It's really important to have your brain in gear before starting a challenge. You have to be perfectly clear on your reasons for change and you have to want it. That is honestly the most important part of it, far more important than supplements or food choices or workout timing or any of the other little details people like to stress over. If you want it, you'll do it and it will be easy to stay focused. You'll get up every day and look forward to pushing yourself because the mental and physical rewards are so great. That's when the whole thing really becomes fun!

If you're not clear on your goals and your reasons for change, nothing happens. You'll start and stop and stumble over and over again. Once you have your head in the game it's really easy to get through the day... or week... or three months. You're having fun and seeing great changes and you look forward to doing it right every day. If you constantly fail and sabotage yourself, there's something else going on, probably something that doesn't have anything to do with food or willpower.

People do what's easiest and most rewarding. There's an immediate payoff in eating treats and not expecting much. That wears at people though. You can't keep letting yourself down over and over again. First it chips away at your self-esteem, then it makes you mad, then eventually you snap. Eating clean and training hard becomes easier and more rewarding than screwing up and making excuses. You're still following the path of least resistance, only now you look good in a bathing suit.

Here's something I put together to clarify "crossing the abyss." Too many people just skim over that part of the book. A few days or weeks later they get into all kinds of trouble because they don't have strong enough reasons for getting up an hour earlier, or turning down pizza, or hitting a 10. If you're on a mission, those things become no-brainers!

~~~~~~~~

Reasons for Change

Theres a huge difference between merely wanting something and HAVING to have it. So, don't go into this challenge with some vague notions about hoping to look good. Look deep inside yourself and find what drives you. Why do you want a dramatic physical transformation? What does it mean to you? Why is it important? How will it make you feel? Think on those things and come up with 3 reasons why you HAVE to succeed.

Defining Your Goals

Your goals arent just a to-do list. I will lose so many inches off my waist blah, blah, blah. Dont EVEN think about it like that. What are your dreams? What makes your heart sing? Imagine other people seeing you with your great new body. See them seeing you. Listen to what theyre saying. Feel the surge of energy and pride. Imagine the confidence, control, and satisfaction you will feel. Now list 5 specific physical changes that will get you there.

Patterns of Action

Bill Phillips says that any discussion of the correct way to get in shape and stay in shape is actually a discussion about how youve lived your life up to this point and how you will live it in the future. So, think about this: What have you done in the past that may have compromised your results? Why did you do it? What could you have done better? How will this challenge be different for you? Keeping those things in mind, list 3 patterns of action that will keep you from your goals, and 3 patterns of action that will help you reach your goals.

~~~~~~~~

Don't just read through the questions, write down your answers, print it out, take it with you, share it with the people you trust. Look at it every time you feel yourself starting to slip.

Now, all of that said, motivation only goes so far. You can't rely on rah-rah upbeat excitement sticking around indefinitely. At some point your new behaviors have to become automatic, like bathing or brushing your teeth. You just do it without giving it a lot of thought. You don't have a big debate every morning about whether you're going to get "motivated" to take a shower before work.

I'm at a point now where I eat right and go to the gym because it doesn't occur to me not to. I never even entertain the notion that I might not. If all goes well, being extremely fit just becomes part of who you are.