need help. If you do not know how to calculate your calories for the day then get help. If you do not know core stabilizing training techniques then please get help so you do not injure yourself. If you cannot tell the difference between the $3 multivitamin and the $30 bottle then please get help so you do not waste your money. At ELITE Fitness and Education we are committed to offering educational seminars, articles, and all levels of personal training to make sure you can succeed. We have programs that range from $70 a session to free. Make sure you at least know and understand all the programs we have to offer.
4. Do it- This is easily the most overlooked step out of all of them. I have seen so many people do everything they need to do to change their life and then stop because they just can’t get out of bed an hour early. It does not matter if you have the most scientifically designed exercise regiment if you never use it. How many diet books do you have at home on the book shelf? How about diet pills in the pantry? How about exercise equipment in the closet? This is where the true accountability takes place. I want to share a story from one of my friends named Lori who hikes Pilot Butte with us on Saturdays with the “Kick the Butte” club. Lori was not at the hike this last Saturday and I sent her an email asking why she couldn’t make it. She replied that she had a wedding to be at so she hiked up the butte on her own on Friday. That is exactly what I am talking about! Lori could have easily justified to herself why she could not make it on Saturday and she would have been completely in the right. Instead, she recognized that she had a problem that she wanted to overcome. She took ownership in the fact that if she wanted to change her life, she could not let something like a wedding keep her from it. Then she solved the problem by setting aside time on another day to do the hike. Finally she took action and completed the hike, on a different day.
Hopefully by now you are seeing accountability in a different way. Things happen to everyone every day. Even though these things will happen and we cannot control them, we can control how we respond to them. We cannot choose the circumstances that will occur in our life but we can control whether we allow our circumstances to turn us into a victim or if we choose to rise above our circumstances and find a way to achieve whatever we started out for. At the beginning of this article I gave you the dictionary definition of accountability. Now I would like to offer a new definition of accountability. From now on I want you to see accountability as a personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving the desired results- to see it, own, solve it, and do it.
Let us know how we can help you. God Bless you and your family and we will see you on the wall of fame.
Victor Brawner
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