Start right! Finish ahead!

Start right. Finish ahead. Shift into first. Let out the commitment clutch. Listen to the roar of that race-tuned motivation-engine. Run through the gears. Each upshift represents a skill level acquired through coaching and consistent practice. Get your machine up to speed so you can maintain momentum without depleting energy. Focus on priority issues. Visualize the outcomes. Go deep with your knowledge. Stop for the flashing red lights in the rear-view mirror. Know your destination lies ahead and the path is worth the investment in time and effort.

Recently I bought a new Volvo. It’s a comfy car. There is no way the proletariat can understand how it works. It has a computer that controls everything but the driver. I go to park it in the garage on a hot day, and the fan is raging under the hood. It’s a hurricane force gale, and it won’t shut off. I call the service guy at the Volvo dealership and ask if something could be wrong with the car. The sultan of sarcasm immediately responds, “Dan, do you know what the most unread book in the world is? The Owner’s Manual.” It states that the cooling fan will run until the cows come home to protect the engine…”

I’m an adult. I could have looked up the information. It’s on page 12. How many of you have read the owner’s manual for training?  Do you know how train -for strength? Have you sought out the insights of experts when it comes to “what to do” to get in top condition? The training culture doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We are up to speed on training because we have to understand the science behind physiological development.

Strength training is holistic. You are about to develop mind, body, and soul further than you ever imagined. You’ll be training athletically. Why, because athletes can have it all and so can you.

Begin with the computer that runs you. Your brain. It is no secret your main-frame loves to exercise. It likes to send messages that develop proper movement. It loves to learn and experience. It enjoys the relationships you build and the stimulating input from the outside world. It loves the neurotransmitters and other chemicals that refresh its systems and higher functioning.

Your body with all its systems begs to be refreshed and stimulated. Work is the bane of our existence, and without a healthy dose of exhilarating physical exercise and learning how best to perform it, we’re just all too “normal.” Dump the myths you may hold about activity and what you may become if you engage. Proper training has always been science and creativity. It’s useful. We train because we want functional strength.

As you learn the basics and begin to acclimate to a higher level of activity, you will have a chance to schedule your training so that you can accomplish it multiple times weekly. Just be sure it’s a top three priority.

Here are three questions you might want to answer for yourself:

1. How can I better organize my daily schedule?
2. What do I expect from a coach?
3. Am I willing to take steps to develop myself physically and mentally to be more dynamic, robust and healthy?

Lack of inspiration fuels abundant procrastination. Take all that you know about yourself. Write short sentences that honestly describe what kind of person you feel you are, and where you are athletically. Take a 50,000-foot view of where you are. Write some responses to the question in column one. There are people around you who may see you in an entirely different light. Be brave and ask them for an honest opinion of how they view you.

Record the responses in column two. In column three decide how you are going to close the gap. Remember you are training for yourself first. When your success in training begins to impact your outward appearance, habits, and perspectives you’ve started to cash in the paycheck that Train for a Reason creates. An inspired training program raises a motivated person. The best test outside the gym is to account for your efforts by planning and taking action. Motivation doesn’t fall from the sky. Create a visual image in your mind, words written on paper, or some other graphic representation of the goals you intend to build. We demonstrate each exercise for that day’s work, then pull out a stopwatch. The coach establishes the targets. The stopwatch focuses the mind. And the skills are the stewards that can put your mind and body where you want when you move.

Here’s your prescription for the right start:

1. Why do you train?
2. What is the current behavior that you want to change?
3. What are you ready, willing and able to do to get to a measurable goal?

We have a blueprint for motivation. Answer the questions. Drill down to a level that hits your emotional launch button.

Sakichi Toyoda used the “5 Whys” to drill down to a solution to problems within Toyota’s manufacturing processes. Take it for your use. I did!

What keeps you up at night? Have you accomplished all your goals? Are you on the treadmill? Are your kids and family safer because you don’t train, or don’t exercise with the proper mental propellant? Are you going to be healthy enough to lead them into the future?

Utilize a seeker mentality. Curiosity never pales. Interest buffers the goals and aspirations of the active adult from the ravages of opinions, old beliefs, half-truths, and collective apathy of the information gatherers, and harmful “crap-ologists” around them. Seeking opens doors. Information is humbling. The curious mind is the place from which anyone with the burning desire to succeed can explode into action. Success needs work! Work it, because you are an “action person.”