The Seven Stages of Progressive Failure

Life never works in a vacuum. If you gain something, you will lose something. If you lose something, you will gain something, even if it is simply time or an opportunity to do something new.

Unfortunately, this an be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you train your brain to work. You may have seen the classic trick…

OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

Now, I don’t know if this is really a test of whether you’re a positive or negative person but it at least reinforces the point that you can see that Opportunity is Now Here or you can see Opportunity Is Nowhere.

More often than not, the reason someone stays sick, fat, tired and miserable is not because they don’t have the necessary gym, diet plan or magic program but because they constantly search for reasons why they can’t start right now.

This is the classic path that most people follow and if it sounds like you, try asking yourself why you haven’t REALLY started already. If you replace one excuse with another, clearly, the excuse isn’t really the excuse.

STAGE 1: “I can’t start because I can’t afford a personal trainer/fitness classes”

This is usually because you don’t understand the personal VALUE of being fit and healthy and only see the cost.

STAGE 2: “I’m too busy”

Now you have money but you’re too busy, because you’re working for the money (which is never enough anyway…)

Still no training.

STAGE 3: “I’m too tired”

Now you’re tired because you’ve been working too hard, getting too stressed, staying busy to earn more money.

Still no training.

STAGE 4: “I’m too fat and embarrassed from eating too much crap”

Now you’re carrying fat because you’ve been eating processed sugary foods for the energy hit to get over the fatigue from poor sleep that comes from the stress of working too hard because you’re so busy earning more money.

Still no training.

STAGE 5: “I have too many joint issues”

Now your body hurts because you’re not doing strength training and mobility work due to feeling body shame and having no energy because you’re too tired from not sleeping from being too busy trying to earn more money.

STAGE 6: “I have health issues so can’t do anything”

Now you have heart, blood sugar and inflammatory issues and can’t even go for a jog or walk or play sport for some ‘cardio’ because your joints won’t let you do anything because you stopped resistance training of any kind and sat in chair…because you were embarrassed to go to the gym because you got fat from eating bad food as a result of being tired from being busy earning more money.

STAGE 7: “I don’t have any money because I HAD TO buy a new car/TV/holiday/handbag….”

Now you’ve come full circle. How many people do we see earning 2/3/4 TIMES what they were earning in their 20’s yet STILL can’t afford to look after themselves because they’re paying off more expensive things. More things to distract them from the constant self-loathing and self-criticism. Building consumption walls around emotions is one of the most common problems of our time!

Now we have a complex layer cake of excuses which can be drawn upon at any chosen time depending on the situation – it just gets harder and harder.

If you DO manage to overcome the money issue, the one thing you might cling on to is that you are nearly retired so will get healthy and sort yourself out then.

The problem now is that you have reached the peak of cumulative ‘learned helplessness’. You may not be poor, tired or busy any more, but your working life has taught that you ‘just can’t’.

And now you’ve reached the end and it’s too late.

The ONLY way you can get fit is to decide today and START.

Stop feeding yourself this bullshit idea that life is going to be easier around the corner and that the stars will align. When was the last time that ACTUALLY happened for anyone for more than a few weeks at best.

The path above is so common it is saddening. Everyone thinks that around the next bend they will be rid of the ‘one thing’ standing in their way. You might be, but you’ll always replace it with something else. Humans are funny – we almost LOOK for things to worry about even when nothing actually exists in reality.

You have to decide to start NOW.

You’re not going to get rid of money excuses without getting rid of the scarcity perception in your head.

You’re not going to get rid of busy-ness excuses by working harder without determining what you are going to say ‘No!’ to in future.

You’re not going to get rid of fatigue excuses by eating fast-response foods.

You’re not going to get rid of aches and pains and lethargy without moving slowly through them.

Start from where you are. If you’re poor, tired, and busy then walk for 15-30 minutes every day. It’s free, not that hard work and is less than the time you spend pissing around on your phone at lunch time.

It won’t magically transform you in a week but it will sew seeds of an exercise habit and caring for yourself. It will get fresh air in your brain and lungs. You will start to think differently and look for other areas you can improve.

Start Showing Up for yourself one way or another.

Start drinking more water, preparing food, getting 8 hours of sleep, exercising 3-4 times per week and reducing processed foods CONSISTENTLY across 90% of your days.

Show yourself some small wins that will help you overcome learned helplessness and you can nip this in the bud early. If you don’t, you will sink further into the mud with every day that passes!

GET OFF THE PATH!

And get The Secrets of Showing Up for the step-by-step blueprint to get you exactly where you want to be in a matter of weeks!