I am often guilty of considering what others may think or say about a major decision I am about to make. Especially if it something I have never done before or is something that ?goes against my nature.?



I usually stick with my decision, but keep one ear or eye out for the ?fallout of the peanut gallery.?

If I knew how much people really do not care, especially when they are personal decisions or even career advancing decisions, I wouldn't have to waste my time thinking about it. Most people are too worried about their own problems and decisions and don't have time to focus on what I am doing.

To help me with my decisions, I focus on my values. I consider what makes me tick and what I consider important to me and my family when looking to achieve any outcome. I can always feel good about any decision I make if I stick to this criteria.

I've found that when I become anxious about my decisions, I usually am abandoning one or more of my values.

Now, do I always make the right decision? No way. There are times I walk away from an encounter, business or personal and feel really good about the choice I made. However, for whatever reason, things did not work out.

Even though I did not get the result I wanted, I did get something very important? a result.

I take this result and apply it to the next similar encounter I have. As most motivation texts will tell you, there are no such things as failures, just learning experiences.

I, like many of you, believe everything happens for a reason and that I do have some control of outcomes in my life. So, I make decisions, and get results. If they are not the results I am looking for, I tweak my decisions.

It is an ongoing learning experience.

It is no different with my personal exercise routines and/or the one I develop for clients.

If a client is not getting the results we are looking for, I simply make adjustments to the routine. I take in what I have learned with past experiences and use this to my advantage for future decisions.

No failures? just results.

My guess is that you are reading this article for two reasons. One, because you are interested in improving your health and two, because you have not achieved the results you are looking for with other routines.

Both of these reasons relate to your values and past decisions.

Have you chosen routines based on your values (still allows time with family, safe, based on scientific fact) or popular opinions of co-workers?

Have you formed an opinion on exercising based on past failures or lack of desired results?

If you value your health and the time you spend with your family and loved ones, then coming up with a routine that gives you results is very important.

If you value quality in your work and the results you strive for during your work I would think that value would and should carryover into your fitness program as well.

You begin to create dissonance and a general lack of interest in exercising when your daily values do not coincide with how you approach exercise.

Why? Because it usually an attempt at a quick fix: A magic pill or a short routine that promises great results from mediocre exercises, most of which have no scientific backing whatsoever.

I read a recent article concerning popular ?short? exercise routines. It was asking the question ?Is it possible to take shortcuts with your exercise programs??

The article addressed how many of the routines over-promise results. What I got from the synopsis was that too many of the ?Quickie? routines are just short versions of current bad, non-scientific programs. All you are doing is performing bad exercises over a shorter period of time.

Would you do something of very poor quality with your job or concerning your family's health just to ?get it out of the way??

I would hope not.

So if you want to be healthier, why sacrifice quality just to ?get it done?? As the saying goes, if anything is worth doing it is worth doing right?. right?

Short routines are ok, if you are doing the right type of exercises. Routines that are full-body, three planes of motions and emphasize multiple systems (muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, and vestibular) are the way to go. They allow you to get the most for your time and to get adequate stimulation during the time period.

It is all about quality and exercise specificity.

If you value your health? it is about results. We get to result by sticking to our values.

Let's wrap things up with focusing on some values. For me, I do value my health. One of the main reasons is because I want freedom - time freedom, family freedom, financial freedom. I feel I can better enjoy these if I am in better health.

Besides, I love to exercise! I think better, have more energy and have more confidence when I exercise regularly. All these make me more successful in what I attempt. So, I value success as well which takes me back to freedom; more success = more freedom.

What do you value? Are your values in line with your health and how you approach fitness?

Take a step back and analyze it. If you are not getting the results you want then tweak your decisions.

Remember, there are no failures, just results?happy tweaking!

?The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.? -George Bernard Shaw

Copyright 2006 John Perry