The Shortcut to Long Term Success

If you’ve listened to any of my podcasts or followed me on social media for any amount of time, you know that I don’t believe in shortcuts to a lifelong lean healthy body.

I quite often rail against these things. In fact, when we try weight-loss shortcuts – things like fad diets, crazy calorie restriction, low-carb/keto, juice cleanses, intermittent fasting, or Optavia, we most often delay the very goal we’re trying to achieve.?

But it’s human nature to want to get to our destination as fast as possible – our culture conditions us for impatience and instant gratification.

But the simple truth is that shortcuts often make the process more challenging and frustrating in the long run.

Which is why I’m fond of the saying that the process is the shortcut.

But I believe there is a hack – a “shortcut” if you will – to long term weight loss and health success.?

It has nothing to do with what you eat, how you work out, or what supplements you take. It has nothing to do with fasting, bootcamps, 21 Day fat loss challenges, or even trying something as ridiculous as 75 Hard. It isn’t saunas or cold plunges.

The short cut is this – visualization.

Some call it manifestation.

Now before you roll your eyes or dismiss this as woo-woo, hear me out.

I’m not talking about visualizing your dream body and having it magically appear.

Before I tell you what I mean, check this out. There was a study done at UCLA where they took two groups of students preparing for their mid-term exams. Group A was instructed to visualize walking to the board where their scores were reported and visualize seeing an A next to their names.

Group B was asked to visualize themselves studying for the exam. They were instructed to imagine themselves locked in their dorm rooms without distractions diligently studying.

Group A was asked to visualize the result, while Group B was asked to visualize the process.

Guess which group performed significantly better on their mid-terms??

Yep, Group B.

And this applies directly to those of us working on our health and fitness. While it might be fun daydreaming about owning a perfect body and being strong and capable – it’s not particularly useful when it comes to building a sustainable lean healthy body.

BUT – if we visualize the process, we are much more likely to have success in the long run.?

The battle is often won in the trenches. We need a solid strategic plan for success – but we also need to execute that battle plan every day. And this is where I find visualization so helpful.

For example, visualize yourself at the end of a hectic day. You’re exhausted and stressed out. What do you do? Do you grab some comfort food and pour yourself a glass of wine (or two… or three) to unwind? Or do you take a few deep breaths, go for a short walk to clear your head, and then stick to your original healthy dinner plan?

Or you wake up in the morning and it’s freezing cold and nasty outside. Do you stay in bed drinking coffee and scrolling social media? Or do you get out of bed, bundle up, and make your way to the gym?

This works for all areas of your life. Want to crush your quota this quarter? Visualize yourself making those extra calls and asking those tough, uncomfortable questions.

If you successfully navigate these types of situations in your mind – over and over again – you’re much more likely to do the things that move you closer to your long-term goals than those things that move you further away from those goals.

That’s it. That’s my super-secret shortcut/hack for long term success.

While there’s nothing wrong visualizing the outcome, focus on visualizing the process. See yourself making the tough decisions – as a bad-ass who knows what they want and has the will power and determination to do what it takes to win in the end.

This is the true power of manifestation.