Crossing the Abyss
There is a world of difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it.
By Bill Phillips
Over a million people have made a dramatic transformation of their health after reading Body-for-LIFE. But as numerous as the success stories are, I’m repeatedly reminded of the fact that there are still millions of people who have yet to make the change.
Many of them know how to exercise. Some know how to eat right, too. In fact, this vast and ever-expanding population of people who have yet to successfully transform even includes doctors and professors who know all about the human body.
What these people are missing is the ability to apply knowledge. Without that skill, it doesn’t matter how much you know, you’ll be stranded at the edge of an infinite chasm I call the abyss.
Until you discover how to cross the abyss, you will struggle. You will have setbacks. And you may even lose hope.
However, those who do cross the abyss -- those who know and do -- enjoy not only tremendous changes in the way they look and feel -- they move forward, fast, in all areas of their lives.
So how do you take that leap and join those on the other side who are now thriving, not merely surviving? A big part of it comes down to “vision.”
Focusing Your Future Vision
Once you’ve made the decision to make a healthy change in your life, the question to answer is this:
What are the five most important, specific accomplishments you need to make, within the next 12 weeks, for you to be pleased with the progress of your body and life?
Please take just a few minutes to think this one through, then continue.
If you found it easy to identify five specific things you know have to occur between today and 12 weeks from now for you to be pleased with the progress of your body and life, that’s a good sign. It means you’re looking forward and that you have what I call future vision.
If you struggled a bit -- if you couldn’t quickly identify five specific accomplishments but you at least identified two or three you were certain of, then you’re doing pretty good, but there’s room for improvement.
Now, if you found it extremely difficult to come up with any specific answers to this question -- if it caught you completely off guard -- you are not alone.
The truth is, most people have a very hard time answering this seemingly simple question. It’s just not something most people focus on. However, because we want to change -- because we want to move forward -- we need to make sure we’re looking forward.
In other words, we need to focus on your future vision.
Let me explain. We all have three types of vision -- historical, present, and future. Where you are in life and where you will go from here has a lot to do with what type of vision you allow to dominate your thoughts, decisions, and actions.
A person whose actions are dominated by historical vision believes that just about everything that’s important, enjoyable, or significant in his or her life has already happened.
These folks spend a lot of time reflecting on the good old days -- talking about high school parties, prom night, the fumble they recovered in the big football game, how they used to be in great shape. Used to be. That’s the mantra of people with historical vision. It’s as if their lives are over. They would rather look backward than forward because it’s easier to reminisce about where they’ve been than to try to figure out where they’re going. People with that kind of focus are reluctant to accept new ideas or opportunities, and they have trouble sticking with anything challenging.
People whose daily actions are governed by future vision are, on the other hand, continually growing. They are constantly taking on new and bigger challenges. They’re always creating, modifying, and improving their vision of the future. What has happened to such people in the past is not ignored or denied -- those experiences are used to develop skills that help them get where they want to go. But it’s always where they’re going that remains the primary focus.
When you develop a strong future vision, you don’t have to force yourself to set goals, your mind just compels you to set them. And every time you accomplish an objective, it’s not the end of anything; it’s the beginning, the starting point for another stage of an ongoing journey of progress, development, growth, and adventure.
Which brings us back to your response to my last question. If you could not quickly and decisively identify five specific things which you need to accomplish within the next 12 weeks for you to be pleased with your progress in life, now is the time to focus your future vision by answering this question:
What changes in your body and life do you wish you could create within the next 12 weeks? Take a few minutes to think it over. Be open, honest, and spontaneous. Please do not be concerned about what other people might want you to want.
The things which come to your mind quickly -- the things that conjure up powerful emotions and get you as excited about your future as a kid is on Christmas morning are your dreams. When you imagine them actually happening, you’ll feel the energy.
Now, I need you to take the five most exciting things you come up with and turn them into powerful, specific statements. I need you to write them down. For example, if you thought “gain muscle” and “lose fat,” you might write the following sentences: “Within 12 weeks, I will gain 10 pounds of muscle.” And “Within 12 weeks, I will lose 20 pounds of fat.”
By composing sentences like these -- by defining and stating your wish -- and by setting a deadline (within 12 weeks), you’ll be transforming your dreams into goals. You’ll be taking a big step toward making them happen. These dreams are no longer lodged somewhere deep in the shadows of your subconscious mind. They’re now being pulled out into the light of day. They’re now things you are very consciously aware of. You know what? Now that you dug ‘em up, you can’t put ‘em back. You’re going to think about them because that’s part of the process of making your dreams come true.
However, you must transform your dreams into goals and write them down.
It’s very important to understand the difference between dreams and goals. Dreams are things you wish for -- things you enjoy thinking about but really don’t know when or if they’ll happen. Goals, on the other hand, are specific things you have decided you need to accomplish within a clearly defined period of time. For example, “Someday I’m going to get in great shape” is a dream. “Within 12 weeks, I will lose 20 pounds of fat” is a goal.
Here’s another important point: Your goals come from your dreams. Powerful dreams of positive changes in your life add even more fuel to your transformation. But you must create goals that are in sync with your dreams in order to move forward in your life and feel good about yourself, your progress, and your future potential.
Something else, while we’re on the subject: When you accomplish a goal, it helps your dreams become even more inspiring, which, in turn, creates even more goals and more desire. When you begin the process of setting and achieving goals, you’ll immediately begin creating grander dreams. And that creates optimism, which feels pretty darn good in case you’ve forgotten. When you’re optimistic, you can’t help but focus on the future. It’s just so exciting, you can’t wait to get there.
Are you starting to see how all that works? Can you see that when you don’t set and achieve specific health and fitness goals, you can’t create greater dreams, and when you stop dreaming, you don’t have anything to look forward to, so you don’t look forward, you look down, or back?
Once you create your list of goals, don’t just put it away and never look at it again. Hang on to it and read it first thing in the morning when you get up and again at night before you go to sleep, every day.
By teaching yourself to believe in an inspiring future vision for your health and well being, you are positioning and preparing yourself to successfully transform your health beginning now, and continuing for life.
