As a few of you reading this might already know, my husband, Lynn Lingenfelter, had a film crew here filming him and the family (that would be me, the kids, his sibs and parents) over May 1st weekend. While being interviewed and asked about Lynn and his recent 1/2 mile Marathon challenge that he completed, this tendency for Lynn to give 100% occurred to me. When the lady interviewing me asked about Lynn and what I thought about him running and completing the 1/2 Marathon I told her I knew two things.

First, I knew that once Lynn decided to compete in the Marathon that he would do it or die trying. And second that he would also run the whole thing. I knew this because I know my husband. I know that he was confident that he COULD do the run and could run the whole thing. He was and is confident in his physical and mental ability at this point. I also knew he would give it 100%. He would give it his all and he did. He finished that 1/2 marathon in less than 2 1/2 hours and did not train AT ALL before running it. That should tell you something. Would you do the same? Would you even try? Why or Why not? Think about it!

This is not a new situation for Lynn. Often when people look at Lynn’s before and after pics and then learn that he did the transformation in just 12 weeks, they are in shock. They say “really he did that much change in that short a time?” Yessiree…. Then they look at mine and say “wow you did great too. How long did it take you?” I tell them a year and well they are just not that excited about it. Yes I did complete the transformation but I didn’t do it in an incredibly short period of time. However, the very first time I did the transformation, shortly after meeting Lynn I did do a great deal of change in a very short period of time. And yes I gave it 100%. I am still convinced it had a lot to do with several people questioning my ability to do it and do it well that set me on fire.

So think about it. When was the last time you gave 100% to something? In deciding to do something you became focused day in and day out on that goal. You knew what you had to do everyday, all day to accomplish your outcome. You recognized things you would have to give up to achieve that goal. You realized stuff you would have to do, whether you really wanted to or not, to achieve that something. And you gave it your TOTAL FOCUS. Not a little here and there. Not some days great and other days just OK. But everyday 100%! Have you ever been committed to that degree on anything before? Yes or no? Do you believe you can do that? Is it necessary to achieve stuff? I think all things to be achieved require some attention everyday.

When someone comes to our studio and says they want to “get in shape” (which to them usually means losing body fat and putting on some muscle) my question to them is how much are you ready to commit? Not how much in monetary terms, though that also matters. How much time and energy are you prepared to commit to this endeavor? Are you just going to show up and half-heartedly go through the motions or are you going to come in ready to give every little movement your undivided attention? Make everything you do count and do it to the very best of your ability.

I have had the opportunity within 8+ years working with clients transforming to recognize that the people who come in ready to roll and who are committed to make stuff happen almost all the time have incredible results. Not that you can’t also have great results using the long, slow route. You certainly can. It obviously just takes a little longer and you must maintain your progress and attitude through out which is sometimes difficult to do. Which are you right now? Are you someone willing to commit to a rigorous workout and eating schedule? DO you just want to give 100% but for only a half an hour a day?

One thing you can be sure of… if you give 100% everyday YOU WILL HAVE AN INCREDIBLE transformation. If you give just HALF MEASURES then you will have only HALF THE RESULT. I know this is not a complicated concept but for some reason people still insist they deserve incredible health and fitness while still eating McDee’s and other junk several times a week and very irregular workouts. So if you are someone who has been beating yourself up because you are sort of trying to do something with your health and fitness but well it just isn’t happening. Or you are someone who thinks the next best “diet” book coming down the pike is your answer I really think it’s time to wake up. Let’s get real here. Recognize where you really are and HOW MUCH you are really committing and you will have a starting point. Be realistic in what time and energy you can give to this endeavor and coordinate your result expectations with your output of effort. Then you will be right where you expect to be along your journey of getting, staying healthy and fit.

Always wishing you the very best. Please send along some insight on this topic. Would love to hear it!

God Bless You,
Evey

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Evey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.