Stuart Schaefer

It’s never easy changing your lifestyle.  Let’s face it, by now you’ve created your own way of life that’s comfortable and without surprises.  Why would you want to upset things?

We tend to fear change and the unknown, but that doesn’t mean change is bad.  In fact, modifying even one aspect of your life can be extremely helpful.  Improving areas of your life, having an eye-opening experience, or opening doors to opportunities you may have otherwise missed can all come from shifting your lifestyle, even if it’s just one aspect.

There’s no better change than becoming more healthy and building a fit life, but how do you start, what happens then, and how do you make sure to keep moving in the right direction once you’ve started?

These are all valid concerns and questions, which is why this article is guiding you through three easy steps to make sure your transformation proceeds as smoothly and as quickly as possible.  Upon the first read, you might pass these steps off as common sense; however, I would like to point out a few things.  First, it’s always nice to revisit what might seem like “common sense.”  Sometime we take things for granted, and we forget to USE our knowledge.  Have the know-how is one thing, actually applying it to our daily lives is a whole new ball game.  Second, ask yourself if you’re using these steps.  Are you actually moving forward in life?

These three guidelines will help create, maintain, and perfect a healthy lifestyle.  They are simple and easy to apply.  Once you use the steps for fitness, you should be able to repeat them in order to stay on the right path and begin applying them to other areas of your life.

Step 1: Research and Know Your New Area

Preparing yourself for a shift in habits by knowing what will be required in your new lifestyle allows you to mentally prepare for the changes at hand.  Going into anything blind is a bad idea.  You can’t prepare, you don’t know what potential negatives or challenges exist, and it’s much harder to create an optimal success strategy.  It’s like investing in a stock you know absolutely nothing about—you would never do something like that because the risk would outweigh the potential benefit.

If, however, you have done your research, it’s easy to know what impending challenges you’ll face and how to overcome them.  You can also learn from other’s mistakes—and avoid them.

So how do we research our topic?  Simple.  First, try to find a book on the subject.  I know there are a lot of books out there, but choosing the right one should be intuitive.  You want to look for a book that corresponds to what you want.  For example, if you were a beginner trying to get in shape you would want to look for a book that covered nutrition, weight training, and aerobics—a full package.  This would give you a great knowledge base of what would be required and it would provide you with a program to get you started.  The simpler the book, the better; too many sources try to overcomplicate fitness when it can actually be a very simple topic.

After you’ve familiarized yourself with a basic understanding, it’s time to immerse yourself in the topic.  Doing this is hard, but ALWAYS leads to success.   Find mentors; read as many different articles on the subject as possible; read conflicting ideas to look at every possible angle; volunteer your time to work for someone with extensive knowledge on the subject.  Do whatever it takes.

Immersing yourself does two crucial things: (1) It forces you to become adept in the new field.  (2) You naturally start changing your lifestyle in order to gain knowledge.

Step 2:  Create a Time frame

Humans are interesting creatures.  We seem to wait until the last minute bfore we actually perform or change.  We put it off as long as possible, fearing what might lurk ahead.

If we create a time frame to start implementing our healthy lifestyle (i.e., a schedule), then we begin holding ourselves accountable.  We create deadlines and adhere to them (if we can commit).

Creating a time frame also allows you to see how much will have to be accomplished within a specific period of time.  For example, if you decided to start changing your lifestyle and becoming fit in the next two weeks, you could see that you would be replacing certain habits or changing your routines.  You would have two weeks to mentally prepare for such changes by gauging how much work you’ll need to put in for your changes.  This time would also allow you to start creating a strategy.  This might include such things as when you could work out; what foods you would need to change or start eating; when to eat your meals; even changes in your sleep schedule. 
	
Step 3:  Commit to Your Future

This is the final, and most important, piece of the puzzle.  You could know, in depth, everything about fitness.  You could set a rigid time frame/schedule to start accomplishing your goals.  But without committing 100 percent to changing and following through, without dedicating yourself whole-heartedly to “sticking with it,” it’s likely you will fall short and burn out.

Truly committed people understand the pain, sacrifices, fears, and other roadblocks that must be overcome.  They understand that things will get downright hard.  They know success isn’t a short-term or immediate result.  They also realize that, in order to succeed, they must persist through these difficulties.

Committing means you’ve promised yourself that you will keep going—keep trying—until you reach success.  Under no circumstances will you give up.

True commitment isn’t easy.  In fact, it requires a mental change, which includes breaking through Mental Inertia, becoming Emotionally Charged, and building your Inner Strength

I know you want to change you life, to do more.  If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading this or embarking on this journey.  You’re here to become better, to feel good, to look good, and to experience the success you know is possible.  I want to tell you right now that you can obtain it.  You deserve it.  I want to show you that reaching success isn’t just a dream, it’s a reality—once you develop your inner strength.  
There are so many fitness books, gimmicks, and fads.  They all contain some “training secret” and promise to build a better body.  While some do, one aspect many of these resources have in common is how they approach fitness.  Ninety-nine percent of the information focuses on a purely physical transformation and takes an outside-out approach.  They give you a program or provide a diet, and that’s it.  You’re on your own.  While many of these programs deliver great results, it’s still your responsibility to change your lifestyle and keep it.
On the other hand, taking an inside-out approach towards fitness (and life), working on inner strength and progressing to physical change, creates success that lasts.  The mind must be strengthened first, then the body.  It’s not another fad.  It’s not a gimmick.  There are no secrets.  It becomes a lifestyle.  The result?  Good habits that instill success and achievement.  
	Our minds are very powerful devices, and so much of what we can accomplish comes from inner strength.  Think about a couple different scenarios.  When most smokers try to “kick the habit,” they fail.  Why?  Because they approach quitting as an exterior or physical process.  But, overcoming the cravings and battling against withdrawals are primarily mental and psychological issues.  So, wouldn’t it make sense to build the inner strength before trying to change one highly addictive aspect of your life?  You bet it would!  
The same thing applies to becoming fit and changing your body—it begins with developing inner strength so that, when your journey to a better body and life begins, your transformation proceeds in the fastest, most powerful way.  
Think about the placebo effect.  People have been known to heal themselves physically by taking only sugar pills.  They simply believe this “medication” heals their ailment—and it does.  Using the power of the mind, they think themselves better.
Any successful businessperson will tell you that the first step to success is mindset.  Go in with a determined mindset or fall short.
	
Then why do most people not take this approach towards fitness?

People consider fitness a purely physical aspect.  But, you can’t successfully transform your body before transforming your mind.  An incredibly strong mental connection exists in fitness, just as it does with every other aspect in life.  There’s no getting around it.  Our thoughts, attitudes, and mindset often determine what happens in our lives.  
When I have a bad day, things can continually get worse as the day progresses and my attitude declines.  On the other hand, when I focus my mindset, come in with a determined attitude, and think about positive outcomes, the result is just that—positive.  Nothing stops me.  In fact, things start falling in place, almost like coincidences.  This is no accident!  It’s the mind.
When you work out, a mind-body connection is created. The mind centers on the working muscles by intensifying its focus during each successive rep.  The same thing happens with the body.  When you visualize changing yourself, your body actually begins to change. When you see yourself achieving goals and make up your mind, nothing stops you.
Unfortunately, getting into this mindset is easier said than done. It’s the biggest wall to success.  But, once done, you will transform your body and take control of your life.  One step is to start creating clear-cut, well defined goals.
So many of us, myself included, can start living day by day.  We focus on getting by and doing things as they come instead of centering on the future and doing what’s necessary to get there.   Creating goals allows our focus to become future-oriented.  We can see with precision what we want.  Once we start looking towards the future, success becomes much easier.  Knowing what we need to do (or want to do) in the future allows us to create a plan, it gives us direction—a path to success. 
Before we go any further, you must write down five fitness goals to accomplish in the next 16 weeks.  These goals must meet certain criteria.

1.	Goals need to be specific and measurable: Creating a general goal such as, “I want to lose weight,” won’t cut it.  Instead, phrase the goal as, “I will weigh X pounds.”  Here a specific weight target has been set, and we can measure it quite easily.  When your goal is specific and measurable, you can track your progress and determine if you’re on the right path.  In addition, specific goals allow you to identify exactly what must be done to succeed.  It makes you accountable.

2.	Goals must have a deadline: The above goal is not complete yet.  “I will weigh X pounds in the next two months,” solidifies your goal.  Deadlines are important because humans respond better under pressure and, if your goal has a certain timeframe, there’s pressure to get it done.  People procrastinate. Setting a deadline helps ensure completion of our goals.

3.	Goals must be positive: Notice the goal isn’t about losing weight; it’s about weighing a certain amount.  Psychologically, we don’t want to lose or give up things because losing has a negative connotation.  When we use a positive voice in creating goals, we accomplish them much easier.

4.	Goals must be realistic: Realistic goals are a crucial part of creating your success.  If they are not realistic, you will be far less likely to achieve them.  Additionally, unrealistic goals can also be unhealthy.  A goal of losing 20 pounds each week is both unrealistic and unhealthy.

5.	Goals must be in present tense: Putting your goals in present tense makes them more powerful.  All of a sudden, the goal becomes framed as a reality.  It’s not something off in the future, it’s here—you’ve achieved it.  Our goal, “I will weigh X pounds in the next two month.” transforms into, “I weigh X pounds on Y date.”  Using present tense creates a feeling—the feeling that is present when you actually achieve your goal.  And this allows the mind to conceive and achieve the goal.

THE POWER OF GOALS

I sat down with an ex-bodybuilder the summer before I started college.  He asked what I hoped to achieve. After thinking for several minutes, I replied, “I want to weigh 180 pounds without gaining any fat.”  He said it would take three to four years to make that change (a gain of 35 pounds of pure muscle).  Four years later, I decided to weigh myself after a workout.  I had forgotten about this talk until I stood on the scale and weighed 180 pounds.  All of a sudden, I realized what I had done.  I had created a vision that was so specific and solid, so clear and defined, that my mind found a way to achieve it—to figure out how to get what I wanted.
Writing your five goals is crucial for success.  Our brains have what’s called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).  This system searches for our wants and desires.  It finds ways to achieve them.   Whatever you focus on actually expands in the brain and the RAS figures out ways to reach the goal. If you don’t know or haven’t identified what you want, it’s much more difficult to achieve success.  Likewise, if you focus on what you don’t want, that’s where you go.  This is also known as the Law of Attraction and believe me, it’s one powerful force.
Writing down your goals solidifies your purpose and creates a future vision and destination.  Knowing what you need to accomplish to find success—not just why—creates an even greater force.  But you’re still not done.  You must look at your goals before bed, first thing in the morning, and every time you have an urge to give up. The more you look at your goals, the more impact they will have.  You will constantly stimulate the RAS and keep yourself motivated.

Lifetime Physique teaches how to create, maintain, and perfect a complete physical, mental, and emotional lifestyle full of success.  It’s due out this Thanksgiving, and it guides the reader, step-by-step, through a comprehensive program that reveals:
•	How to overcome Mental Inertia to reach success;
•	How to create a mindset that allows you to achieve anything;
•	How to dissolve fat away by eating more;
•	How to gain strength and generate an endless source of energy;
•	How to transform your body by working out LESS, not more;
•	How to build a sensible, sustainable lifestyle;
•	How to take control of your mind—and your life.

What sets, Lifetime Physique, apart?
•	It takes an inside-out approach—focusing on the mind first, then the body;
•	It guides the reader through The 10-Step Transformation Process;
•	It combines Nutrition, Weight Training, and Aerobics in a complete program;
•	It provides a sensible eating program that doesn’t starve you;
•	It uses an efficient training program that actually helps create time;
•	It provides a comprehensive 16-week transformation success plan.

This book is revolutionary in its approach.  Ever wonder why so many people fail at their New Year’s Resolutions after two weeks?  They don’t develop the right mindset.

To order Lifetime Physique, visit www.lifetimephysique.com.

Visit www.lifetimephysique.com 
Contact Stuart at stu@fitwithstu.com