What is your WHY?

Hey everyone,
More often than not, I see the same statement come from a lot of people about their fitness journey. "I started up, but then I quite xx amount of days later." Or, " I made it 2-3 months, but couldn't keep up with it." So I started thinking, what is it that keeps people from continuing on? What was it that kept me going on? I read or listened to a small segment by Darren Hardy called Making the shift, I believe that was it, and he touched on the subject of what is it that drives us to pursue something. The main reason, your WHY has to be strong enough.

Imagine that you are on a high rise building and there is a skinny platform about 30 feet long going from your roof top to the building across the way from you. You are asked to cross to the other side. Chances are, you probably don't want to. Now imagine there is a $10 bill on the other side. You might be more tempted, but is it enough to really make you want to do that? Probably not. Now, imagine your child or loved one is in danger on that other side. I'm willing to bet that you are going to do everything you can to get to that side. What changed? Your WHY changed. Crossing a 30 foot platform just for the thrill of it or $10 wasn't a big enough reason why, but a loved in danger might be.

Now, imagine applying that same mindset to your fitness journey and life style change. Is your WHY big enough? I believe one of the reasons why some people don't make it past that few day or couple month period is that there WHY isn't big enough, so the willingness to stick it out and achieve their goal isn't really there.

My why goes beyond wanting to look good in shorts or have 6 pack abs. Mine is to avoid a hereditary disease and live long enough to see my children's children grow up. My family has a history of diabetes. Both great grandparents, my grandfather, mother, and uncle all have or had diabetes. My uncle was just diagnosed a few years ago, and my mother, god bless her, lost the fight a few months back. A couple of years ago I weighed the most I ever had, didn't care what I ate or drank because I assumed I would be one of the lucky ones that the disease skipped. I then realized that was a bad mindset, so I changed it. I made the choice to want to eat better, exercise, and prevent the possibility of contracting diabetes and being insulin dependent. I did not want to leave it up to chance. Sure, I would exercise a little, go for a run here and there, eat something healthier, but my WHY wasn't defined, Therefore I was inconsistent and not really doing myself any favors. So, I changed my WHY.

I understand that at times, life can get in the way and slow us down. An injury, drastic change in your lifestyle routine, but when it boils down it it, your reason will remain the foundation for your success. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or you have been making a lifestyle change for years. Do you truly know why you are exercising? Do you really know why you have chosen to eat a little cleaner? When you understand why it is important to YOU, you are more likely to succeed and stick with it.

I hope this has you thinking a little bit. If so, then what is your WHY?

"Now, imagine your child or loved one is in danger on that other side. I'm willing to bet that you are going to do everything you can to get to that side. "

This is my WHY. Last week it was, literally. Now, not so literal, but still there.

My now 10 month old niece was born with a defect that damaged her liver. By the time it was discovered, her liver was too damaged to be repaired and she was placed on a list to receive a liver transplant. The interesting thing about liver transplant, is that you can take part of the liver from a live donor and the donor will grow back most of what was taken. So we figured that with such a large family, she had better chances than most because there are so many of us that surely one of us would be able to donate. Right?

Wrong. The very day that the living donor process was approved, we learned that you can't donate if your BMI is higher than 30. That made nearly my whole family ineligible (almost all of us are obese). So every one of us took up the task to lose weight as quickly and healthfully as we can. It was a race to save my niece. At the same time, praying that another donor will come available (it would have taken me at least a year to reach 30, others would have taken longer).

This past weekend, a child died and his/her family donated his/her organs. My niece received the liver on Easter Sunday and by all reports she's doing fine. So the urgency to lose weight is gone, but the WHY is still there. There are other kids (and adults) that need liver transplants. I'm now losing weight so I can save somebody's life in thanks to the family that saved my niece.

I can't find words here.