P90X: "The Magic of Motivation" Day 19 of 90

Don’t miss the little signs.

When we are driving to a destination these days, almost everybody uses either some type of PC generated map or a GPS.  When you do that, you have to put in two things: (a) your starting point, and (b) your destination.  The system does the rest by inserting all the small directions in between.  If you follow the small directions, you will get where you are going.  “Take a left at…”  “At the intersection, go right on…”  You know that you only need to make one move at a time, in order.  You will get where you are going.

This works great for goal setting because the big goal is no more than the summation of hitting all the little goals that hopefully have been inserted with the bigger goal in mind.  Goal setting in this manner has become generally accepted as the way to achieve.

The thing that is often left out is that to get from point to point requires the motivation to take the next step or make the next move.  When you are driving, just seeing the next location on the map provides that motivation.  You might even get out and stretch your legs.  You may take a look around and breath it in.  You have never been here before.  Enjoy the specialness of the journey. 

After you are done taking everything in, you are ready to take the next step.  You know the next place will be new, different, and that your ultimate goal is just that much closer.  That’s your motivation.  When you are goal setting, you need to do the same thing.  You need to make sure you pick your head up at each minor destination and acknowledge your progress.  It is in that moment, that you will find your motivation.  When performing a difficult task, is there anything that excites someone more than knowing that what they are doing is working?  I will answer it for you.  No.  There isn’t.

As you acknowledge each step the excitement will grow.  There will come a point when you are anxious to move on because the motivation is building.  It grows and feeds on itself.  The more you take in the small successes and the more they build, the greater your confidence gets that this is entirely possible and is really going to happen for you.

Remember to look close for these signs.  Sometimes, it’s the little signs that give you the biggest inspiration.

When I lost my big weight of 85 lbs four years ago, I will never forget a moment I had with my daughter.  I have been big my whole life and have fought the weight battle since I was ten years old.  The thing was, I had been fat for so long at that point in my life that, at twelve years old, my daughter and son had never seen me as anything other than that.  The big heavy fat guy, in their eyes, was who I was.  It had become as much ‘me’ as my mustache, my glasses, and my blue eyes.  It was a permanent image of who ‘dad’ was.  If they had to draw me in a school art project, I was fat.  Stop for a minute and consider that.  Almost every fat person can remember a time when they weren’t fat.  But there are people in your life who have only known you for a short time.  Their image of you is not the same as your self-image.

So there I was in my kitchen, and I had lost a lot of weight.  I was down about 65 lbs.  I was standing by the refrigerator, with my little 150 calorie sippy shake, and my daughter Lexie came up to give me a hug.  Then, she jumped back and looked at me with a very surprised look on her face.  I said, “What?  What’s wrong?”  Her surprise turned into an amused smile and she said, “That’s the first time I’ve ever hugged you where my hands touched each other.”  I want you to think about that for a moment.  That isn’t one of those little moments…that’s one you frame and put on the wall.

It’s hard not to get emotional when I recollect that memory.

I was not the same person to her anymore.  I was a brand new me.

There are small ones too.  Each becomes valuable in the chain.  When it comes to this journey of weight loss, you need to relish every success emotionally (not by giving yourself an eating party).

You may move a certain way and realize that you are doing it for the first time in a long time.  You might be wearing your favorite pair of pants (because they always fit just right) and stand up and realize they’re hanging too low and you have to hike them up.  You might put on your belt and pull it to the notch you think you usually use…and it feels funny.  When you look down, you can see a notch with all the color worn off the leather and a crease that looks like the belt could break right at that spot because that location has been worn in with age.  But you are not on that spot.  You can see it because it pulled through and you are on the next notch.  As they say on the talk radio stations, “First time, long time.”

Stop and think about what you have done at those moments.  Give yourself credit for the work.  You have done a lot to get here.

DON’T MISS THE LITTLE SIGNS.  Relish every small step for what it is and use that fuel to take the next step.

That is why you write down your weight on P90X.  That’s why there are pictures.  That’s why you mark down what you did on day one and what you did every day along the way.  Progress, yes, but motivation. 

You need to understand this one thing.  When you get to the point in your life where your achievements are also becoming your motivating fuel, your success is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  You are then creating your own momentum in whatever endeavor you are embracing, be it weight loss or anything else in your life.

Recognize the small signs.  Find your fuel.  Master your success.  You CAN do it.

Legs and Shoulders tonight…last week I broke my shoulder on this one.   Tonight I go to the bands to see if I can work the muscle without the impact to the joints.  Wish me luck!

[later that night]

Good news and bad news.  For me, anyway.  The shoulder really responded.  It came back stronger and I was actually able to do all the pullups except for the wide grip, which were still twinge-y.  I didn't want to push to pain, so I did 25 lb shoulder presses instead.  The other pullups, all were done at higher reps than two weeks ago. I actually recovered stronger.  That was great news!

The 'not so good news' now.  You know on Thanksgiving?  When you grab a turkey leg that is still attached to the turkey...and then you twist it and try to separated it from the body?  You know that sound?  I actually heard that from my hip.  I was doing a left leg out lunge, right leg straight and behind me.  I lunged and then I wanted to make sure I was straight and when I straightened up, that's when I heard the noise.  It was painful but I released and walked it off.  I did some moderate stretches and it seemed that I was fine to bend every other way.  I could also go back to a lunge but not put a full stretch in that area.  I think the one week of recovery will be really welcome.

Oh yeah, every exercise improved.  My son is going to start the 30 minute power hour with Tony to get himself conditioned to do more.  Cool eh?  See you tomorrow.