Finding Focus in the Mainstream Fitness Haze

If a hand suddenly grabbed you and dunked your head under water, you’d focus.
If a predator was approaching right now, you’d focus.
If you were on a sinking ship…you’d focus!
You, yes you, are capable of profound achievement, if only you’d focus! Body sculpting, conditioning and nutrition included. Now, in any common gym in and around San Diego you’ve got basically three fitness levels when it comes to members:

1. The posers and newbies. Meaning people who aren’t really there to get in shape or change their lifestyle whatsoever, it’s all for appearances. Then, the folks who’re just beginning to get into working out.
2. The Fray: Guys and gals in average to above average shape doing their damndest, but just can’t seem to break through into their more lofty performance and aesthetic goals.
3. True Sculptors: You know, they’re the ones with enviable body fat percentages and impressive levels of both muscular strength and hypertrophy.

What sets them apart? Focus! Specificity! Precision!
It’s that simple. Here’s the trick, you simply have to acknowledge how powerful you are. Not in a cheesy narcissistic way, but scientifically.
Your mind, once it focuses on a goal, vision, or problem, is a wondrous thing. Check this out, it’s probably the most powerful quote you’ll ever read from a man named Goethe:

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no one could have dreamed would come their way… “

That’s not the entire quote, but the meat and bones. Point is, you can’t commit to something you can’t see or focus on. Right? If someone asks you to focus on some tiny little fuzzy shape on the horizon, it’s impossible. If they ask you to focus on one star in the sky, surrounded by zillions of others, you can’t keep it up.
The second you look away, it’s gone…
But, if something’s put in your mind you can meditate on it whenever you want! You’re in control.
You want to move from The Fray to the Sculptors group? You want to finally conquer physical conditioning? Sure thing, here’s how to do it in 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Choose and Be Specific!
When you say you want to get in shape, what EXACTLY do you mean? First, tackle the math:
• What exact level of body fat do you choose?
• How much extra lean mass is going to get you there?
• Exactly how much strength are you trying to obtain?
• Precisely how much daily protein, carbs and fat are we talking about?
With this information you carve the vision of yourself that you’re choosing. Think about the process of a tattoo artist. First, they figure out what you want. Then they draw it. Then they perfect the drawing. Then they apply an outline to your flesh and begin filling in the details. Your body, in this case, is the tattoo. Start shading!
Step 2: Commit
Once you have this ultra-specific vision, commit. This is probably the #1 thing that keeps people in the Fitness Fray: distraction & information overload. They’ve got endless amounts of conflicting conditioning and nutrition data coming at them from multiple streams every waking hour:
• Social media
• So-called experts, authorities, and gurus
• The blogosphere
• Their friends or “Bro/Sis-Science”
• Magazines
• Podcasts
• Television
• Mainstream news
One day they’re committed to this, then next week or month, it’s something else.
Because they’re trying to let the world do the choosing and committing for them, they’re bouncing all over the place never really committing to one single thing that works for them and their specific vision. Pick YOURS and commit to it.
Step 3: Focus
After that, all you have to do is focus. That’s it. The focus itself will FORCE you to do what you need to do, eat what you need to eat, workout how you need to; attracting the right people, places and events that will help lead you INTO your fitness vision.
Your vision, in your mind, is a seed. It’s quite literally a seed. You know this! The more you feed it with your attention (both physically and mentally) the faster it grows until what you envision is manifest. Thanks for reading, now get specific, commit, and focus.