Be Present

Life is full of distractions. We are constantly bombarded with emails that need to be read, flooded with social media posts and advertisements, and have family and professional responsibilities that must be met. With all of these different stimuli floating about, it is enough to make your head spin. This makes time management and defining your values incredibly important, especially if you have exercise goals that you want to achieve. Most people want to achieve great things, but are they truly willing to do what is necessary to accomplish these goals? Striving for and attaining excellence means that we must sacrifice some comfort. Sure, a warm bed on a cold February morning feels comfortable, but is that extra half hour of sleep worth canceling your workout? Sometimes you need to step outside of yourself and see the big picture. Time is the commodity that seems to always be in short supply, and in order to maximize not just our workouts but all the wonderful things that life brings us, we need to be present.

What does that mean? I can't remember the famous quote verbatim, but it is often said that a large part of success in life is about just showing up. I believe that to be true, but I also think it goes beyond that. If you simply show up and don't give great effort, or if you show up but your mind is elsewhere, are you really striving for excellence? Sometimes people are physically present, but they simply go through the motions. If that is the case, you are really cheating yourself. I am amazed at how many people float through life without a sense of urgency. Complacency is the enemy of excellence! Nobody ever said a Total Results workout was either easy or comfortable, because it is not. Sure, there are other places that you might want to be other than a chilly exercise studio, and you might even have some fun activities planned for after your workout. Part of being an adult means delaying gratification. You have control over the choices that you make, and what matters is right now. Nothing can be done to change the past and while the future is important, if you do not take care of business right now the future will hold far less significance. All that will eventually happen is directly affected by what you do at this moment.

What are some strategies you can implement in order to be present in mind, body and spirit?

• Arrive a few minutes early for your workout. It is very difficult to be present and focused on the task at hand if you are running late. Leave early for your workout. Think about what you are about to undertake, and try to shut the rest of the world out for the next half hour. Visualize success. This can be done in your car or even in our lobby.

• Silence your phone. A ringing phone is the perfect instrument to break your concentration and lose positive momentum during a workout. It is also a distraction for your instructor. Please silence your phone before entering the workout area. The only audible sounds should be the breathing of the client and the cues of the instructor.

• Focus on the main exercise objective. Contrary to what most exercise enthusiasts believe, exercise is not about lifting as much weight as possible for as many repetitions as you can complete. It is about inroad - fatiguing the musculature deeply enough to bring about a stimulus. Proper form is the key to every exercise.

• Embrace discomfort. Yes, high-intensity exercise is challenging and does involve both localized and systemic discomfort. Remember, positive change is never comfortable! The fear of the discomfort is far worse than what it really is. As uncomfortable as workouts are, they are also brief and infrequent. Do not lose sight of the significance that the discomfort is a sign that you are achieving something meaningful.

Shut out the rest of the world for 15-20 minutes once or twice per week so that you can focus on yourself and what is important to you. Do not worry about the next exercise, the next workout, or even the previous workout. All that matters is right now - this exercise, this repetition, this positive or negative excursion. Break time down to its smallest element; every second counts and you don't want to waste a moment. Develop this mindset and it will pay dividends not only in your workout, but in other aspects of your life. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." Those are words to live by.