Your diet and lack of exercise are not the problem...

Unfortunately, when it comes to reaching our health or body transformation goals, it's never really the diet or the exercise plan that's the problem. Now, it would be nice if it was that simple, because we could just change the diet and we could obviously change the exercise plan. But the trouble is, as we know, much of the time the problem is actually our consistency. And the reason we struggle to stay consistent is because the stories and the excuses and the reasons that we give ourselves as to why the diet's a problem, as to why the exercise plan's a problem, 'Oh, it takes too much time.' 'Oh, it's too restrictive.' 'Oh, I can't have my favorite foods.' 'Oh, it means I've got to go to a gym and I'm not confident there.' Or, 'It means I've got to train at home and I don't really like training at home because I'd rather be in a gym.' And all these different things. We've got all these different reasons or stories that we create for ourselves that justify us not being able to follow through on the program. Now, the catch with this, of course, is it's one thing to not follow through on the program because I can't be bothered, but we would be better off actually just admitting that to ourselves. I'm not ready to make this change now, so therefore I'm not going to follow through. Or I'm not ready to remain committed right now, so therefore I'm not going to follow through. Rather than just making up these stories, because in reality, if we want the outcome enough— oh, I want to lose the body weight, I want to have more confidence, more energy, I want a body I'm proud of and not ashamed of or embarrassed by— if that's what we want then obviously we have to find a way to follow through on the diet, the exercise plan, the rest and recovery protocols, or whatever it is we've got to follow, regardless of what they are. Now, that doesn't mean that we can't tweak and adapt things to make it fit our lifestyle and fit the things that we want to have. But at the same time, to a degree, the plan is written in that way for a reason. If you want an outcome, follow this plan. It will get you that outcome. But the catch is, of course, we have to sometimes tweak things enough so that we will actually follow through, but not tweak them so much that we're now not doing the plan. Because this is a place that we often end up stuck. We think we're taking effort, or we think we're doing the right things, and we're taking the right level of dedication and so on. And we feel like we're committed to the plan, but we're not really working the plan as it should be should be worked. So therefore, we're not getting the results, and we start to blame the plan rather than the changes that we made to it in order to make it fit our current lifestyle. Now, the catch is, of course, we created this body based on the current lifestyle. So if we now want a new outcome and a new body, we're probably going to need a new lifestyle. So what we don't want to do in an ideal world is manipulate the plan and the program to a point so that it fits into the current lifestyle because often it won't actually yield the result that we want, and therefore we end up feeling like it was a waste of time. It doesn't work. That diet's shit. That exercise plan's shit. It doesn't work for me. And that's not necessarily the case. It's just that we've adapted it so much, thinking the plan was the problem, because we weren't willing to follow through with it as is, as laid out. Here is the plan, follow it. And this is why it's so important for us at times to trust the process. Now, that kind of sounds like a bit of an airy-fairy sort of statement to make, oh, we just trust the process, go all in and just let it take its course. That's not really what we mean. But what we mean when we say this, oh, trust the process, it means that we have to trust the process enough that we will take relevant action. Because if we don't have enough trust in the process, what we do is we try to change it or we just fail to take action on a consistent basis. And therefore don't get the outcome. And again, we blame the program rather than the fact that we didn't actually execute the program in the way that it was recommended or laid out or planned to be. So therefore we don't get the outcome, therefore we're unhappy with it, and we continue to stay stuck where we are, stuck in this cycle of stop, start, stop, start, being unable to get the outcome that we want, even though all we really need to do is follow the fucking plan. And deep down we know that, like we know if I do this thing, it will likely yield results because it has for this person and that person. And we see all these other people getting results, but for some reason at times we feel like, well, even though that is possible for them, it's maybe not possible for me. So therefore we don't go all in on the program because we believe that what if there's that chance that this doesn't work for me? What if it's not the right plan? Because this guy said I should do it that way and this one says I should do it this way. But what if this plan doesn't fit either of those recommendations, and therefore one of those was the right one and this is the wrong one? But that's where confidence in self also has to be accompanied with our trust in the process. We have to have enough confidence in ourselves that we will execute at the level required to get results regardless of what the plan requires. Now, we don't necessarily have to be 100%. I've said to you guys on many occasions, quite often we can get adequate results with 80%. Now what I mean by that is the 80/20 rule. If I'm on plan 80% of the time and then I allow myself that 20% of leeway, 9 times out of 10 I will still get significantly— or sorry, significant results. I'm going to move towards the goal. And for most of us, we can actually live a happy, healthy lifestyle based on that 80/20 rule. The catch is, for some, it's is we're not even willing to push to that 80%, and therefore we don't work the plan, as I was just saying, and therefore we don't get results and feel like, oh well, any effort I put in is always wasted. This always seems to take longer for me than it does for anybody else, which isn't necessarily a fact, but it feels like that in the moment. It feels very, very much like it's the truth, and like, like the plan works better for other people. Oh, this thing isn't working for me. And as I say, it's just because we're not doing what we need to do. We're not stepping up at the level we need to in order to get the outcome that we want. So that's my question for you today. Where in your life do you know right now that you're not stepping up to the level you need to in order to get the outcome you want? Now, this of course could be in your body. Is it just simply you're not following the plan in the way that it's laid out? Here are your dietary recommendations, do these things, you'll get results, but maybe you're not doing it. Same with the exercise plan. Maybe it's a case of, here's how you need to train, these are the exercises you need to do and on the days you need to do them, but you're not quite following through at the level you should. Perhaps it's that simple. Or maybe your issue is in business. Okay, I'm trying to generate more leads in order to generate more opportunity for sales, but I'm not doing the work I need to do in my marketing in order to generate those leads, perhaps. Or maybe it's your relationships. Maybe you know you need a stronger connection, and deeper intimacy with your partner, but again, you're not showing up at the level you need to in order to get her to show up at the level you'd like her to and to return some of that connection, intimacy, love, and so on. So sometimes we need to kind of reevaluate and look at things and say, okay, well, is the outcome not what I, what I wish for it to be because I'm not stepping up to the plate? I'm not doing what I need to do in order to create the opportunity for that outcome to become a reality for me. So that's what I'll leave you guys with tonight. If you have any questions, as I always say to you guys, drop them in the comments below. And if you want to learn more about what we do, you can check us out at strongerthanlife.com. And if not, I look forward to chatting with you all in my next video. Take it easy, people, and I shall chat to you soon.