“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.”
– Stephen R. Covey

Recently we’ve been talking about what Personal Vision is (i.e. our attitudes, beliefs, outlook and experiences) and how it lies at the heart of whatever we create in our lives – from our happiness to our wealth, to our success – and today we’ll see how our Personal Vision powerfully affects our health and fitness. Be sure to also check out the inspiring video at the end…

Many people are hitting the gym at this time of year to get fit again after a few mince pies over the Christmas period! 🙂 While there’s a surge in gym membership in January, there’s also massive decline a few months later. People start with great intentions but very often fall away a couple of months down the line. Why is that?

Today and this week we’ll explain how the principle of Personal Vision answers this question and how you can use it to powerfully achieve your physical goals this year.

SO why do some people stop getting fit? Why don’t they follow through? Why does it feel like such a hard slog which means they don’t enjoy it? Why is it often difficult, challenging, hard and uncomfortable?

The Fundamental Difference Our Personal Vision Makes On Our Ability to Become Healthier…

The way we feel about our physical appearance and level of physical fitness can be very deeply ingrained because of our attitudes and beliefs; (our Personal Vision) and this will drastically affect our ability to make the changes we may want to make in our lives.

Our Personal Vision is the way we understand ourselves and our world, so it naturally includes our past experiences. We may have had experiences growing up where we took comments from others personally, or compared ourselves to those around us, this started to form part of our identity from what we believed to be true.

We may have considered ourselves to be fat or skinny, tall or short, ugly or pretty, lazy or energetic. Whatever we believe to be true will naturally affect our ability to change our lifestyle to one that is healthier.

When we have a fixed view of how we feel about ourselves, then it can be extremely hard to break free of this. That is why we can try and DO all the things we want (go to the gym, personal training etc..) but if we don’t change the underlying beliefs we have about ourselves in that area, we may find ourselves back to square one in a few months time.

As an example, someone looking to give up smoking can arm themselves with all the latest tools, techniques and aids to give up, but if they still see themselves as a smoker, then this will be their default view of themselves and their actions will naturally flow from this. They might well be a highly effective smoker – always able to find and make time for a cigarette; no matter how busy or stressful life gets. Giving up involves them challenging part of their identity which may have been developed over many years – i.e. ‘I am a smoker and this helps me relieve my stress’. This strong belief is something that can sabotage any efforts to change if it’s not looked at.

The same can be said for adopting a new habit like going to the gym, running or any other form of exercise. If we do not consider ourselves as someone who is disciplined enough to exercise regularly then we will often find our New Year enthusiasm wane and fade away after a few weeks…

So How Do We Make the Changes We Want?

Over the coming days we’ll be sharing some of the fundamental principles to kick-start your health and fitness this year, as well as Breakthrough Experiences from members of the Lighthouse community to inspire you to take action…

In the meantime this video is an incredibly inspiring example of someone who broke through the Personal Vision of himself as an obese and unhealthy person into someone who could run marathons. Enjoy!!

Santa Cruz Lighthouse courtesy of Anita Ritenour @ Flickr – Image of Jogger at night courtesy of  d26b73 – Video of nuki255, Breakthrough image courtesy of Branewbs @ Flikr