HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT

This week let’s take a look at how to get what you want. Some things are very difficult to accomplish, like becoming president or an astronaut. But for most things, you can usually get what you want just by following some simple steps.

Get a goal!
If you don’t have a goal, it’s pretty hard to stay on course. Most people don’t just get in their car and say “where do we want to go on vacation?” It’s planned out. You’ve thought about it a lot, and you know where you want to go. You even have things planned out when you get there.

Changing your life works in the same way. You’ve got to have an idea of what you want to accomplish. Set a concrete goal. I want to lose ____ number of lbs in 12 weeks. I want to be less fat and weigh ____ lbs.

Write it down.
Experts say written goals are much more likely to be accomplished. Tell other people. It makes you accountable and keeps pressure on you to work to achieve the goal.

What do you have to do to get there?
Make a list of the things it’s going to take. If you need to lose weight, you’re probably going to have to start watching what you eat. Cut out the junk. Quit drinking pop. Eat more fruits & vegetables. Eat whole grains instead of white breads. Have a daily checklist.

You’ll probably need to start exercising and burning some calories, too. Get with an expert or someone who’s already done it. What are they doing? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just follow their example. Log your workouts every day.

Say you want to get a job in a certain field. What are the requirements to get there? Do you need a college degree? If so, and you don’t have one, what are you going to have to do to get started on that? Will you need to work a different shift? Get enrolled at a community college? Who do you need to talk to? Be specific. List the steps you need to take.

Just get started!
I take a lot of heat about this one around the gym. It’s time for another set. Just get started. If we’re doing 100 pushups and you’re resting at 70, you need to just get started again.

Often, just starting is all you need to do. Once you’ve done that, the rest will become clear. You’ll figure it out. There’s a certain momentum that’s created just by getting started. But if you don’t get started, you can’t get anywhere.

Don’t wait until all the planets are in perfect alignment. Get a few ducks in a row, figure out the first step, and then just get started.

How are things tracking?
Imagine if you got on an airplane, and the pilot said we’re just going to try to stay headed in that direction. If you’re traveling across country, a shift in even half a degree will take you way off course. They’ve got sophisticated radar and GPS keeping them exactly on track. They know where they are all the time.

That’s why we weigh in every week. It helps keep us on track and lets us make some adjustments if necessary. It gives us information that lets us ask more questions to try and figure things out.

“I didn’t lose any weight this week.” O.K. Are you getting all your workouts in? “Well, not really.” O.K. there you go. If yes, then what about food? Are you eating enough? “Uhmm… I was pretty busy and missed a few meals.” O.K. then maybe you need to start writing it down so you can see where you’re missing them. Keep track.

Stay motivated!
It’s easy when it’s easy. Sounds pretty simple, but it’s true. It’s easy when everything’s going your way. But what do you do when things start stacking up against you? How do you handle it? Some people stick their head in the sand. The problem with that is that your neck is still sticking out.

Avoiding the issue doesn’t necessarily make it go away. Sometimes you need to deal with the problem. Sometimes you need to accept the fact that there are going to be problems, but you need to keep on going, anyway. Sometimes you’ll have a major setback.

If you have bad knees and don’t exercise because you have bad knees, you’re just going to be fat with bad knees. We’ve had plenty of people with bad knees that found another way to work out so they wouldn’t have to be fat anymore. There’s always something else you can do.

If you’re exceptionally busy, join the club. We’re all busy. Ultimately, people will do what they want to do, and they won’t do what they don’t want to do. How bad do you want it? In the end, if you want it bad enough, you’ll do the things that have to be done. You’ll find a way. That’s how to get what you want.

Enjoy the process!
I believe we’re designed to seek things out—we need a quest, a journey, to fulfill a destiny. But once we achieve a thing, the pride of accomplishment doesn’t always last that long. Artists commonly get depressed between creations. It’s in the creating that they feel fulfilled. Once it’s done, they’re left a little empty.

That’s why we need to learn to enjoy the process and the journey along the way. How are you feeling? Do you feel stronger? Have you lost some inches? Take pleasure in that. Are you having fun getting your workouts in? Enjoy them. When you step on the scale and lose a pound, be glad you lost a pound, not disappointed that it wasn’t more.

Biggest Loser “8”
The winner from Week Two of Biggest Loser “8” was Tina Foote who lost 2.2% of her body weight and 3.8 lbs. She won a $20 Walmart gift card from Terry Elston & State Farm Insurance. Second place went to John Rigdon who lost 2.0% of his body weight and 4.0 lbs. Third place went to John Foote, who lost 1.5% of his body weight and 2.6 lbs.