It is just so simple…..How could I fail?

About 5 months ago I decided to make a change in my life. Over the years a mysterious thing happened. There was a whole lot more of me that was needed. My presences on this planet had expanded…. or I got really fat!

I had all the excuses in the world for this happening. I was busy. I was getting older. I was injured. The truth was that I chose not to pay attention. Then I chose to ignore that my pants were getting tight. Then I chose to stop looking in the mirror quite so much. I made choices that began to snow ball out of control until I just about gave up.

The dangerous part of all of this is that there was some truth in my excuses. I was injured. I was getting older and I was very busy. There was just enough truth to allow me to keep doing the things I was doing. Plus in other parts of my life I was successful so a little fat was not so bad. I was getting really good at making up stories to excuse my problem or… fatness.

I was injured. I had a bad ankle and some knees problems. My neck and back gave me trouble from 15 years of manual labor. I would have to deal with those things because they are a reality but…. were they as big a reality as I was making them? This brings me to the number one reason people fail:

Let the small truths turn into large excuses.

Think about something you want to do. Let’s say you want to talk people easily. Now notice your top 3 excuses that make you comfortable NOT doing so.

1. I am too busy to stop right now.

2. They look busy.

3. I don’t need people.

All three of those have a grain of truth in them so it makes if okay to just avoid talking to people. They are all perfectly rational. They all make sense. They are all sticky traps that can turn your life into a isolated island of lonely comfort.

Just yesterday Kim and I were walking into the gym and Kim noticed 3 people talking together. She make a passing comment to them and we got into a conversation. While we were talking I noticed that they were wearing fitness heart rate monitors so I asked how they like them. These are nice monitors and cost between 200 and 300 dollars a piece. I really want one but don’t want to actually spend 300 dollars on one. I needed someone who was actually using them to let me know who good they were. After 5 minutes of telling me how much they loved them I told him that I wanted one. He was thinking of getting a new one and his was a year old. He asked me if I wanted to buy his! I am going to save a bunch of money and get something I need all because Kim made a comment as we were walking by!

It is just one small example of the kinds of opportunities that get missed every day by allowing small truths to make you feel comfortable about where you are.

I am now 5 months into my workout plan and things are going pretty well. I have had a few setbacks. Last week I tripped and sprained my ankle a bit. The last time I did that it took a year to heal. Now a week later and I am doing just fine. I am at a point were I could justify easing off a bit. I have made good progress and it makes perfect sense to slow it down a bit. I have a 1o month plan to getting back in shape and I have 5 more months to go. I deserve to relax a bit… and that is the second trap.

Yes I have worked really hard. I work out 5 days a week for 1.5 to 2 hours each time. Maybe I can drop that to 3 days a week and still make my goals. Settling for partial success can suck all the energy out of your motivation. No matter what you outcome is and no matter how hard you work there is going to be a point where you are tempted to lower your standards of success. This brings me to number to:

Allowing partial success to be good enough

While you should feel good about your progress you should not let that progress be a substitute for success. here are the top 3 excuses I have run into when helping people:

1. I am doing pretty good compared to where I was

2. If this is as far as I get I will be happy

3. I deserve a break/ pizza/ reward/ credit.. ect.

Of these three, the third is the biggest trap. It seems natural to feel like you deserve something for all your hard work even if it is half way through. The problem is, that is where most people completely stall. I am rebuilding the house I live in. I took 4 years to get it to the point that I can move into it. Last September I moved int a house that had only 2 sources of inside water. One was the shower and the other was the toilet. I also could go outside and there were hose connections. For the first month I filled my coffee pot in the shower … well because teh other choise was just not going to work out for me 🙂  Eventually I put in a bathroom sink and I could use that. Over the next 3 months I got the kitchen finished so I had counter tops and a sink. At this point it is livable. It is still not done but each week I do one other thing on the house and it should be completely finished by next spring when I will most likely sell it. It would be easy to relax a bit at this point. I have worked hard on this place. Still it is not finished. I know what finished looks like and this is not it! If I never finish I will never be able to sell it. There is only one definition for finished and that is when everything is actually done. That is the only way I can get everything out of it I want to.

I certainly could say I deserve a break. What I really deserve is to finish. If I settle for less than finished then I will not get everything I want.

I have a plan. It might not be the best plan in the world but it is my plan and better than having no plan at all. Before I made my plan I had to have an idea of where I would end up. This is the biggest trap of all:

The trap of unreasonable expectations

Yeah I am working out, building a house, running a business and fitting in some fun. Would it have been reasonable to expect that I would be able to get back in shape in 3 months? 5 months? 8 months? Would it have been reasonable to think I could finish a house in one year while doing all those things? This is where more people screw up when deciding what the want in their lives and how to get is. They get a Magic Pill mentality where they want instant results. Yes it would be wonderful if I could lose 40 pound in 30 days. It would be great if I could take a pill and have instant cardio health. It would be great if everything I did on my house worked the first time. Right now I am tearing out  a floor to fix a mistake the plumber made when putting in the washer plumbing.

I have seen it all:

I want to be able to talk to ANYBODY.

I want to have a MILLION dollars within 12 months.

I want PERFECT health in 90 days.

I want to be CALM all the time.

I want EVERYONE to like me.

This is completely natural to want. The less you have of it the more you want it and the more impatient you are to have it. It makes you what I call “Desperately Stupid” . I know we are all trained to do this. We have all heard stories of people that have done all of these things. We are told to shoot for the moon. Go for it all. Those are good things to do. You should do them and have them. It is not likely you can do that in 30 days.

I knew it would take almost a year to get in a shape OTHER than ROUND! I set the plan and gave myself time to achieve it. I am putting in the effort every day. I am doing the training 5 days a week. I will get what I want. I will not settle for less. None of my half truth excuses are really valid.

You have to get out of the infomercial mentality and understand that your goal is going to take 3 things.

1. Time

2. Effort.

3 Training

There is no substitute for any of these three things. Give yourself the time to succeed. Consistent effort will get more results that trying to get it done by tomorrow. Quality training makes all the difference.

Of these three I can give you advice on the first two. I can actually help you with the third. Training takes time but pays off HUGE when it comes to return on investment. I have been to tons of weekend trainings. We used to try to squeeze a training into a weekend and were getting great results. I knew we could do better so now our training lasts almost 5 months.

4 weeks of pre-trainng

5 days of live training

4 weeks of post training

3 months of platinum Membership to our site

1 hour one on one live consult to keep you tuned up.

You will find an offer like this nowhere else!

If you have not yet been able to get the life you want then you need to be in London this March at our Total Life Transformation Seminar. It is designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. If you want to read more feel free to follow this link

Total Life Transformation Seminar

I know all of you have ONE THING that you have always wanted to do that has eluded you. You have one part of your life that you want to improve. You have one crutch you want to get rid of. You have one obstacle that seems to always trip you up. If you are ready for the life you dream of then start taking the steps to get there. The first step is knowing the traps that have tripped you up in the past. Once you see that then you know where you either need to make changes or where to apply more effort.

One last thing

I know how easy it is to give up. I know it is tempting to just accept that this is the way things are. I don’t care where you go or what you do but I want you to put in the effort and NEVER GIVE UP. The life you want is out there waiting. It is AMAZING and we want you to have it. The truth is that anyone can have a great life if they just take the time to train and develop themselves. Personal development is the key to success. The most successful people I know never stop learning and changing. They never feel like they have it figured out. The always want to do better. You can do the same thing. Everyone has the potential. All you have to do is make the choice, apply the effort and train. The only way to fail is to quit.

If you like this article please feel free to pass it on.

Tom Vizzini and Kim Mcfarland