By Naomi Rabon, NW Fitness Team Trainer

My 10-year old son recently developed an interest sculpting with clay. The other day, he was talking about his dragon sculpture and said he really wanted to make scales on his dragon, but he wasn’t advanced enough yet to do that.

“Well, the only way you’ll ever be advanced at making scales is if you first try to make scales, then keep trying and trying and trying,” I told him. “And you’ll mess up a lot, but after trying and messing up a lot, you’ll be advanced.”

“So that’s how you get to be advanced at something?” he asked. “Trying and then messing up a lot?”

“Yep, pretty much,” was my reply. ?
 

LET’S BEGIN

To attempt any goal in life that you’d eventually like to be really good at, or “master,” you have to start somewhere. You have to begin, in other words, be a beginner. Your health and fitness journey is no different.

Believe me, there is nothing I dislike more than having a big old learning curve staring at me in the face, taunting me, making me feel small and incapable and, well, just not good at it.
Eventually over time, learning from mistakes, challenges and stumbling blocks that are all part of the process, taking two steps forward and one step back, you won’t be a beginner anymore. Pretty soon, you might even be considered advanced! The learning curve will be a thing of the past and you’ll be the master of your own health and fitness. ?
 

SIMPLE, NOT EASY

Sounds simple enough, right? As with most things, it may seem simple but it’s not easy. We all have the tools and knowledge at our fingertips of what we need to do to maintain our health and fitness. We know what we’re supposed to eat (and not eat), and, for the most part, we know how to keep a consistent, structured exercise schedule.

But the biggest hurdle for most people is taking too many steps at a time in order to rush progress that can only come with time. And when that progress doesn’t come fast enough, we conclude it must not be working, right?

Wrong. You just need to keep trying and messing up, and trying and messing up. Until one day you don’t mess up as much.

THE 8 KEYS

1. Any healthy changes you make, no matter how seemingly small, will positively impact your overall progress even if you can’t see the progress yet.

2. Quitting your fitness program won’t get you any closer to your goals. Neither will complaining or having a negative mind-set about your progress, or seemingly lack thereof.

3. Any progress at all is still progress. As long as you’re moving in the right direction, you are making progress.

3. Workouts are supposed to be hard, don’t forget that. If it feels hard and challenging, it doesn’t mean you’re a weakling. It means you’re doing it right!

4. Any effort you give in the gym is 100% better than if you were at home napping or watching TV.

5. Any healthy nutrition choices you make, even if it’s a healthier alternative to a food you’ve been trying take out of your diet, is progress.

6. Think of where you’ll be in 5-10 years if you keep making consistent, positive healthy choices in your life.

7. Better yet, what state might your health and fitness be if you don’t continue exercising and making healthy food choices?

8. Don’t try to take on too much or else you may set yourself up for failure. Tackle what you know you can handle as a healthy balance, then when you’ve mastered that – if you feel like you can, should and want to – take on some more.

Being the master of your health and fitness for the rest of your life means taking your progress one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other, stumbling at times, making mistakes, but continuing to press on. You’re probably doing much better than you realize. ?
 
 

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ABOUT NAOMI RABON
Naomi-lighterBIOOne of the trainers on Nicole’s elite NW Fitness Training Team, Naomi is a certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is a NPC Figure competitor who has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 12 years.

Go here to find out more about training with the NW Fitness Training Team!