I save this chapter for last, and for good reason: your mindset dictates how everything else goes with your fitness and life.
Always Have an Open Mind (Just Not Too Open)
Never get stuck with one way of doing things.
You have to figure out what works best for you. The only way to do that is by trying other things and experiencing them for yourself.
On the contrary, take things with a grain of salt. Nowadays, there’s always something new: a revolutionary pill, a game-changing fitness program, or a fat loss diet that promises to give you your dream body in 12 weeks. Don’t let this deter you from what you’ve learned about the basics. Keep it SIMPLE.
Use Your Willpower Wisely
The amount we have is very limited. Use it to take care of the fundamentals before worrying about the trivial things that don’t really matter.
If you still have some willpower and gas left in the tank, that’s when you can start experimenting with other things.
Strive for “Better”. Not Perfection.
Having five “good” days out of the seven and doing it every week will always outweigh 7 straight days of perfection that happens once in a while.
Do better than you did yesterday. Rinse & repeat.
Do It Over, and Over, and Over, and Over…
What’s the #1 rule of fitness? Consistency.
There are a ton of other factors and variables that exist, but none of them matter without consistency.
You can do the “best” training program in the world, but if you don’t do the workouts you won’t get anywhere.
You can try Paleo, low-carb, Weight Watchers, Atkins, intermittent fasting, whatever. You’ll lose fat in the first few weeks, but you’ll gain it all back if you go back to your old ways of eating like crap.
You can hire a highly qualified trainer, but if you’re looking for results with only 4 sessions it’s not going to happen.
Think about this for a second — when was the last time you stuck to ONE program for more than 3 months? What about 6 months? A year?
Too many people are trying too many different training programs and diets without giving them enough time to reap the benefits they are looking for.
Consistency (and patience) is key. Set training & nutrition goals, build small but sustainable habits that you’ll do for the rest of your life, and then crush your goals.
Until then, don’t try anything new.
Stick to one training program, one “diet”, and don’t overanalyze.
The more you spin your wheels, the less you’ll progress.
Do You
With anything that you do, there will always be an infinite number of ways to do things.
Focus on doing 1) what works, and 2) what works best for you. Your friends, family, and colleagues will all have their opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong.
Stay focused and just keep on going.
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity.
Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs