My book The Mindset of Achievement spells out right thinking that is common for achieving any goal.
And while mindset is one thing, there is indeed a specific recipe that outlines how all high achievers accomplish long-term hard to reach goals. And this recipe also spells out how anyone reaches and sustains any goal really, not just the high achievers.
But it’s more than that.
The recipe for success is also about not just reaching a goal, but sustaining a goal, and not just sustaining a goal, but being better off for having earned it.
I am now well into my 5th decade of one on one Coaching. I think it’s fair to say at this point that I have been pretty successful at it.
And with this much experience at honing a craft like this, certain patterns emerge and become obvious.
I see common patterns in why people succeed at physique transformation and weight loss, and I see common patterns in why so many people fail at it as well.
And when I have studied other high achievers and successful people in other industries, similar patterns emerge in what they have to say about what it took for them to accomplish all that they have accomplished and to be successful in their own particular domain.
Here’s the one common theme that continues to emerge: It’s ALWAYS the mundane, non-sexy, non-shiny, non-spectacular, non-secret elements that produce accomplishment.
But what does the consumer want? You want the sexy, the shiny, the spectacular, and ‘the secrets’ to accomplishing your goal.
I see this contradiction play out time and time again.
So, with the New Year coming up and so many of you about to commit or re-commit to a physique transformation goal, I will write a series of articles about how you can get there.
But these articles are not going to be about magic supplements, diet secrets, or intense fat-burning workouts. Those kinds of articles are a dime a dozen these days.
Are you still with me? Then read on:
For those of you interested in truly accomplishing your goal I am going to lay out how you can do so in my next few articles.
This article begins with the ‘Sequence for Success’ Recipe that Never Fails.
The ‘Sequence for Success’ Recipe That Never Fails
Look, expert tips and strategy-hacks won’t get you to your goal. And yet, many of you keep falling for these things over and over. And as I have explained many times before, there’s a difference between ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy.’
Tips, hacks, and quick fixes are marketing hype. You need to “be present” pay attention and learn – in your own way, and at your own speed.
Here is the sequence recipe that always works: Knowledge -> practice -> integration -> habit -> achievement (foundational achievement that can be built upon)
Let me break this sequence down further:
Knowledge -> leads to understanding –> understanding leads to practice/action/behavior – and most important ‘learn by doing’ –> this leads to integrating new habits that result in a lifestyle change.
Here is what no one ever tells you: If you make aiming for your goal be all about ‘data’ and about ‘do this, not that’ you will likely fail!
As a Coach, time and time again, I instruct my clients that “Me telling you how to do this and you learning how to do this are two different things” This once again represents the above element that knowledge leads to understanding that leads to ‘learn by doing.’
Sometimes, you may need a Coach, a third party expert, a book, or an advisor to explain things thoroughly to you. And this is often the first component of the knowledge part of recipe sequence, but it’s only the first part: I can explain something to a client and he/she understands it.
GREAT! Part 1:
But the client is only going to really and truly ‘know and understand’ something by doing it, and by doing it repetitively.
As the old saying goes, “No one ever learned to ride a bike or drive a car by reading the manual.”
When you put knowledge/understanding into practice it becomes much easier to learn from your mistakes. That is why ‘practice’ is such a component part of the sequence to success recipe. And this is true whether at the dinner table or in the gym hangin n bangin.
Furthermore, many of you fail to reach your goal simply because you are too impatient to go through this ‘sequence for success recipe’ in real time. It takes time.
And if you examine your past failed attempts at weight loss, you will know this to be true.
Lesson: True learning cannot be rushed or fast forwarded.
I always like to refer to the quote in the movie The Matrix: “Knowing the path, and following the path are two different things.”
In other words, knowledge must be put into practice, which must become ‘learn by doing’ which then becomes something integrated into your life.
And yet, most people simply can’t see this.
To my mind, the Matrix quote should have three parts instead of two: Knowing the path and following the path are two different things but then living the path, these are three different things.
And it is living the path where integration becomes habit.
Look, experts and trainees like myself – we don’t struggle with diet. We don’t struggle with exercise regimen and routine. It isn’t hard to figure out for us. We aren’t overwhelmed by contradictory information.
And the reason is that we live the path – the fitness lifestyle has long been integrated as part of an overall lifestyle and a continued practiced habit.
Clients will often write to me and say “I hired you to tell me what to do.”
This is only partially true and it represents only the first component of the knowledge phase of the sequence of success. And to reiterate what I said above, this first component knowledge phase is merely a starting point.
You don’t just hire a coach to ‘tell you what you to do.’
You hire a big “C” Coach to teach you what to do!
You hire a big “C” Coach to help you “learn for yourself, by doing – by understanding, by practicing, by integrating and by repeating this sequence over and over again.
I pause here to remind you of the Einstein quote, “Information is not knowledge.” And once again, so many of you fail because you do not know this difference in real terms.
Often clients will write me and ask questions they can easily ascertain for themselves. “Hey Coach, how many mls, is a cup of egg whites?” – “Hey Coach, how many grams of fiber is in an apple?”
I seldom if ever answer such questions for clients, because these are things they can easily look up and ascertain for themselves, and I instruct them to do so. That kind of thing is easily accessible information. It’s not a mystery for an expert to unravel.
This begins the “knowledge phase.”
“Teach a man to fish”
But knowledge must beget practice, and practice must become something that is integrated into your real life.
This is the only way that practice becomes habit, and it’s habits that lead to the sustainable change you seek.
Think about how you yourself learned to drive and ride a bike. You didn’t just read about them one time, listen to an instructor one time – then go out and do it perfectly without hesitation.
But eventually, both of these things become automatic and routine.
And so it is with people who really and truly live the fitness lifestyle.
In the end, what you can always observe for your own feedback and for keeping it real is that – Behaviors equal results – ‘what you do gives you what you get’ – PERIOD – If you don’t like your results, then you have to change your behaviors.
But there’s more to it isn’t there:
You have to change the mindsets behind changing your behaviors.
It’s not enough to choose to eat the right food and follow the right diet plan. YOU HAVE TO WANT TO DO THESE THINGS more than you don’t want to do them, or these behaviors will never last; meaning you will never ‘integrate’ the practice of these things into your real life in a sustainable way that becomes habit.
Folks, this is indeed ‘the sequence for success recipe’ that never fails.
It isn’t sexy, it isn’t secret, it isn’t a vogue trend, it isn’t overly complicated, and it isn’t reserved only for the most talented.
YOU CAN DO THIS!
Hopefully you can look at this sequence and realize where it is that you yourself continue to come up short, or where you can do better.
As usual,
Some of you will get it
Some of you will not
And I will be following up this article, with a few more that can help you navigate your way to achieving your goal.
Stay tuned.