I would be surprised if you weren’t familiar with the saying “No Pain No Gain”.
Usually, it’s used in association with exercise or fitness. To signify that in order to get great results, you should work yourself to the point of pain!
While this is a completely faulty assumption and sets people up for failure, frustration, and injury, it’s actually not the aspect of this saying that I want to address.
Before moving on to the “no pain, no gain” mentality, let me reiterate that exercise shouldn’t be “painful”.
You may “work hard” and that effort may feel “uncomfortable” because it challenges you in a number of ways. But there shouldn’t be pain or injury associated with physical activity!
Additionally, if you finish an exercise session and can’t walk for multiple days because your muscles hurt too much…it means you overdid it or didn’t do the movement correctly! Dial it back a little and learn to move properly.
A bit of general muscle stiffness for a couple of days is normal. But debilitating stiffness and serious muscle pain aren’t good. Don’t let anyone tell you differently! You aren’t supposed to “work through it” or “get used to the pain”.
Ok. Point made. Back to the “no pain, no gain” message for today!
No Pain, No Gain is actually a great way to describe the entire change process.
Let’s use health, fitness, and wellness as examples. Dreams and wishes in these areas are a dime a dozen, yet few people actually accomplish their goals.
Why is this?
While there are many reasons, the fundamentals boil down to the fact that for most people, the status quo is more comfortable than the change process.
Put another way, the “Pain” associated with staying the same isn’t enough to spark the person to take action and overcome the discomfort of getting started (or continuing on a path).
As a fitness professional and personal performance coach, I see this every day with clients. They generally know WHAT to do, they just aren’t doing it consistently enough to create change.
It’s also true that they likely won’t make a change until the pain of inaction crosses a threshold for them.
The “Pain Threshold ” is different for every person. Sometimes it’s so high it astounds me.
People regularly suffer massive physical, medical, and psychological symptoms that are completely preventable. Yet, they choose the status quo and avoid making the often simple changes that could eliminate their “pain”.
This rule holds true for everyone, even those of us who are accomplishing many of our goals in these areas.
The key difference is that those who are active, healthy, and fit, typically have a lower threshold for change in these areas. Nobody is perfect all the time, but when things get off track, those who’ve healthy habits into their daily life are able to self-correct and get back on track sooner.
This is the realm I would love to see you living in.
If you aren’t there yet, here’s a way you can begin to make the shift.
Think about the areas causing you pain and discomfort each day. What are the things that annoy you, drive you crazy, keep you up at night, or are constantly bubbling up in your internal self-talk?
Remember…these pain can be physical, medical, or psychological. We all have them. What we do with them is up to us.
Ignoring them doesn’t make them go away…it usually makes them worse over time.
Justifying them as “normal” and “who you are” is simply an excuse for not taking action.
Think about (and visualize) how these pain centers are negatively impacting your life, mindset, and desired results. Run through specific examples of how these pain points have limited your potential.
Perhaps your current lifestyle choices have led to 20 pounds of extra body fat. The repercussions of this are reduced energy levels, lower self-esteem/confidence, high blood pressure, elevated blood lipid profile, lower fitness level, sore knees, back pain, foggy mental capacity, trouble sleeping, lower performance at work, and a strained relationship with your spouse.
This doesn’t even count the fact that you get winded walking up a flight of stairs, it’s getting harder to tie your shoes…heck you can’t even see them anymore over your belly, and you are embarrassed to show up at a fitness class because you think you need to get in better shape before exercising in public.
Now, these may not be YOUR pain points, but they are common ones I hear from clients every day.
The great news is that by tapping into the flood of emotions these symptoms create, you can ignite the spark of action that will get you moving towards your objective.
In other words, tap into the “pain” of your current situation to get moving and produce some positive “gains” (results) in your life!
While this may seem simple. I can tell you from experience…IT WORKS!
Many of the coaching sessions I have with clients are targeted to help people gain perspective on their current situation, and see that the path to change is in their control and in reach. It simply requires either raising awareness of the pain a situation is causing or lowering the barriers to change (ideally both).
If while reading this you realize you’ve been “putting up with” far too much “pain” in your life and are ready to change, simply reach out. My team and I would love to help.
If you are more comfortable working alone at your own pace and at home, then feel free to join our 7 days Home Fitness Jumpstart Program
Or enroll in some of our carefully designed online, on-demand, workshops.
Remember, YOU are in control of your actions. YOU deserve to be vibrant, healthy, happy and bursting with energy. Jump in the cockpit and fire up the engines!
Together we can ignite your potential!
