Over the last decade, I have helped countless people maximize their overall health, performance, and body composition faster than ever before. Put bluntly, I know how to help people lose ugly, unwanted body fat faster than most people can fathom. Now, make no mistake about it, a big reason for this is because I make it clear to my clients that THEY NEED TO DO THE WORK. I’ll provide the tools, but you need to use them.

I have done the countless hours of research, as well as trial and error. I have worked with hundreds of people as real world case studies to prove that these steps flat out work. But, today I am going to share something more powerful; something that must be set in place before you can even start to think about following a fitness program.

What do you think is the real secret behind my client success?

Well, if your answer was my superior training and nutrition system, then your answer is wrong. Yep, it’s an incredible program, but unfortunately it’s useless if someone is unwilling to start it AND stick to it, right? So, it appears that the most important component of changing your body is finding the motivation to achieve your goals, and that’s the main focus of today’s blog post.

Before I get into this goal setting process, I just need to get something off of my chest. I know a lot of people think goal setting is just a cheesy, useless thing. Unfortunately, these people just don’t get it and frankly if you are one of those people, please do us both a favor and stop reading this article and go buy another useless weight loss book or pill because I simply cannot do anything for you. I can only help people who want to learn. I simply cannot help people who already think they know it all and think they are too good to take some time to figure out what the hell it is that they actually want to accomplish. The bottom line is that the most successful people out there, and I mean not just weight loss success, I am talking business, lifestyle, etc., are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly why they want to do something and harness that super motivation to figure out what and by when they want to go about accomplishing that. Furthermore, they plan and prepare for every possible roadblock they will encounter in their path to success. This is what I want to teach you how to do today, so let’s get to it!
Step One- The Why:
Why do you want to do this?
This is where it’s time to get real. In almost every initial consult I do, when I ask why they have contacted me today, I get one or more of the following blanket responses:

1. “I want to lose weight.”
2. “I want to tone up."
3. “I want to have more energy.”
4. “I want to be healthy.”

I kid you not; those are the responses pretty much every time. Those answers are bogus. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but really WHY do they want to do this? I mean, what is it that’s going to get them up at 5 am to get their morning workouts in or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because for some reason this just isn’t a very powerful motivator for most people (though it should be).

Let’s face it: everybody, including YOU, wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and frankly that’s okay because the desire to improve one’s appearance is the most powerful motivator there is. Now, there are cases I come across where it’s life or death – again, a very powerful motivator. However, for the sake of today’s post, let’s keep it more upbeat and fun ?

So, after a little digging, I find out the real reason why they want to do this; I discover their past failures or pain and then establish their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to mow the lawn in the summer with their shirt off and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their favorite pair of jeans that they haven’t been able to get one leg into for the last five years. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships and/or put forth their best image at work. And of course, my personal favorite is preparing for big events that have built in deadlines. Wanting to get as lean and tight as possible to rock that dream bathing suit in Fiji, or going to a high school or family reunion and blowing everyone away with your new body, or being a classic beauty in your wedding dress on the big day. It all works! This is the stuff that gets people jacked up and ready to commit to making some real changes. How do I know? Well, I just shared with you verbatim the exact “WHY’S” of some of my own clients.

So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are your physical dreams? Once you establish this, everything else is easy baby.
Step Two- The What and When:
What do you want to accomplish and when do you want to accomplish it by?
So we already figured out the obvious: you want to look better and be sexy! Yeah baby, yeah!! Now we need to establish what objective goal(s) need to be accomplished in order to realize this subjective dream.

Well, from a logistics standpoint and keeping things as cost effective as possible, there are three major ways I suggest you track “look better”, in order of importance from least to most important:

1. Scale Weight: This is by far the least important goal, but it gives a number that’s worth tracking…sometimes. The key is taking your initial weight before you start and then not weighing more than every 2 weeks. I have found most people to do better with tracking their weight every month. There are simply too many variables for controlling your body weight and the natural fluctuations based on diet (and for women, their menstrual cycle), means the less frequently you do this the better. If the scale is just too de-motivating for you in general, then just skip this one altogether if you must, because the next two markers are far more important.

2. Dress/Pant Size: This is probably the most simple and effective unused method of tracking whether or not you look better. I think it’s safe to say that if you are dropping dress and/or pant sizes that you will be looking better, right? Your best bet is to also select one dress or one pair of pants that you really want to get into since that is the true end goal in mind. Most of my clients that follow the program exactly as outlined typically lose a dress and/or pant size every month (until they get to their ideal dimensions). There’s nothing more motivating than slipping into your “skinny jeans.”

3. Pictures: Pictures don’t lie, that’s the bottom line. If you want to look better, what better way is there to assess this than pictures? I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. Taking a before picture is essentially you committing to making a change. The clients whom I’ve transformed that failed to take before pictures in the past have nothing but regret about it. Your before pictures will become your trophy and they are an absolute must if you really are serious about getting results that count. Take new pictures either bi-weekly or monthly until you reach your goal(s). By the way, another great motivator: put your picture side-by-side with a picture of your favorite model or movie star that you want to most closely resemble in your after picture; post them both in key places like your bathroom mirror, closet and refrigerator.
Step Three- Planning and Preparing for Roadblocks:
What are the big obstacles that will prevent you from having the success you desire?
What’s contributed most to past failures?
Now that we know what you want to accomplish, it’s time to plan and prepare for any obstacles that might get in your way of getting the job done based on your own personal schedule.

In general, the number one thing I hear is that people are too busy and tired and don’t have enough time to get their workouts in or make their meals. Well, I don’t care how busy you think you are, there is always hidden time throughout the day and week that can be freed up if you re-prioritize. Again, think back to why you wanted to do this in the first place and then examine what’s most important to you. Make your workouts and your meal times just like work appointments. Either you make the appointment or you don’t. And if you want to keep your job (or get your dream body) then you better make that appointment.

Another big obstacle is alcohol. People like to drink and unfortunately alcohol is about as detrimental to burning fat as it gets. Again, what’s more important to you, looking sexy or getting hammered. The choice is yours. Remember, once you achieve your goal(s), alcohol can be added back in with moderation. But know this, lean people just don’t get wasted often unless they are genetic freaks. Low to zero alcohol consumption is needed if you want to look your best year round and that’s a fact. Sorry to be a party pooper.

Lastly, many people deal with boredom eating or emotional eating. Boredom eating means just that, eating to fill up dead time when you have nothing better to do. The best way to deal with this is, you guessed it, to do something! Find an active hobby to keep your mind off of eating when boredom strikes and you can beat this trend. I can tell you this: since I started studying personal development materials and driving towards greater success I haven’t had one instance of boredom. I’m always doing something that’s interesting to me. There’s so much out there when you raise your level of awareness; we’ll save that for another topic. Emotional eating describes the use of food to cope with stress or to reward for accomplishment. Food is not unlike drugs or alcohol in this regard; it can be very addictive. There is no quick fix for emotional eating other than avoiding trigger situations (bars, parties, etc.) and trigger foods (starches, sugars, fast food, etc.) in the short term to break bad habits. For me, buffets and parties put me in a bad situation. I try to fill up before hand or engage in activities and conversations away from the food. A lot of times in social settings, it’s just about doing something with your hands. Try sipping a diet soda; another tip - don’t use a straw because you drink to fast that way.

At the end of the day, whether your roadblocks are very individual or if they fall in line with the general roadblocks my clients and I encounter on a regular basis, the key is to be honest about them and to plan and prepare for them. And that’s where social support and accountability come into play. The clients who have had the most success have undergone their transformation with the support of other friends or family members. This is so critical, especially since most of the poor food and drinking choices that sabotage one’s progress occur on the weekend, when most people hang out with their friends and family. If they are committed with you and to your goal to get fit and look better, you can put yourself in a much better position to realize the success you desire and deserve. The last thing anybody needs is sabotage or peer pressure from those closest to you, so get them on board and do so early.

Well, that should do it. That was quite a long post, but hopefully you see the importance. Look for more on the steps to success in The Science of Getting Fit: 6 Proven Steps to Achieve Your Weight Loss & Fitness Goals.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT

Your friendly neighborhood Chaska / Chanhassen boot camp instructor and online personal trainer.

Burn 9x more fat at a fraction of the cost of other personal training programs.

P.S. - You're not alone. There are many resources on this site and others that can help you. All you have to do is ask. Good luck!