Don't Settle

Dedication is defined by Merriam-Webster as a feeling of very strong support for or loyalty to someone or something. The quality or state of being dedicated to a person, group, cause, etc.

Perseverance is defined by Merriam-Webster as the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult.

It took a lot of dedication and perseverance for me to get the results I've gotten in the last five years at Fitness Together. Prior to contacting Michael, the owner of Fitness Together, I joined many "Only $20 a month!" gyms just to only get the tour and never go back, and tried many times to start working out on my own and trying different diets. Why has this specific journey with Fitness Together been different than many other failed attempts? For starters I quit settling. I no longer settled for mediocrity or that it was "good enough". I no longer settled for anything less than what I wanted and what I deserved. I'm not saying it's been easy or that I haven't had moments I just wanted to give up; but because I no longer just settled my dedication to myself and my perseverance has kept me going and gotten me where I am today.

Now, I'm all about being honest in my blog about my journey, and 2015 wasn't a very successful year in regards to getting results on the scale or even losing inches. But, I will say 2016, despite a few bad weeks where I struggled to stay motivated and positive, I was able to get some results for my first 90 day goal of the year. I didn't meet my goal, but I did get results. As of 4/16/16, since January, I was down 7.2 pounds and down a total of 9.25 inches! Even though I had been hard on myself over the past few months, and even felt discouraged at times because the scale wasn't moving down like I wanted it to, when I saw the inches lost I was excited and proud of what I've done so far this year! But, it also reminded me once again how I can't just focus on the scale.

Recently Michael has been talking about how what got me where I am today isn't enough to get me where I want to be. I still have weight loss goals, I still need to lose inches, and I definitely still need to do some toning. But, I have to be willing to get outside my comfort zone and do more. This past week I've really been thinking about what I want for my body goal to be this next 90 days and how am I going to get there. I've already started adding in some things. I added a fourth private session in, but with a different trainer who can bring something new and different to my program. I've gone back to the basics as far as cardio that involve running/sprint intervals on the treadmill or outdoors.

Last night on the way home I kind of had another breakthrough, or Aha! moment after doing my cardio. For my cardio last night I decided to do option 2 that's on my list. It's a 5 minute warm up, and then 8 to 10 rounds where I run for 2 minutes and walk for a minute, and then a 5 minute cool down. Obviously my goal is to do the most I can, so before starting I told myself I would do 10 rounds. After my warm up, and as I was on round five of the intervals, I really wanted to stop. It was getting hard and my legs were achy. But, I knew I couldn't stop at 5, so I told myself I would do 8 rounds and that would be enough because there's no way I could do 10. I pushed through and as I was running I thought this is it, after this I'll do the cool down and then I'm done. Well, about the last 30 seconds of running I thought, really? Just two more rounds is all I have to do, which is only four minutes of running. There's no reason I can't do that and I realized I'm settling for "it's enough". I knew my body could do more, it was all the negative bullshit stories I was telling myself that I had allowed to get inside my head. So, I ended up telling myself to shut up and I completed what I set out to do to begin with.

As I was driving home I was thinking how happy I was I didn't stop and that I finished the entire workout. I also realized these past several months I've been settling again for mediocre effort, which means I had settled for mediocre results. Now don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the results I got my first 90 day goal of the year, and I'm definitely celebrating it and not taking anything away from that; but I also know telling myself "this is good enough" is settling for less than what I know I can do and what I deserve.

I found this quote and thought it was perfect for this blog post, but also a perfect reminder for me right now.

"Challenge yourself. Don't settle for mediocre or good enough. There is always more, better, that next level of achievement. Go for it. Believe that the best is really yet to come." - Mary-Frances Winters

Are you settling for less? Are you telling yourself "it's enough" and settling for mediocrity? If you are and you're ready to stop settling, then it's time to prove to yourself you have the dedication and perseverance to go for that next level of achievement. If you're in the local Tulsa area and want to check out Fitness Together Jenks/Riverside or Fitness Together Downtown, you can contact Michael Watkins to set up a consultation; or you're more than welcome to reach out to me and come as my guest to check it out for yourself!