What You Do Matters

When it comes to health and fitness I am a very passionate guy. I believe that we were given this one body by God and that we are to be good stewards of our bodies. You dont hear that word “steward” that often. It means to be a manager of something that is not yours. These bodies that we have are just on loan for a while-we dont get to keep them. Eventually these bodies will get used and abused to the point where they cannot continue. It is this reason that I find it so hard to fathom why people dont take better care of their bodies! Not only do they not take care of them, but its almost as if they are out to sabotage their own health-They pay no attention to it whatsoever.

How many people do you know that go around shoving sticks of butter in their mouth for a snack? Hey my cholesterol’s down, I think I need some butter to make sure those arteries dont flow too freely…better clog em up a bit! Does anyone in their right mind believe that this is the way to good health? Of course not. But why do so many act as if it is?

You know what you are suppose to eat. We all do. Fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, complex carbs, whole foods and things that are generally unprocessed…You know it, I know it, we all know it. So then why do so many people still go out and chomp down on cheeseburgers, fries, pop, chips, pizza, and fulfill every sweet-toothed desire every single day?

I will tell you why: It wont kill you. Not today.

If the immediate consequence of eating that cheeseburger or slice of pizza was a massive heart attack, then no one would ever go near a cheeseburger or pizza again. It may take twenty to thirty years, but when you add up the compound effects of eating those fatty, highly processed, nutrient lacking, dietary suicide foods, eventually your overworked heart just decides to quit…Your dead! We dig our graves with our teeth, says Jeff Olson in his book “The Slight Edge”.

Its easy to eat healthy. And its easy not to.

Its not the single cheat meal that is going to kill you, its the thousand, over time. Eating that pizza or burger is just a simple error in judgement. Not eating it, a simple but smart decision that can benefit you in the long run. See its not that one decision that kills or saves you, its the compound effect of those decisions over time that will. Choosing a salad over the alfredo once wont save you, but decisions like that compounded thousands of times will. These simple everyday decisions, over time begin to either benefit or harm us.

Why dont you press play for your workout? Because its easy. If you dont do your workout today, will it kill you? No, of course not. You know what needs done to stay healthy and live a fit lifestyle. You need to do the simple act of showing up and pressing play. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. And its easy to do.

But its also easy not to do. If you dont press play today, tomorrow, or even for a few weeks, you are not all of a sudden going to drop dead, and you also probably wont pack on twenty pounds. But that simple decision to not press play and do your workout, compounded over time, will most defintiely lead you down that path.

You see one person who chooses the salad, and another who chooses the pasta. One person who decides to press play and do their workout, and another who decides to watch their favorite show. The difference between these people is nothing that is very noticeable, if noticeable at all. You cant see the difference, not today and probably not tomorrow. The easy conclusion would be that it doesnt matter what you do.

The truth is that what you do matters! What you do today matters! What you do tomorrow matters! What you do every single day matters! Those choices that seem insignificant at the time, just like compound interest over time in a bank account, will gradually increase your success-barely noticeable at first. But those choices compounded over time are what will unlock the door to the results you want. A six pack isnt accomplished in single day. A six pack is accomplished through multiple daily decisions-pressing play, eating right, eating at the right time, supplementing right…its all compounded over time to create the desired result. We dont notice these tiny daily decision because they seem so insignificant…we only like to focus on the result. More often than not, those who have reached their health and fitness goals dont have a very dramatic journey. 99% of the time you will see the same thing: simple positive actions made daily that lead them to the finish line.

I know how difficult it can be to continue perusing your health and fitness goals because the results are not immediate, but you need to understand that success is not immediate. It is the tiny things that no one notices, the subtle, seemingly insignificant choices that no one will see or applaud. These are the things that at the time you do them feel like they make absolutely no difference…like they dont even matter.

They do.