When I was younger I used to think that I stayed the same. Year after year my circumstances would change, I would have different things in my life, but I would always stay the same. Other people might change but not me, I would stay the same.
Then I began to realise something that made me feel uncomfortable and uncertain…
I am ALWAYS changing. You are ALWAYS changing.
This is quite scary to many people because they don’t like to think that they’re changing. They like to think that they’re the same Deborah or Richard that they’ve always been.
It used to be scary for me because I hated change. So I limited trying new things or taking on new opportunities because they were different than what I was used to. This held me back for many years.
There are two things are certain though. We are always getting older and we are always changing. This means that we can change for the better or for the worse and it’s your choice which way you go.
When I realised that it was me who had full control over my life and how things changed, I decided to develop myself as much as I could.
While it’s not always been plain sailing to say the least, the trend over the years has been upwards. My physical and mental health has significantly improved and because of this I feel much better about life.
At the same time I’ve also looked at other people to see how they have changed.
I’ve seen people that I know get bigger and bigger. I’ve also known people who have yo-yo dieted or taken slimming pills and now struggle with poor health due to the damage they’ve done to their body.
Many of these people also struggle with low self esteem and have developed mental health problems such as depression. This is not surprising really because their health, fitness, and body are going backwards. Yes they are changing, but they are changing for the worse.
What I used to think when I saw these people was why?
Why have you allowed your health, fitness, and body to deteriorate, especially when you have complete control to do the exact opposite? Why are you accepting a lower quality of life?
The reason why is NOT because they can’t do it. It’s because they either don’t know they have a choice, or they don’t know how to get fitter and healthier, or lose weight properly.
Over the years I’ve sometimes found this frustrating because I know that most people are capable of so much more when they take control of their life and get the right help to change in the right direction, rather than drifting along in the wrong direction.
Take a look around you at how other people have changed.
Think about people that you’ve known for a long time, or people that you used to know and then saw again years later.
What do you think when you see them?
They have all changed, but how have they changed? Have they changed for the better or for the worse?
Do you think “They look great, they look really fit and healthy and much younger than what they are”?
Or do you think more along the lines of “What the heck happened to them, they’ve put on some weight and look 10 years older than what they are”?
Everybody gets older all the time, everybody changes all the time.
This means that you are either moving forwards or backwards with all the different aspects of your life. You may be doing well in certain areas of your life while neglecting others.
For example, many people put their health behind everything else by not exercising properly or having a poor diet, even though your physical and mental health have the biggest impact on your quality of life.
Or as another example, there are plenty of business people who make lots of money and could say they are successful. There are also plenty of people who do very well bringing up their children. However, while they’ve been focused on their work or family, their health has deteriorated and they may have knocked 15 years off their life.
The key here is to embrace change in all the important areas of your life.
If you try to stay the same, like I used to do, or resist making the necessary changes to improve and develop your life then you are holding your life back.
No matter how much weight you want to lose or your current state of health and fitness, you are in control of what happens and you can keep striving to change for the better.
You can have much, or all, of the health, fitness, and body that you want. It’s all ready and waiting for you!
So the real question is this…
How will you change over the next month, the next year, the next 5 years?
What you do NOW, this very day, to change and improve your life decides what future you have.
Don’t look back in 5 years time thinking why didn’t I do this? Why didn’t I do that? It’s too late then because you will have lost all that time when you could have been making great progress.
Are you going to lose weight with exercise and get the health, fitness, and body that you want?
Or are you going to drift backwards and accept a lower quality life.
Whatever you do, you will be changing all the time, and one day you’ll look back to now and either feel happy or sad with what happened in between.
So make the changes NOW while you still can. Change for the better over the coming months and years rather than changing for the worse.
James Porter
P.S. If you would like some help from me to get you moving in the right direction and making great progress with your exercise, health and fitness, or losing weight, then take a look at my exercise classes and personal training. You will find them extremely useful!