written by john c ashworth
Consistency!
Yeah, you probably could argue that this is 80% of the battle at any age. I might agree, and when people ask me what my secret to staying fit has been over the course of my life, the first thing I always say is, "consistency." I've NEVER stopped. Ever! And when I was younger I went after it pretty darn hard. Especially when I was playing soccer at a high level.
When you get to age fifty, though, your margin for error is gone!
You can no longer put it off, and especially if you haven't been good about getting your exercise and staying fit in the earlier stages of your life, now is the time you must correct this. If you don't, bad things can happen fast.
I began to notice this reality when I hit the age of 40. Ten years later, the idea is like an old friend.
Today was a great example of the mindset you must adopt if you're going to stay with it for the long run and stop making excuses.
You can see from the picture above, that even thought It's April in Wisconsin, the weather can still be nasty; and over the last week the weather has been hard to accept. Cold, windy, overcast, and just downright miserable at times.
I snapped the photo above of Allie and I earlier this morning. We decided to venture out of the neighborhood and onto a new hiking path. I regretted it almost immediately after stepping out of the car. The wind hit me like a slap in the face, and I almost turned right around and went home to watch the Masters.
Instead, Allie and I toughed it out and though the wind and the cold were still somewhat miserable, we still got a nice walk, and on a new path that was challenging and hilly and perfect for a Sunday morning.
At home now, keeping track of the golf tournament, and getting things done, I'm more awake, my body is loosened-up, my mind is clear and I'm ready to be productive.
It would have been so easy to skip this walk today. And the weather is often an easy scapegoat. Instead, I go it done because I've come to rely on it so much. I really can't live without it. It's like breathing. Does it feel like that to you, yet?
As I make my way into my fifties I've gotten a glimpse of how I must continue to pursue this effort to stay strong, healthy, and ready.
It's not always easy to maintain this kind of commitment to your fitness program. I get that. That's why you can now find some kind of fitness offering taunting you in almost every strip mall across America. Has that changed our exercise habit? Not yet, I don't think.
If you're struggling to stay consistent, a good coach can help. A good coach, who has experience both personally and professionally in working with those over 50, can really help you identify what's really important right now for your fitness and how can you take the first step today and then begin building on that momentum. If there was one place I had to choose where people go wrong in their pursuit of fitness, it lies in starting too fast too soon, and in mapping out a careful plan for progression as you become stronger, fitter, and more motivated. Yes, those things go together.
That's the work I did for twenty plus years with clients until I became a full time salesman and business consultant. If you're interested in talking about taking advantage of the small amount of coaching time I've made available this spring and summer, shoot me an email and we'll talk. No pressure.
johncashworth(at)gmail.com
You can also always download a copy of my first book on the subject, by clicking here, and becoming a subscriber. I throw it in as a bonus for new subscribers.
-John
