Habits are sometimes difficult for us to build and usually we just default everything we do from what we’ve learned since we were kids. The reason is because it is difficult to build a new habit long enough to where we do not need to think about it and it becomes part of our daily routine. One habit that I picked in high school changed everything in my life and I know it can do the same for you.
I always played pickup basketball, football, baseball and all kinds of random games at the park all throughout my childhood. I became pretty good at basketball and had the opportunity to play for a private school by the time I reached high school. The crazy thing is that they wanted me to play football as well. I did not have the size or strength to play football. I was 6’3” and 165lbs which is pretty small. Most of my weight was in my legs and you could see the bones in my arms and chest. My football coach recommended that I start lifting weights to prepare for the season. I had no idea how much that one habit would change everything for me.
At first, I hated lifting weights because I was not any good at it. There was one girl who was stronger than me, when I first started and that was embarrassing, so I would wait until she was done before I went in the weight room. After a couple months of training for one hour three days a week, I saw some results. My chest was filling in and my arms were getting bigger and then I decided to dedicate more time in the weight room. I slowly progressed to working out six days a week for three hours a day. I became obsessed because I was seeing results in my power, strength, performance on the field and with girls, which in high school, was the biggest motivating factor. I gained 120lbs (weighed in at 285lbs) from the beginning of my freshman year to the end of my senior year from lifting weights regularly.
I was respected more by my peers. Kids that use to pick on me now were scared of me. My coaches and teachers would comment at how fast I was gaining muscle and some even thought I was on steroids. I started to being able to man handle my opponents on the field and on the court. I became so confident in myself because I was able to squat over 500lbs and bench over 400lbs which put me in the top .01% of all athletes in high school. Colleges started to contact me my junior season and offered me full scholarships to play for them. I got the attention of the local media because of what I was able to do in the weight room and on the field. This all seemed so crazy to me because if I could make everything better in my life by working out, why was everyone not doing it?
The simple reason is that it’s hard. Starting a new habit and maintaining it is difficult. Most people weigh the time commitment and money that it will cost to start exercising or just keep saying I will do it later. Working out improves your mental, physical and psychological health. You are able to deal with stress better and if you work hard enough with a healthy diet, you can look great. There is not one person that wouldn’t want these benefits. You just need to make a decision that this is what you are doing and to not go back to your normal habits no matter what. I told you the story about what exercising has done for me so that I might encourage you to find out what it can do for you. If exercising has a chance of improving everything in your life, isn’t worth a shoot? You cannot give it little effort because you will get the same little or no result. If you want a transformation, you need to go all in. Meaning you have to be willing to change your diet, workout with someone two to three days a week, do something active on your own for an hour two to three days a week. Try it for six months and see what happens. Contact us and we will make sure you achieve the maximum benefits from adding exercise to your life!
Sincerely,
Donny Mateaki
Great post Donny! So true about creating new habits. It is challenging and can be difficult when you start but, if you stick with it consistently, it becomes a brand new habit that you no longer have to think about or put effort into. It just happens and occurs naturally. Just like any good or bad habit that you currently have…..you do it on auto-pilot. So if you can create a new habit, it can be placed on auto-pilot as well. But only after you put in the work to create that new habit.