Changing your body shape is a long and drawn-out process. Many people focus on the external factors, such as your training, nutrition, and lifestyle habits, which are all essential, but there are other areas that will also have an impact on the quality of your result.
These are actions that you can have control over, which we like to call ‘non-negotables’. They will not directly have an impact on your result like the aforementioned external factors will, but they will facilitate consistency and relentless execution of the required world-class basics.
So, what are these non-negotiables? How can they influence your progress for fat loss and changing your body shape?
Growth Mindset
During your journey, it is very important to see what lies ahead. If you turn up to every training session believing you can’t achieve your goals, there will be no sense of progression and growth. You should be looking to improve with every single session you do, whether that be fat loss, weight loss, or. muscle gain, and then during the sessions themselves, such as increase in strength, more flexibility, better exercise execution and better recovery.
In Carol Dweck’s book ‘Mindset’, there is a deep analysis of the difference in success between fixed-minded people and growth-minded people in life. In this case, those with a fixed mindset don’t believe they can change and end up approaching each session in a half-hearted manner, with nothing to look forward to. By contrast, those with a growth mindset have the attitude of improvement and look to keep progressing with every session. If you can approach your goals with a growth mindset, you are setting yourself up for success.
Communication
Whether you are working with a coach or not, communication is one of the most important things to commit to before going on your journey. You are most likely going to face challenges along the way, be it personal, physical, or professional, so being able to seek help from someone who is more experienced than you is going to drastically improve your chances of overcoming those obstacles and continuing to make progress.
Clarity
What do you want to achieve? It sounds like a very simple question but many people enter their journey without clear targets set ahead of them. Instead of just wanting to lose fat, how much do you want to lose? What is your target weight? How do you want to feel further down the line? Is there an event you want to look good for? The clearer you are, the more inspired you will be, and the more accurate you can make your plan, based on your goals.
Emotional Anchor
For you to stay consistent over a long period, you must have a deep, emotional goal that inspires you during your journey. There will be days when you are tired and not motivated to do the tasks required to reach your target, and this is often when you can fall off track. So, find out your deep, emotional ‘why’ and link each important task to the end goal. You may not be inspired by the tasks, but you should be inspired by the end goal.
Until you understand the value of each task and how it relates to a goal that lights you up, you will always struggle for motivation and consistency. So, take some time to write this down and remind yourself before you start because, further down the line when you may have a wobble, this is what will keep you going.
Consistency
Finally, once the plans have been set in place, one of the absolute essentials for making the progress you want will be your consistency. Changing your body shape revolves are executing the basics, week in, week out to encourage growth in muscle tissue and loss in body fat. There is no quick fix, and it takes a long time to get the result you want.
However, the more consistent you are, the faster and more effective your progress will be, and this involves staying on track on the days when you don’t feel like it. So, make consistency a non-negotiable during your journey and you will be well on your way to the result you want.
Summary
Changing your body shape involves setting some non-negotiables. These include adopting a growth mindset, communication, clarity, having an emotional anchor, and your rate of consistency. They are non-negotiables because they are areas that you can have control over, and so you should make them a clear priority to make the best progress possible with your body shape.
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