A Trainer's Best Kept Secret

How many of you can relate to stepping into the wrong checkout line? Standing there with arms crossed, eyes-rolling, weight shifting all with the intention of just grabbing a loaf of bread.  To this day, despite my careful review of other shoppers’ grocery haul, I still make the wrong choice when it comes to selecting the quickest line at Stop and Shop. Now for those who don’t know me, I’m a self-proclaimed, “Olympic coffee drinker” so I’ll leave it to you to consider my rising heart rate during these angst-filled moments.  We’ve all heard the saying, “patience is a virtue.”  You know that person, calm, cool, and collected with no complaints.  Well many of us play for the opposing team of “impatience” (which for the record means restless, irritated and annoyed.)    It’s in one of these impatient moments that I learned my trainer’s best kept secret.

A study performed by Dr. Ligiing L. Yan at Northwestern University found that young adults prone to impatience and hostility were likely to develop high blood pressure.  Of the 3300 men participating in the study, those who scored highest on the impatience scale had an 84% increased risk for developing heart disease.  Other negative effects caused by this tendency included loss of motivation, increased stress hormone release, and setting the individual up for unrealistic goals and expectations.

So here I was with that familiar feeling of impatience with myself after only my first few weeks at BTF November 2016.   Years of self-neglect and failed attempts to get healthy left me feeling incredibly discouraged with my weight loss, strength and overall progress and I was barely “out of the gate.”  I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I’m sure I was preparing myself for failure.  My mindset was beginning to make the shift to that familiar negative place we all go to.  The one that tells us “what’s the use, nothing’s really going to change, give it up.”  The difference was that my trainer had been watching this progression.  He saw that I was mentally moving in the wrong direction and just when I needed to hear it, said to me “Small change is powerful.”  What a great choice of words, “powerful.”  It resonated with me and created a shift.

He was right.  Small effective changes are the secret weapon for anyone trying to improve their lives.  Why? It’s because of how much easier small changes are to initiate and maintain.  Regardless of the challenge, (habits, meals, money, relationships) it’s the gradual accumulation of small wins that will lead to sustainable self-improvement.  Baby steps ARE powerful and they add up to big, big results.  Let’s face it, trying to make a big change, too often results in no change at all.  It’s natural that we all drift off course from time to time, mastery takes practice.  Make “small changes” the constant in your life and you’ll undoubtedly reach those goals!