When it comes to exercise, results are often based not on why you exercise, but on what you do for exercise, and by how often you do it. Many of us focus on a specific type of exercise, seeking a specific fitness outcome, and probably put more emphasis on why than what. In general, I believe in discovering your why in life. After all, why does anything really matter?
But as we sit around and contemplate why, we often miss out on what we could be doing. Though our why often leads to our passion pursued, it is our what that puts our body into action, even if we’re still actively determining our why. It’s what we do or don’t do that makes a difference in the end, and determines why we can expect to achieve desired results or not.
Follow your passion and make it happen!
Passion is the fuel that gets us going to maximize 1440 minutes we have each day, but passion is often seeking purpose, happiness, reinforcement, or affirmation, and sometimes misses out on the action aspect of making goals happen.
One of the keys to maintaining focus on action steps that lead to positive results is performing actions consistently. I find things to do every day that will help me get closer to realizing my goals.
One particular action I have taken daily for up to 839 consecutive days, is performing 100+ push-ups and crunches per day. I’m a fairly busy guy, working long hours most days, touring to exotic places like Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, and around the United States, but I have made this part of my routine, even if I’m still discovering why I continue to keep this a daily habit.
I have used other techniques as well, from starting my day with some sort of brief cardiovascular exercise such as riding the stationary bike for twenty minutes, before all else, or even the nutritional approach of including a certain number of servings of fruits and vegetables into my diet each day.
The what of my actions moves me, and the result is a fitter, stronger, and more toned physique which assists my career, my personal interests, and aligns with many whys that define my life.
In my book, Shred It!, I help readers discover their own why by asking them to answer very specific questions, but I emphasize that it is the what of consistency that actually leads to adaptation, improvement, and ultimately success.
I state in chapter one: “Transparency leads to accountability, which can lead to consistency, adaptation, and success. This is the winning combination. Transparency + Accountability = Consistency, Adaptation, and Success…. The formula is easy. The willpower is the obstacle, and that lies in your hands. At the end of the day, the actual accountability is yours, and you live with the decisions you make and actions you do or do not take. What’s it going to be? How much do you want to create a new you? Let’s get shredded!”
This theme sets the tone for an action-filled approach that puts us in a position to be more likely to achieve our goals, since it relies on forward progress as a scalable measuring unit for success.
Being transparent about what we do and don’t do on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis could be the difference between success and failure. Transparency simply asks us to be honest with ourselves about the actions we are taking, and the consistency of such actions. What we don’t know could hurt us.
If we tell ourselves we’re exercising more than we really are, we could trick ourselves into a false sense of consistency, which gives us an inaccurate perception of reality. The same goes for our nutrition program. We need to be honest about what we’re really eating.
I believe this matters, a lot. If we do nothing else but add transparency, accountability and consistency to define our what, our success will reveal why we achieved.
Document your own training and nutrition programs for a couple of weeks and share the results with others who will help support you and keep you accountable. This single action could be just what you’re looking for as you discover your why, and can be an eye-opening and helpful step toward achieving your goals.
What moves you? Follow your passion, and make it happen!
Robert Cheeke is the bestselling author of Plant-Based Muscle, Shred It!, and Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness.