Achieving a health and fitness goal is simple – not easy – simple. In my 20-plus years in the industry I have collated some key attributes of those who achieve a goal. Those who succeed demonstrate three key behaviours.

Planning

Successfully plan, plan to succeed. Those who plan will always be better prepared for the challenges that life throws their way. Plan our nutrition and exercise, identify any challenges we see ahead and plan our way around them before they happen. Those who take a proactive approach will, in general, experience a greater degree of achieving a healthy week. Those who are reactive, tend to focus on how they feel at the time – this can spell disaster if it’s been a bad/stressful day. Healthy food choices go out the window and exercise gets bumped to ‘I’ll do it another day’. Planting the seed early on will improve the likelihood of it happening.

Consistency

Our bodies will respond to the things we do consistently in our exercise and nutrition. Long-term results come from consistent habits which are better than the previous week, not perfect. Adherence to any nutrition and exercise plan is key. There is no ‘best’ exercise or nutrition plan to help you achieve what you want. The best plan is the one that you can still see yourself doing in ten years’ time. Enjoyment is key to adhering to any plan. As soon as something feels like a chore, it never lasts, inconsistency sets in, results stop and motivation dries up.

Patience

It takes time. Time to achieve goals and time to change habits. Nothing happens overnight. Think how long it took for us to get to the stage we are now. Anything worth doing will take time. Achieving a healthy lifestyle is a skill and like any skill, requires time and practice to master. This is a difficult attribute to take on board, especially in this day and age. We’re in a world of NOW, NOW, NOW. Instant downloads, next-day delivery, instant messaging, instant access. We have become accustomed to getting things instantly. Unfortunately, the human body hasn’t caught up with technology and the process of fat-loss is still the same as it has been since the beginning of time. No wonder people get sucked into the marketing of instant results through pills, fad diets and best exercise for fat loss plans – the fact is, it sells and tells people what they want to hear.

In truth, it takes planning, consistency and patience to achieve a goal. Unfortunately, this isn’t sexy and wouldn’t sell a million copies on Amazon, so it doesn’t make it through the marketing.

So, in conclusion, remember these key attributes. They cost nothing but will get you towards your goals, just don’t expect instant results. Anyone who tries to sell you instant results is probably just after your money and doesn’t care about you.

JOE NEWBOLD

Personal trainer at mypremcoach,

Premier Fitness Training