What is your mind “set” on?

By Bonnie Pfiester

You can tell a lot about someone based on what they spend their money, time and energy on. For example, you can tell me love your house plants, but if they are all dying from neglect I can argue you don’t care for them as much as you say you do - or you would take better care of them.

Have you ever heard someone say “you can’t stop her once she sets her mind to something”? There is a big difference between setting your mind to something and hoping to do something. In the fitness world, I think a lot of people dream of themselves being skinny, fit or muscular – that’s where it ends.

Back when I was small, my grandmother used to get her hair “set” every Friday. The idea was the stylist would wash, style it and plaster it with hairspray to the point it would last her several days. When you set your mind to something, it means your mind stays there for a while, and the same idea applies to your fitness goals.

Much like my grandmother’s hairstyle, just because you set your mind to something it doesn’t mean it will stay there. It is very likely life will happen and mess it all up. Like my grandmother’s hair, fitness goals require a certain level of maintenance. When you mess it up with poor eating choices or missing workouts, it’s time to push the reset button.

It’s kind of like resetting your GFI outlet. You don’t reset it unless you know it’s not working. Do you see where I am headed with this? Let’s say you decided to lose weight and get in shape so you joined a gym or fitness program. Two weeks down the road you realize you’ve slipped away and your plan isn’t working. You are faced with 2 questions. Is your program not working for you or are you not working for the program?

You see, many people come to this place and they just give up. Giving up isn’t an option if you’ve set your mind to something. If you really want this badly, you will find a way to make this work for you. If not, then you don’t want as badly as you are saying – and that may be a hard truth pill to swallow.

So what do you do now? Here are a few tips to keeping your mind set on the prize:

1.) Determine your goal. Goals must be clearly defined. You need to decide exactly what you are setting your mind to in order to reach your goal. If you don’t know what your destination is, how in the world can you expect to get there?

2.) Pre-determine your reset button. Have a plan for when you get off track. What is the trigger, what will you do, and when will you do it? Another words, the minute you find yourself complaining about your pants fitting tightly or you feeling fat, you already have a plan of attack of hitting a certain class or going to the grocery store to get healthy choices so you can diet again.

3.) Avoid distractions. I can guarantee my grandmother would not go get her hair done and then go out in the rain. Once you set your mind to reaching your goal, you must avoid situations where your plan gets messed up. Don’t think for one minute you will be strong enough to endure temptations in the beginning. The best way to avoid messing up is avoiding situations where you will be tempted to begin with.

4.) Set, reset and test your goals. It’s not enough to just set a goal. You must test it to make sure the goal you set is working for you. Are you staying on track? Is your plan working? Do you feel discouraged or victorious? You are literally a science experiment and, in order to get it right, you may need to tweak your plan for optimal results. This requires honesty and it requires determination. However,

The word “set” is very purposeful. It means to

The same goes fitness and healthy goals. Many people hey have set their mind to something, like losing weight, but all their time, money and energy is going into other things. It doesn’t take long before it’s pretty noticeable that their goals are basically a passing thought, not a permanent mindset.