It Is Supposed to Be Tough — But You Are Tougher

Looking for a little extra fitness motivation? We give you this inspiring yet real post from personal trainer Kris Goldman. She’s an FBG reader and just tells it like it is — with a whole lot of self love. Check out her fantastic guest post on fitness motivation below! (And come back tomorrow when she shares some of her fave 10-minute workouts!)

It Is Supposed to Be Tough — But You Are Tougher

Have you ever heard the saying?:

I really could not agree more with this quote. And I mean this in exercise, nutrition and life in general. The “hard stuff” in life is what makes us stronger, better, faster, happier.

We all have goals — or, at least we all should — and those goals usually come with a journey to achievement. Personal, financial, relationship, career, health, fitness, wellness … we are all constantly trying to achieve a state of “better than before” and better than the present. Because if we aren’t moving forward, we are just standing still. Stagnant. Waiting. Hoping. Wishing.

Small steps forward are STILL steps forward. In fact, small steps can be more successful steps. Tiny goals are attainable. And they all lead to the same end goal. And what happens when you meet that end? You focus on a new challenge; a new goal; a new success.

“It’s Hard” Is a Good Thing

A personal trainer’s job is to motivate and plan a program for a client to work towards a specific health goal. People hire trainers because they won’t do the work on their own or are not sure WHAT to do on their own. They need the motivation; the extra push they can’t give themselves.

It is critical that personal trainers know each individual and provide a personalized plan for each client. We are aware of limitation, injuries, discomforts and dislikes. But we are also educated on what it takes to meet specific goals.

Being an athlete growing up, I was constantly working and moving and pushing myself to physical limits that HURT and ACHED and made me want to QUIT. Coaches and teammates kept me moving on the field and working hard. Playing 90 minutes in 105 degrees in San Bernadino air quality was not easy. But it was doable. And I reset my boundaries just a little bit further. Sports taught me how to work for something better and greater in anything that I do.

Do you think that professional athletes got where they are today from stopping when they were “tired”? Do you think most CEOs of multimillion-dollar companies got there because they did just enough work to get by? Highly doubtful. They pushed themselves and did not stop when they were tired.

Meeting goals and being successful means working hard. It means stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself physically, mentally and emotionally to push further than you have before.

When you say to yourself (or your trainer), “This is hard” or “I can’t,” that is the moment you need to tell yourself “but I need to push through to see results.” Of course, not to a point of injury, but maybe something harder than you have done before.

Want to start running but haven’t done anything more than walk over the last few years? Start small and attainable … but still challenging. Alternate walking (2 minutes) and jogging (30 seconds to 1 minute) for 10 minutes two to three times per week. The first few times will be challenging and will force you to push beyond your comfort zone. Once you are comfortable with the walk/jog, then give yourself another tiny success to achieve. Little by little, that “hard” becomes easy — because you become stronger.

In order to change and achieve the goals you set for yourself, you must challenge yourself.

When things are physically hard or challenging, know that you are only getting stronger as you push through the tough stuff. —Kris Goldman