Do the People In Your Life Support You?
Hi BodyRockers,
In today's BodyRock News, we are going to do an audit of the people in your life and how much they support your fitness.
Deciding to get into shape is a major life shift. It involves a lot of changes - some large, some small. Most people when they start on their fitness journey brace for changes to their routine, their diet, and the discomfort that can come from showing up to workout even when they don't want to (this is tough).
What people don't usually expect are the changes that can arise in the people around you as they learn about your new fitness quest. Believe it or not, your decision to embrace fitness and change your life for the better is going to create some ripples in your social and relationships pond - and the shockwave can potentially knock you down if you're not ready.
You will encounter several different types of people, each with their own reactions and projections when it comes to your healthier life choices. Let's go through them together.
A quick word on your emotional instincts. We are all animals. We know things in the pit of our stomachs, our bodies know things sometimes before we register them consciously. Our intuitions are powerful, most of the time, if you listen, observe, and trust in what you feel, you can sort out where most people stand.
The Supporters
These are the people that are authentically happy and supportive of your new found determination to change your life for the better. They don't feel threatened, they might already be on the journey themselves (even if it looks different than your chosen path), they offer words of encouragement and support.
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These people are your crew. They will have your back. They will understand the motivations to improve yourself, to be healthier and more confident, to change your life to better reflect what you are capable of achieving. They will likely get all of this because they are also motivated to move their lives forward, and they have personal goals that you in-turn support. The people you surround yourself with is crucially important when it comes to what you can achieve. Run with the big dogs - you might not run the fastest, but you will run further. Crew love.
The Non Supporters
There will be people that flat out think that you choosing fitness as a lifestyle choice is not a good idea. These people are up front about it, and will tell you to your face that they think it's not a good idea. They will likely frame this with attitudes against fitness, not necessarily against you. They might have tried and failed themselves, maybe they got injured, maybe they are old school and think that women shouldn't lift weights. Maybe it's something else all together. If you have a close relationship with these Non Supporters, you might feel angry, annoyed or pissed off. The closer they are to you, the more it will sting. Most of the time we know or at least suspect who these people are in our lives. It doesn't mean that these people don't love you or support you in other areas of your life, it just means that you can't expect support or validation for your fitness goals from these people. Don't look for it because you will waste energy and time looking for validation that you can give to yourself.
The Saboteurs
Intuitively, you should already know who these people are. These are the people in your life that you would likely never share anything personal with because you don't trust them. I bet some faces are flashing as you read these words. Trust your instincts. These people are usually at the peripheries of your social circles - the friend of a friend, the person at work that you kind of know, an in-law that is polite but has an axe to grind, whomever. These people might make a snide remark at the thanksgiving dinner table when you opt not to eat the usual 5 pounds of butter soaked mash potatoes. These people always seem to be clocking your food choice moves, saying things like "you barely eat" or announcing to people that you are on a diet. It's passive aggressive, it will trigger you, and worst case it will tip you into adding those 5 pounds of butter mash right back on to your plate. It's easy to start to allow these types of people to live in your head rent free. If you find yourself pissed off at these people, the absolute best thing that you can do is offer up some gratitude for having these a-holes in your life and then immediately decide that you will transform this energy into positive 'rocket fuel' to power your fitness. Don't let these jerks win - use them as motivation with a smile on your face.
The Motivators
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These are the people that never get sick of hearing how you subbed out the coke for water at the movies, or how you beat your own personal best in your last workout. They don't get annoyed by your workout recaps, your meal prep talks, or how you can't get together at the regular time because you have a workout booked. These people also tend to live by example, they are very likely on their own journey and understand from experience what you are going through. Here at BodyRock, these are our coaches. Coach Sean, who leads a lot of the programs and bootcamps here at BodyRock, takes the time to check in and motivate, because this support is a key to success. If you don't have a motivator in your life, you need to get one ASAP. These are the lifelines that will keep you on track when your old habits come knocking at the door. These are the people that will hold you accountable, and will pull you back from the cliffs when you are about to give up.
The Surprisers
The Surprisers can go either way. They might be someone that you would never expect support from, or people you expected to be in your crew that slapped you unexpectedly with a back handed comment or terrible attitude. The Surprisers have the ability to either support you or not, but their unexpected reaction can feel like a supportive high-five or sting like an unexpected insult. Once the Surprisers make themselves know, sort them into the categories above and move on.
Sort Out The People In Your Life
Now that you know what to expect, you can start to categorize the people that you have in your life. As a general rule, pay attention to how you feel when you leave an encounter with people. Do you feel good? Supported? Or do you feel attacked, or judged? Do you feel uncomfortable or queasy? Pay attention and log it. The more that you surround yourself with people that support you, the better you will do at life - fitness included.
Find Your Anchor
You need at least one Motivator in your life to succeed on your fitness journey. At BodyRock we have our Coaches. They show up each day with new workouts and motivation to be your Fitness Anchor. They take the guess work out by programming workouts that are achievable at your level of fitness, and will keep you making steady progress towards your unique goals.
Give It A Try
Here is a free 5 day, Introduction To Strength Training Bootcamp, designed and lead by BodyRock Coach Jessie. Jessie is a 40 year old mother of three daughters all under the age of eight. Jessie built this workout program to teach some of the fundamentals of strength training, which is one of the most effective workouts for burning fat, losing weight and re-shaping the body. Click the image to sign up for free and get a sense of the types of workouts that we have on our Fitness Streaming Platform BodyRockPlus.com