Let’s talk Health......
Let’s talk Reality........
Has it occurred to you, as it has to me, that much of our success in improving our health and fitness levels depends upon our attitude and a true assessment of our current situation? During the course of a physical evaluation or a new client interview, I can often predict the outcome of the client’s efforts. Why? Because if the client is overly optimistic (example: “I know I’ve been smoking for the last 30 years, but I’ve just quit and I want to train for a marathon”) or overly pessimistic (“I’ve been fat all my life and nothing will work for me”), they’re not facing up to reality, and they will likely fall short in achieving their fitness goals.
In the bestselling book “Good To Great,” author Jim Collins alludes to the “Stockdale Paradox,” an idea named for Admiral James Stockdale who was a U.S. military officer held captive for more than 8 years in the Vietnam War. He was tortured extensively by his captors and never had any reason to believe he would survive or see his family again. Yet he never lost faith during his ordeal. “I never doubted,” Stockdale says, “that not only would I get out but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into a defining event for my life that in retrospect, I would not trade.”
Then comes the paradox: while Stockdale had remarkable faith in the unknowable, he noted that it was always the most optimistic (perhaps unrealistic) of his fellow prison-mates that failed to make it out alive. “They were the ones who said, “We’re gonna make it out by Christmas,” and Christmas would come and go. Then they’d say “We’re gonna be out by Easter!” and Easter would come and go. Then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again, and eventually they died of overwhelming disappointment and a broken heart.
What these optimists failed to do was confront the brutal reality of their situation. They preferred the ostrich approach, sticking their heads in the sand and hoping their difficulties would go away, but when eventually forced to face reality it was too much to bear and they couldn’t handle it.
Stockdale on the other hand approached adversity with a completely different mindset. He accepted the reality of his situation and did everything he could to assist himself and others in lifting morale and working toward success, which in this case was survival.
Jim Collins summarizes it like this. “You must retain your faith that you will prevail in the end regardless of the difficulties, AND, at the same time you must confront the most brutal facts of your current situation, whatever those might be.”
As a fitness instructor and personal trainer, I believe the Stockdale Paradox carries an important lesson in leading clients toward achieving their goals. The lesson is one of faith and honesty. Never doubt that you can achieve your goals, no matter how lofty they may be and no matter what critics or naysayers have told you in the past, but at the same time recognize the reality of where you are. In order to accomplish this, we’ll first take a factual inventory of your current situation and then create a program that will help you achieve your goals in a realistic way. We’ll allow no energy to be directed at fear or deception, because that would only come back to defeat you in the end.
Of course no one likes to admit they are out of shape or overweight or unprepared to meet their fitness goals, but honestly assessing your current situation is an absolute necessity if you want to grow and improve. It may feel at first like you are stepping backward, but visualize this: By doing so you become the pullback on a sling shot, and you set yourself up perfectly to make significant progress down the road, always keeping a clear view of the finish line.
Join me at Welltrax for a fitness evaluation—it’s a great way to slingshot yourself to the fitness future you want!
Diana Harf, Certified Personal Trainer & Group Fitness Instructor