Hello!
It's been a couple of weeks since Halloween. I enjoyed that day a lot and had some fun. It was a time of magic, and I had some good moments when I was wearing my Superman costume (see my Halloween video here). Ironically, or subconsciously, I picked the costume of a man who has an absolutely stunning, superhuman, physique, at least on screen. And that made me think about the actual reasons behind choosing this costume and the strategies I could use to achieve my body transformation goals.
Here are my reflections in the form of seven simple rules, that can make your life easier and our struggle for better selves more enjoyable.
- Don't be too serious about the way you look now (just look at me in my video): Please don't get me wrong - you have to be serious about your goals, but at the same time there is no point in being upset about your current body shape or image. It will change and you will make it happen. It doesn't help at all to beat yourself up over it. Moreover, being constantly stressed affects your metabolism and makes you store fat and catabolize your muscle. What makes sense though is looking ahead… and that brings us to the second rule.
- Dream big: It is totally fine to have a great dream that might even seem unachievable at this point. Just think your path to your dream through, break it down into smaller intermediate goals and work on them. One of my professors once said: "Dream big and work hard - even if you don't achieve your dream you will still become better".
- Visualize: This one is particularly important for body transformation. Find a picture of someone who has similar body type and looks the way you want to. Try to estimate the key parameters of this person's physique and incorporate them into your plan. Keep the picture close to your heart to check your progress and to keep you motivated. Another option is to take a picture of yourself and ask a friend (or do it yourself if you can) to "morph" it a bit in Photoshop so that it looks more or less the way you'd like to look like in the future. It's even better. One more thing you can do is taking a "before" picture and photo-logging your progress as you go, it helps a lot!
- Go towards your dream: Well, you need an "after" picture too! It's definitely not enough just to have a dream - you have to take steps towards it, small or big, doesn't really matter, but you have to work towards your dream. Then it becomes a goal, otherwise it will be just a dream.
- Don't be afraid to be ridiculed or judged: When we begin, a lot of people will say things and these things won't always be great or encouraging. In many cases, these will be just projections of their own insecurities, in some cases, they will actually be right. But why should it bother you if you have a dream, you've set your goals and you are working towards them?
- Don't be afraid to fail: Mainly because you will! Yes, you will fail, and many times. Only those who do nothing, make no mistakes. You will have difficult moments, likely many of them. But it's ok! It's perfectly normal to break your diet, to stop working out, to roll back in your progress… Think of any great athlete - do you think they never failed? Do you think they never had an injury? Do you think they never lost in a competition? Trust me, they did. And their ability to focus on their goal rather than on their failure was the main factor that helped them to pursue their goal and ultimately to achieve it!
- Don't settle: There will be a moment when you will reach a certain point in your progress and it will be difficult to continue or you will start losing perspective. Or there will be people around you telling you how well you have done already and you will start feeling that you have reached your goal. It will sound vain, but I do believe that it's not failure, but such moments that are the true test of our motivation. "Vanity is my favorite sin" as Al Pacino's character in Devil's Advocate said. It is important to congratulate yourself on your achievements and enjoy the results of your hard work, but still keep your perspective and set further goals.
So, these were my seven rules - they are complementary and simple to follow. I hope you will be able to use them for your body transformation.
Sincerely Yours,
Dr.Sam
Video: Dr.Sam's Happy Halloween (and Body Transformation Rules)