anxiety – Page 8 – Never Give Up PT

Becoming Process Focussed, Not Outcome Focussed

I want to share with you the difference between a Process Focussed attitude and an Outcome Focussed attitude. Because when you can give yourself a little tap on the shoulder and remind yourself of the process then the outcome will eventually happen. I promise.

It All Needs A Process

I am so, so good at this in the gym with myself and my clients. I focus entirely on the process. That is my job. It’s what I am trained and disciplined in. But outside of the gym I have goals that I want now…right this second! And in frustration of not being able to get them right now means that the process gets crumpled up and torn like a handy pocket road map that has been stomped on during my tantrums. Had I kept a level head, the road map would still be intact and it would be easier to follow. The tap on the shoulder from myself, a professional, a partner or a friend can work wonders in working out the process for anything. A career move, a life skill, family life and health and fitness goals. It all needs a process.

Sometimes we just see a 10k run, a dress size, a one rep max or a weight loss target. The finer details of how we are getting there is the real key.

In football, the skill isn’t knowing that you need to score more goals than the opposition, it is how you’re going to do it. You can give any sporting example of this and it remains the same. The process needs to be the focus. The outcome harbours great rewards, but without the process you won’t get there.

Frustrations Of The Outcome Focus

So I’m not getting on my high horse here and telling you that I do everything perfectly and you need to step up. You might be able to help me find my process in other aspects of life with your skills. But I’m here to talk about fitness goals. And I’ve been prompted to give it a mention because the gym is full of outcome focussed people. They press, lift, run and jump without any attention to their process. They just want the results. And this can lead to frustration and in many cases injury.

And when you figure out a process for one thing, other parts of your life can begin to take shape too. Have you ever experienced getting a promotion in your career and found that your relationships in your private life improved? You have followed a process and met deadlines, hit targets, gave your colleagues morale boosts or took them under your wing and you got rewarded in your promotion. This made you feel good in other aspects of your life too.

It’s the same in your fitness goals. Once you begin a process in your fitness goals then you begin to focus on your day to day tasks that make up the little wins. And it’s not just about doing this in a gym. Imagine going for a walk with a friend or a partner away from the daily grind. Here you can discuss your ambitions, your feelings or put the world to rights. You feel great and you’ve managed a few thousand steps as well. Make this a regular exercise and you have started the process for your mental and physical health.

Becoming process focussed takes away the big issue that seems, at times, unobtainable…the outcome. To grow muscle you can’t just lift heavy stuff a lot. To lose weight healthily you can’t just eat less. To get a job promotion you can’t just turn up to an interview. To make a relationship work you can’t just add them as a Facebook friend. You need to work hard at a process that works to get the things that you want.

Small Victories Are Important

Focussing on the outcome will keep us bitter and when we have no way of getting there we give up. In my Coaching App it’s exactly what I do for hundreds of people. I’m the tap on the shoulder that reminds them of the process and enables people to reach their goals without even realising. That’s because they have enjoyed a journey that took them way beyond the anxieties of ‘ needing to lose a couple of stone’. They did that, but also found that they were in control of their life much more than when they had no direction. It became a foundation for their success. Focus and celebrate the small victories. It’s those that become the big ones.

Thank you for reading my article. If you need further advice on where to begin with your fitness process then do get in touch. I might be able to help.

Breaking The Magician’s Code

That’s Magic!

As a kid I used to love watching magic shows. From Paul Daniels producing a rabbit from a hat to David Blaine’s street performances of him levitating and having the crowd of onlookers agog at his seemingly supernatural abilities.

After a while though, perhaps around the time I realized that Santa wasn’t real, the magic wasn’t real for me anymore. I much preferred knowing the how and why of a magician’s trickery than becoming submerged in the mystery of it. I had seen people ‘magically’ being sawn in half a thousand times and even entire buildings disappear, but I just wanted to know how it was done.

Back in the 90’s a masked magician turned up on our screens called Val Valentino. The show was called Breaking The Magician’s Code where he would perform the trick and then explain how it was done. This didn’t go down well with traditional magicians who were in the Magician’s Circle, where you take the secrets of magic to your grave. Valentino was seen among his peers as a magician who had betrayed his community.

Valentino justified his actions by saying that he “wanted to get people talking again about the magical arts” as he began to recognize the impact that technology and the internet would have in the profession and “magicians were becoming complacent”. Maybe he did change the world of magic. Pulling a rabbit out if a hat became old skool. Along came the likes of Blaine and Derren Brown to revamp the art.

Keeping The Audience Interested

I’ll be totally honest. My profession needs a kick up the arse too. I hear so much about different methods, techniques and formulas from Coaches and Personal Trainers and I have my own methods that I introduce to my clients too. I’m not disrespecting anybody’s work here. But it’s time that we were honest with the public. Whatever plan, method or technique a PT wishes to use and endorse it is not reinventing the wheel. They have not just come up with the newest ‘fat burning plan that will change the world’. What they have done is come up with a catchy title and a workout that keeps you active, a programme that keeps you interested. and a mindset that empowers your nutritional choices.

A trainer’s method should include…

* A plan that works for YOU and YOUR lifestyle. Not a copy and paste.

* Achievable goals. This can include a new Personal best in how far you have walked/run or it could be a certain weight lifted. It could also be goals to hit a certain macro target this week. Achieving this will create a better chance of hitting your big goals.

* Regular check ins and discussion opportunities. You should be able to talk to your trainer whenever you need to.

There are many good trainers that are providing this service, but it doesn’t matter if they call their programme…

* 60 day fat shred

* 16 week couch to 5k

* 6 week summer body

* The little Black Dress

* 40 day toner

Or the latest method that I have recently created…

* Rep 420 Challenge

They should all have the same theme. It should encourage more movement in a fun and engaging way which promotes mindful eating and a healthy lifestyle. There is no secret formula that a coach has invented. They have simply created a method that they feel will inspire their client to stick to it. Because a method that nobody wants to stick to is not going to work. No tricks. No magic or mystery. Just a method that keeps the audience interested.

My Rep 420 Challenge is a method of creating full body workouts for busy people in a fun and achievable way. It allows the trainee to hit every muscle group without the tedious task of completing a ‘leg day’ or a ‘chest day’. How many gym visits do you need to hit every individual muscle group? I work in a gym. I usually have the time. But the regular person wanting to tone up a little and lose a few pounds doesn’t. I understand that.

The Final Act

But I haven’t waved a magic wand and made the Statue Of Liberty disappear by creating it. I simply engaged the audience and gave them a direction on what to focus on. They become as committed to the final act as I do not through any art of deception or hocus pocus, but by providing simple answers to their questions.

Telling someone to move a bit more and eat a bit less to lose weight is not the greatest advice. But providing a sustainable structure to build into their lifestyle is. That’s where the real magic happens.

Where’s Mi Cheese?

Cheese is grate, but this is just for the kids dinner.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Shay. I’m a Personal Trainer from Scarborough, UK, who does a really crap Wallace And Gromit impression. My wife, Lou, is from Wensleydale and after hearing just about the whole world shout “Where’s mi cheese Gromit?!” Every time she says where she is from, she can confirm that mine is one of the worst.

Hmmmm. Cheese though. It’s nice.

And in the past few weeks I have limited my cheese eating for the sake of a recent calorie cut. Around May each year I begin to make slight adjustments to my diet and I take my calorie consumption into a deficit. But notice how I say ‘limited’ my cheese consumption. I have reduced the amount that I eat each week so that I am no longer eating stilton and crackers every night.

It also means that instead of drinking the Off License dry I will stick to a few gin and tonics on a weekend.

And if an occasion crops up where others are eating and drinking in celebration then I might partake in a (large) slither of cheese and a (goldfish bowl size) glass of Rioja. This Daddy won’t be hungry or thirsty on Father’s Day!

I will be fairly strict, however, in my day to day nutrition to stick to my deficit. But I won’t be banning anything. I’m not out to punish myself. I don’t want it to make me unhappy. I like food. I like training. I like results. Those three work well together if they are managed sensibly. So there has to be compromises if I want these results and stay happy.

To create my deficit I am not particularly changing my lifestyle in any major way. Sure, I need to change certain habits for it to work. I need to remain mindful of my goals. And most importantly, I must stay focussed on why I want these goals. It’s not just for the aesthetics.

Negative habits can escalate. Before you know it you’ve drunk alcohol ever night this week. The jeans or dress stays in the wardrobe for another year. You won’t be fitting into that anytime soon. It’s depressing. Out comes the huge slab of Cheddar and a pack of Jacobs crackers for comfort again. And then a bar of chocolate to sweeten the palate. The habit grows stronger.

I’m 43 now. I don’t want to be a knackered old dad who can hardly run up and down the park playing Tig with my kids. I don’t want my dad to have to bury me. I don’t want to leave Lou to bring up two kids on her own while she tries to answer their questions of why daddy died.

“He drank every night, didn’t exercise properly and ate crap every day kids.” Isn’t what I want my kids to hear.

“He was hit by a bus”. Sounds much cooler if I’ve really got to leave this mortal realm before full time.

Creating these targets and goals throughout the year keeps me on my toes. It brings me back down to earth. I’ll eat what I like, but I’ll spread the love a little thinner for a while rather than binging on it day after day.

So if you hear me asking “Where’s mi cheese?” In a really bad Wallace voice, then ignore me. Lou does.

Ask to join my app if you would like to try the Balanced Plate Challenge with me and my trainees!

Use Your Toolkit

If you’re a handy person who is good around the house at fixing things and doing a few home improvements then you probably have a tool kit. Your kit will provide you with lots of tools to get a specific job done.

American soldiers in World War 2 had their own little handy tool which became very useful during their time away on duty. The Offiziersmesser, or Swiss Army Knife as they called it, had scissors, saw blade, assortment of screwdrivers, bottle and can openers attached to a spearpoint blade.

When you enter the gym you open your very own handy tool box. Every piece of equipment is a tool to provide you with the ability to reach your goal.

Or at home, if you have invested in equipment for your home workouts, you can have a good selection of tools in which to achieve your fitness objectives.

Even in the outdoors you can use different gradients and an assortment of training methods to meet targets.

And you carry a great tool around with you all day. Body weight exercise is an excellent way to stay active.

And yet in a recent survey (yougov) in the UK it was found that 37% of adults do not even meet at least one hour of physical activity a week. The Department Of Health And Human Services in the US reported that only 22% of adults complete 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. Interestingly in Europe, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria are the most physically active with half of their adult population engaging in the recommended amount of exercise according to WHO.

We have all of these tools but not enough people willing to use them. The top 5 reasons that I am given on why they don’t exercise are…

1. “I did but got bored and gave up.”

Solution…An exercise routine should not be boring. If it is then change it immediately. Join a different fitness class, change your goals to more achievable ones, find out more about the variety of equipment and never be aftaid to enter the free weight area of a gym.

2. “It is too expensive.”

Solution…walking, running, bodyweight home workouts are free. My fitness app is free on entry with regular workout ideas. There are budget gyms in most major towns and cities and equipment can be sourced on selling sites.

3. “I don’t have the time.”

Solution…If you work at the right intensity a 20 minute workout can be done daily to good effect. It doesn’t need a journey to and from the gym and an elaborate routine. Just small tweaks in your lifestyle should be able to accommodate some sort of physical activity each day.

4. “I don’t know what to do”.

Solution…Ask a friend who goes to the gym, plays a sport or enjoys running and walking if you could go along too. Also, a good PT will show you what to do and will add accountability.

5. “I’m injured.”

Solution…You can still exercise with an injury. In fact, gentle physical activity can help the healing process. Just find out from a professional what the best activities for your injury would be.

You have a box with lots of different tools to help you improve your physical and mental health. You just need to open it up.

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Pomp And Circumstance

If you can remember Brie Vandercamp from the US drama Desperate Housewives, you would get the idea of what my wife is like in the lead up to an event. Whether it be one of our boys birthday parties, Christmas day or as it was on this occasion the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee street party, Lou will spend hours in the kitchen baking and making the day really special for everyone.

Lou and Jonas at the Jubilee street party

Our boys get involved in the baking too, but on the whole, they have to put up with Lou stressing in the kitchen and me running about trying to be sous chef. Our two boys, aged just 8 and 5, are very patient with us!

They understand pomp. I hate pomp and I hope that our kids do when they grow up too, but they understand that it is something that grown ups do sometimes. We entertain guests. We show off our freshly baked buns. We take a neighbour to see our newly fitted kitchen. We invite friends round to watch the footy on the 60 inch state of the art TV on Sky. Us grown ups love it.

For some it’s a case of showing off a skill at something and being able to showcase it to our friends. Or perhaps it’s splashing the cash to appear affluent or doing well in life. For others it might be the regalia of dressing up and enjoying the limelight.

At some stage, our boys have seen this from us as parents and from others around them. Yet, although the event is important at the time (after all who wants an over baked bun) it is nothing but pomp and circumstance. It means nothing.

I’m not interested in my eldests new footy skill or spelling results. I’m not bothered about when my youngest first ties his shoelaces or his table manners.

As I tucked my youngest into bed tonight I whispered ‘Thank you. Thank you for being you.” I don’t care what anybody else thinks he is good at or not good at, I just love the person that he is. He should know this. He should love himself. He should love himself for being himself. I know I do.

So far, I have two boys that believe in God, love the UK royalty and what they stand for and want Aston Villa and Barcelona to win everything. I don’t have the same views. But I will facilitate their own beliefs, views and wishes without my own prejudices. I am not always right in what I believe in, but it’s right for me. The same goes for them. They still believe in Santa. If they still believe in Santa when they’re 30 then I’ll be jealous because they haven’t become a sinical old git like me.

I have been accused before of shunning the Union Jack flag. I don’t wave it with patriotic pride. But I wouldn’t wave any countries flag with pride. I’m proud of being an Earthling. I just think that flags and anthems can be a barrier to being a better Earthling. So today, as much as I appreciate that I am privileged to live in a relatively safe country, celebrating an institution I consider outdated was out of my comfort zone. But I did it because my family wanted to be a part of a celebration that was important to them.

I will teach my boys right from wrong. But I want them to make their own minds up on so much about what life will ask of them on their own. They will make mistakes but the biggest mistake they could make is being afraid of making one at all. Make decisions. Make choices. Make bad ones. Make good ones. But son, make one and learn from it.

They’ll get caught up in the pomp and circumstance of life as they get older. They’ll want a bigger Christmas tree than the Bennetts from number 39 one day. They’ll strive for 5 bedrooms rather than 4 when they’re a home owner. They’ll want to show off their first ever car to a partner. They’ll want adoration from somebody else.

I just hope that they realise that getting someone else’s approval shouldn’t be what makes them happy in life. Their happiness depends on their own perception of themselves, not what others allow them to believe.

5 Minutes

We aren’t going to go through life faultless. If I could give my younger self any advice it would be this. We make mistakes, but the biggest mistake of all would be not to use that lesson and improve on what we have learned from it.

I missed so many opportunities to learn.

Being guided by experience shouldn’t be a case of dwelling on your past though. Looking back for too long can give you neck ache. And although looking to the future can be helpful, trying to plan your next 10 years can often be a hindrance too.

Sometimes, just knowing what you are going to do in the next 5 minutes is enough. A positive 5 minutes can lead to another positive 5 minutes, and so on.

Just seeing the end game doesn’t allow us to create a strategy on how to get there. The next 5 minutes is your pawn. The right moves along the way allow us to make check mate.

No matter who you believe to be your enemy aren’t really the ones holding you back. You are your own opponent. You are the only person who is capable of defeating yourself.

And yet within just 5 minutes you can draw on your experiences to create a better, clearer outlook. Not perfect. Never perfect. But clearer.

You don’t have to be perfect. Trying to be perfect is boring. Actually being perfect, well, I’ve never ever known such a thing. But that sounds pretty boring too.

We need these imperfections to challenge us and grow as we experience the many different aspects of life that will undoubtedly provide moments of difficulty.

So, your next 5 minutes can be a positive experience or a negative experience.

It’s your move.

The Piano Stairs

If the only piece of equipment available to me in the gym was a treadmill I probably wouldn’t go. I don’t particularly enjoy running on a tready. I like training, but I certainly don’t like absolutely everything it involves.

With the closure of gyms during the first lockdown I had to find alternative ways to exercise. But I found that I were skipping sessions and not fully focussing on my training. I simply didn’t have the equipment available to me that really makes me happy. Jogging became a regular activity and I went walking with the family daily of course, but it wasn’t fulfilling my hypertrophy goals and the more sedentary period of my life didn’t help my weight maintenance. I craved a bench press, weight plates to deadlift with and decent dumbbells. That is the sort of workout I enjoy. It makes me happy. I like the results and I keep going back. That is my Piano Stairs.

In Stockholm, Sweden an experiment was conducted on how people’s behaviour can be changed for the better by making a boring everyday task more fun. Musical piano steps were installed in a subway instead of regular steps to see if more people would use the steps instead of the escalator. Results showed that 66% more people used the stairs than usual that day. If more proof was needed that people are more likely to engage in a fun activity than stuck to the mundane then that was it.

Yet when it comes to our health I don’t find it conclusive when I talk to the gym members. Walking on musical stairs for an amusing short period of time instead of standing still on an escalator makes sense, but put the same person in a gym and there’s a good chance that they will choose something safe and uninspiring. It’s important for me to point out that just because I don’t like the tready doesn’t mean that everyone else doesn’t either. If that is what excites a person and motivates them into going to the gym then that is what a large part of their training should involve.

Almost every day I will hear,”I get bored on the treadmill.” Or “I hate deadlifts.”

So why do they use a treadmill or perform deadlifts? There are literally thousands of exercises to do inside or outside of the gym. If there’s exercises that you don’t like, don’t do it!

There has to be a draw to keep going back to the gym. Yes, of course, you have your goals which might include feeling fitter and looking your best, but if you’re going to spend your time absolutely hating the process there’s a good chance that you won’t stick it out, whatever your goals.

I usually get a programme right when I send it to my trainees. However,during feedback if they tell me that there’s something that they do not enjoy I will change that particular exercise. There’s plenty more. We just need to find the right ones that make my trainee want to complete it and keep going back to it. That will give them a better chance of succeeding in reaching their goals.

So, I’ve found my Piano Stairs and I’m sure that my trainees have found theirs. What’s your favourite bits of equipment and exercises that keep you going back for more?

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The Dose Makes The Poison

You might have heard the term, “It is the dose that makes the poison” before. It is referencing the basic principles of toxicology and is credited to Swiss Physician, Paracelsus.

This is a term that springs to my mind when I am choosing my own meals, helping my children with their dietary needs and supporting my clients with their eating habits. I am thinking about the ingredients found in these foods that are known to have a detrimental effect on our health.

From just 5 minutes research, here are some of the ingredients that I found to be the leading protagonists in the ‘bad for you’ foods…

* Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG is found in fast foods, takeaways, snacks, canned and processed foods. This additive is said to enhance and preserve the flavour of savoury food.

* High Fructose Corn Syrup

Found in sweets, breakfast cereals and juice, this is a sweetener made from corn and is used to replace sugar.

* Artificial Sweeteners

Another sugar replacement to heighten the sweetness of a food whilst keeping the calorie content low.

* Carrageenan

Derived from red seaweed, this is used in many vegan foods as a thickener and preservative. Along with dairy free products it is also found in cottege cheese, ice cream and coffee creamers.

* Trans Fats

A trans fat is an unsaturated fat that is hydrogenated to keep the shelf life of products such as biscuits, baked goods and margarine.

All of the above have very similar health risks associated with them according to research. Weight gain, headache, heart desease, cancer, inflammation of the cells and diabetes. So, does this mean that we avoid them at all costs? Do we start throwing out the ginger nuts and the box of frosties in a state of panic? No. Not if you enjoy them.

So here’s the thing. Unless you are on a totally ‘clean’ diet then I can guarantee that you have put at least one of these ingredients inside of your body today. And by clean I mean plucked that sucker out of the ground yourself or you’ve raised and slaughtered your own chicken. Other than that, when you enter the food industry for your meals, you will consume trans fats, preservatives, sugar or it’s alternatives in your food. The food industry is massive. The sugar industry alone is worth a 100 billion US dollars. This has been hit with the word getting out that sugar might actually be bad for us, so as to not lose out they develope alternative sweeteners as stated on the list above. Either way, the manufacturers will make sure that they don’t miss out.

In the UK, the found and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector contributing £30 billion to the economy annually and rising year upon year. Despite the nation’s health problems relating to our diets it will not stop them from creating this kind of economical growth. If it sells, they will make it.

But let’s take this discussion back to real life. Life in our daily lives and our homes. You are not overweight because you eat crisps. You will not get diabetes from the can of coke. You will not die of heart desease or get cancer from eating a takeaway.

What will cause ill health is the amount of crisps, cans of coke and takeaways that you have. The dose, as Paracelsus stated, makes the poison.

The reason that we keep going back to these foods is because it triggers something in our brain that makes us feel better while we eat it. Perhaps sometimes we feel guilty for over eating these foods afterwards but that instant hit whilst we are eating it overides any negative outcomes. Depression, low self esteem and failure kicks in as you feel the disappointment that, in some way, you’ve let yourself down.

But you don’t have to. You don’t have to stop eating what you enjoy and you don’t have to go through the pain of feeling anxious about food or the guilt that comes with eating it. Not if you begin each day with the mantra ‘The dose makes the poison.’ No food or drink is bad for you. The amount of it that you eat and drink can be.

I am currently helping many people become confident about their eating habits on my fitness platform. Please get in touch for any enquiries and remember…

It is the dose that makes the poison. You are in total control of that dose.

Food Glorious Food

Nope. The above isn’t me having a cold beer at the end of a working day. It is me (although I’m sure I have more hair in real life) but the drink is banana, cherries, spinach and water.

I’d rather it was a beer. Or wine. G&T even.

I’m half joking. The smoothie drink tastes much better than it looks and I know my habits. I don’t particularly like eating a banana. I don’t like getting a bowl of cherries to snack on. I don’t always drink the recommended daily water requirements and my mealtimes are sometimes rushed as my wife and I finish work at different times, pick the kids up from school, make their dinner and forget about ourselves until much later.

Nutrition isn’t always at the forefront of my mind. I have a very happy relationship with food. There is love, laughter, satisfaction and comfort. Everything that a healthy relationship should have. But I need to understand that this relationship is a two way thing. I can’t keep taking. I need to give too.

I enjoy pizza, kebab and Chinese takeaway. And I always look when Greggs shows a bit of leg in the high street. These days though I try to just look and not touch.

So I need to compromise. If I am not willing to eat ‘clean’, which I aren’t, then I need to meet half way. Occasionally, I will still have the foods that are considered low nutrition but in return I will eat the nutritionally dense foods. Now, don’t get me wrong, eating vegetables isn’t a difficult task for me to do. I can’t think of a vegetable that I don’t like. But fitting this in to a busy life along with all the other criteria’s we are supposed to meet within a waking day is bloody difficult.

My main goal when I set up The Balanced Plate Challenge was for my clients to feel comfortable with their eating habits. Nothing is banned and I don’t expect anybody to eat clean. But over time, they would be able to be in more control of their diet. They knew the nutritional value of each meal, high or low, and make informed choices about snacks, drinks and special occasions. Their relationship with food grows healthier and because of this it doesn’t feel like the hard work that they do in the gym is wasted.

My smoothie is just me balancing my nutrition. It is me acknowledging that to achieve what I want to both physically and mentally I need to put the good stuff in there.

I love food. All of it. I just need to keep it balanced for it to love me back.

shay.pt@hotmail.com

A Habit Loop

Although you can take a Habit Loop situation into any aspect of your life, seeing as I am a fitness coach I will apply this to your fitness journey for the sake of this article. A Habit Loop consists of a Cue, Routine and Reward.

But before we get to your fitness journey, I will initially point out an of example of a habit loop in my recent experience.

My 8 year old son is learning a set of 10 words each week at school for a spelling test. Studies show that he will have to read out these words around 30 times before each word will stay with him.

Cue… We encourage that he reads and writes these words for just a short time each day, usually after dinner.

Routine… He acknowledges that this will happen every day and he is prepared for this task.

Reward… He is encouraged by his spelling test results at the end of each week. By Monday, with a new set of words, he will be happy to begin the loop again.

But it is important to note. He might not get 10/10 in his test. He sometimes gets 8 or 9. It is his job and that of his parents and teachers to focus on the 8 new words he has learnt rather than the two he got wrong. He needs to praise and reward himself for his achievements, as does his guardians. This will connect the loop much easier.

We have to be able to accept that we will not always be perfect in what we set out to achieve. 10/10 will happen often, but it is the 8’s and 9’s that can make us stronger if we channel it into our loop correctly.

A Habit Loop must be formed when you are committing to a fitness goal. Ask yourself, ‘what is my cue?’

Your cue needs to be that first step. Joining a gym, buying the trainers and joggers, finding nutritious recipes to try, dusting off the kettlebells if your cue is to exercise at home, employing a coach or asking a friend to join you. These are all really good starting points.

Once you have taken that first step you need to develope your routine and plan when and where you will carry this out. Meeting a friend for a jog every Tuesday and Friday, booking gym sessions in advance or setting aside 30 minutes each evening to cook a nutritious meal are examples of your routine beginning to take shape.

Then you need to reflect on your work. You can do this daily or at the end of each week. How has your cue and your new routine made you feel? You might feel a little lighter and fitter, more energised, confident and pleased with yourself. Focus on your wins. Any failures don’t matter. Once you start the loop again you have many opportunities to put them right.

Forming new habits is difficult. In doing so, you are trying break old habits that aren’t working for you. And these old habits might have been festering for years. I ask my clients to reward themselves after a workout or at the end of each week. This doesn’t have to be anything materialistic or indulgent. It could be just reflecting on their performance and being proud of themselves.

Think about how to start your loop today. What will your cue be?

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