Pivoting
jonesdav254
Posts: 99 Member
Do you have excuses for why you aren't making progress. Are your excuses real, or do you consider yourself a victim of your circumstances? If so, the sad news is you might ALWAYS remain a victim unless you develop a greater vision for your life." What follows below is the text from my latest blog posting. This blog entry speaks about using a technique called Pivoting.
Pivoting is the technique I used to break free from MY excuses. If you find the text below interesting, perhaps you'll follow (subscribe) to my blog. You might also find some of my other topics interesting. That said, what follows is the text from my blog entry called "Pivoting".
Just over 1 year ago, I started my first real effort on the P90X program. Oh, I had tried (and failed) to go through this program a couple of times before. In these prior attempts, when I would quit,
I would ALWAYS have a reason. Among these were the favorite excuses of many dropouts of fitness programs. I’m sure you may have heard them before;
- I don’t have the extra money for the equipment or gym membership.
- I’ll be taking time away from my family.
- I hate to exercise.
- I’m too tired.
- I don’t see any change
- I don’t know what to do.
- I can’t stay motivated.
- I get sore after I work out.
- I don’t have the time to exercise.
I felt doomed to be heavy (ok FAT), out of shape and there was nothing I could do about it. I was wallowing in self-pity. POOR ME!
One day, I was busy reading something, unrelated to fitness (or so I thought), I came across this statement. "People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives." -- Stedman Graham
Well, that was a kick in the teeth...but in reality...it was ME!!!! Yes, I believed I was a "victim of my circumstance". I had NO greater vision for my life.
However, all was not lost (insert trumpets of joy!) I met a friend that inspired me (in fact it is the friend that introduced to me MFP). She told me excuses (all excuses not just mine) were BS! What she said stung. Here I was being called out. I'm a proud person and believe me...that hurt. What hurt even more....was knowing she was right.
I had a choice. I could turn and face my challenge….or continue to run and hide offering endless and pitiful excuses.
I actually wrote down my list of reasons why I wasn’t exercising (that’s MY list above…and YES, I used ALL of them). Upon being challenged and having read the aforementioned quote, I tried to provide a response to each of these excuses.
For those who might know, I was using a technique called "pivoting" that sales people use when trying to overcome objections. Pivoting is facing an excuse head on. Acknowledging what is true, and then presenting a fair-minded reason that defeats the excuse.
What follows are my "pivots" for each of my excuses.
Excuse: I don’t have the extra money for the equipment or gym membership.
Pivot: This might be true, but most everyone can do some exercise right in their house without having to go to a gym. (Except when traveling on business, I do ALL of my workouts in my fitness room (it’s really the family room). Cost? Practically NOTHING!
Excuse: I’ll be taking time away from my family.
Pivot: Exercising does take time. But failing to exercise will likely lead to serious health problems…maybe even an early death. Talk about not having time for your family?
Excuse: I hate to exercise.
Pivot: Try exploring options where exercise is mixed into something you enjoy. A sport, a game. (Many of my MFP friends know I love soccer. After getting back into shape, I was able to resume my activities as a High School and small college soccer referee. The exercise is amazing and I love the game!)
Excuse: I’m too tired.
Pivot: Exercising does require energy. However, what I found was that exercise also helped me deal with stress. After exercising, I found I was better able to sleep and get the rest my body needed because I was tired AND the stress that had formerly kept me awake was much less of a problem.
Excuse: I don’t see any change
Pivot: Yes, changing to a point where you notice it takes time. Just like I didn’t see the weight creeping up on me when I went to my worst of 313 lbs.…seeing the weight came off was slow at first. Then, there was THAT day. You know the day right. The day when YOU finally see a change and you have this INCREDIBLE smile on your face.
Excuse: I don’t know what to do.
Pivot: OK, let me be clear about this. That excuse was TOTAL BULL ****. I was in the US Army for almost 10 years. I was a non-commissioned officer, went through drill instructor’s school, AND the master-fitness instructor program. Don’t know what to do?! Let’s face it….I was just LAZY!
Excuse: I can’t stay motivated.
Pivot: Staying motivated was tough at first…I won’t lie. You try doing push-ups and pull-ups when your skinny pencil-like arms can’t support your huge body. It’s NO fun. Still, I demanded that I push on for a minimum of 30 days. Anybody can make a 30 day commitment. Once I hit that objective, I committed to keep at it for 60 days, then 90 days, and then 6 months.... My commitment is now solid. This isn’t a short-term “fix”. It’s a life change.
Excuse: I get sore after I work out.
Pivot: Yep, no doubt. My muscles were screaming…”stop the madness! Return to the times where aerobics was just “eating a pizza fast”! Still, there is no soreness in the world that compares to the pain of a massive heart attack (perhaps with the exception of childbirth, but I’ve only been there to watch….not push a 6-8 lbs. child out). Bottom line...I could endure some soreness now and again, or get ready for the most painful explosion of my heart in the near-term.
Excuse: I don’t have the time to exercise.
Pivot: OK, how much time DO I have? Really? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? OK, we’ll start there! I eventually found that my exercise time was MY time. A time I get to myself…and I love listening to music, or just having quiet thoughts while working through my exercises.
In the end, I "pivoted" on EACH and EVERY one of my excuses.
Do you have some excuses that are holding you back? How might you Pivot to move beyond what could be holding you back….or will you remain a victim of your circumstances?
Pivoting is the technique I used to break free from MY excuses. If you find the text below interesting, perhaps you'll follow (subscribe) to my blog. You might also find some of my other topics interesting. That said, what follows is the text from my blog entry called "Pivoting".
Just over 1 year ago, I started my first real effort on the P90X program. Oh, I had tried (and failed) to go through this program a couple of times before. In these prior attempts, when I would quit,
I would ALWAYS have a reason. Among these were the favorite excuses of many dropouts of fitness programs. I’m sure you may have heard them before;
- I don’t have the extra money for the equipment or gym membership.
- I’ll be taking time away from my family.
- I hate to exercise.
- I’m too tired.
- I don’t see any change
- I don’t know what to do.
- I can’t stay motivated.
- I get sore after I work out.
- I don’t have the time to exercise.
I felt doomed to be heavy (ok FAT), out of shape and there was nothing I could do about it. I was wallowing in self-pity. POOR ME!
One day, I was busy reading something, unrelated to fitness (or so I thought), I came across this statement. "People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives." -- Stedman Graham
Well, that was a kick in the teeth...but in reality...it was ME!!!! Yes, I believed I was a "victim of my circumstance". I had NO greater vision for my life.
However, all was not lost (insert trumpets of joy!) I met a friend that inspired me (in fact it is the friend that introduced to me MFP). She told me excuses (all excuses not just mine) were BS! What she said stung. Here I was being called out. I'm a proud person and believe me...that hurt. What hurt even more....was knowing she was right.
I had a choice. I could turn and face my challenge….or continue to run and hide offering endless and pitiful excuses.
I actually wrote down my list of reasons why I wasn’t exercising (that’s MY list above…and YES, I used ALL of them). Upon being challenged and having read the aforementioned quote, I tried to provide a response to each of these excuses.
For those who might know, I was using a technique called "pivoting" that sales people use when trying to overcome objections. Pivoting is facing an excuse head on. Acknowledging what is true, and then presenting a fair-minded reason that defeats the excuse.
What follows are my "pivots" for each of my excuses.
Excuse: I don’t have the extra money for the equipment or gym membership.
Pivot: This might be true, but most everyone can do some exercise right in their house without having to go to a gym. (Except when traveling on business, I do ALL of my workouts in my fitness room (it’s really the family room). Cost? Practically NOTHING!
Excuse: I’ll be taking time away from my family.
Pivot: Exercising does take time. But failing to exercise will likely lead to serious health problems…maybe even an early death. Talk about not having time for your family?
Excuse: I hate to exercise.
Pivot: Try exploring options where exercise is mixed into something you enjoy. A sport, a game. (Many of my MFP friends know I love soccer. After getting back into shape, I was able to resume my activities as a High School and small college soccer referee. The exercise is amazing and I love the game!)
Excuse: I’m too tired.
Pivot: Exercising does require energy. However, what I found was that exercise also helped me deal with stress. After exercising, I found I was better able to sleep and get the rest my body needed because I was tired AND the stress that had formerly kept me awake was much less of a problem.
Excuse: I don’t see any change
Pivot: Yes, changing to a point where you notice it takes time. Just like I didn’t see the weight creeping up on me when I went to my worst of 313 lbs.…seeing the weight came off was slow at first. Then, there was THAT day. You know the day right. The day when YOU finally see a change and you have this INCREDIBLE smile on your face.
Excuse: I don’t know what to do.
Pivot: OK, let me be clear about this. That excuse was TOTAL BULL ****. I was in the US Army for almost 10 years. I was a non-commissioned officer, went through drill instructor’s school, AND the master-fitness instructor program. Don’t know what to do?! Let’s face it….I was just LAZY!
Excuse: I can’t stay motivated.
Pivot: Staying motivated was tough at first…I won’t lie. You try doing push-ups and pull-ups when your skinny pencil-like arms can’t support your huge body. It’s NO fun. Still, I demanded that I push on for a minimum of 30 days. Anybody can make a 30 day commitment. Once I hit that objective, I committed to keep at it for 60 days, then 90 days, and then 6 months.... My commitment is now solid. This isn’t a short-term “fix”. It’s a life change.
Excuse: I get sore after I work out.
Pivot: Yep, no doubt. My muscles were screaming…”stop the madness! Return to the times where aerobics was just “eating a pizza fast”! Still, there is no soreness in the world that compares to the pain of a massive heart attack (perhaps with the exception of childbirth, but I’ve only been there to watch….not push a 6-8 lbs. child out). Bottom line...I could endure some soreness now and again, or get ready for the most painful explosion of my heart in the near-term.
Excuse: I don’t have the time to exercise.
Pivot: OK, how much time DO I have? Really? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? OK, we’ll start there! I eventually found that my exercise time was MY time. A time I get to myself…and I love listening to music, or just having quiet thoughts while working through my exercises.
In the end, I "pivoted" on EACH and EVERY one of my excuses.
Do you have some excuses that are holding you back? How might you Pivot to move beyond what could be holding you back….or will you remain a victim of your circumstances?
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