That’s quite the title isn’t it?

A bit presumptuous of me to act like I have peeked behind the scenes of your life, and know the “real” reason you’re not making progress?

Maybe.

Or, maybe there are trends to human behavior. Maybe, despite the fact that we are all beautiful and unique snowflakes, we often tend to behave similarly. And, maybe over the last 11 years of training and coaching people, I’ve noticed how often people do this one thing, and how it kills progress and results.

Maybe.

So, what is this progress-killing, results-stopping, goal-ending behavior?

Consistency.

Or, rather, a lack of it.

Were you expecting something sexier, or with a little more pizzazz?

Sorry. I’m all pizzazzed out. I’m pizzazz-less. I’m un-pizzazz-able. OK, that’s enough.

There is a great quote from legendary strength coach, Dan John.

This is it: “I think there are two keys to success. One is to show up. The other one is to keep going. Most people don’t keep going.”

Sound familiar at all?

Ask yourself how many times you’ve “shown up”.

How many times you’ve woken up on a Monday with the intent of making this week THE WEEK. The one where everything changes.

How many times you’ve set out to exercise on a regular basis.

How many times you’ve vowed to eat more vegetables, and get more sleep.

We are all pretty good at showing up. Maybe we’ve done it so much that we’re too good at it.

Typically the problem isn’t showing up, It’s the “keep going” that gets us in trouble.

What was the last thing you “showed up” for? Was it eating more vegetables? What if you had kept going and had been eating more vegetables this whole time?

Was it to exercise three times a week? What could things look like if you had kept at it?

This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip. It’s meant to be a wake up call.

When it comes to nutrition, exercise, and developing new habits, we tend to be really good at starting and stopping.

And we tend to suck at “keep going”.

There can be a variety of reasons for this. High-expectations from ourselves. High-expectations from others. A fitness industry that sells the unattainable. Self-limiting beliefs. And on, and on.

Regardless the reason, that’s where most people lose their steam.

There’s an issue, a stressor, a bad day, a cutting comment, a flat tire, a perceived lack of progress, an inability to handle emotions appropriately…something…and it all comes to a screeching halt…”yet again.”

Figuring out how to handle the things that continually bring your starts to a stop, is beyond the scope of this article. But it’s worth looking into. Maybe that requires some deep introspection. Maybe it requires keeping track of habits and trends. Maybe it requires hiring a coach (hi) to help you find the trends in your “stops”.

Whatever it is, it needs to be done. You haven’t failed to make progress because you’re not capable, or because progress just isn’t for you. You’ve failed to make progress because there is something in the way.

You need to get it out of the way.

Do that, and you’re likely to see some great results.

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be consistent.

Show up. Keep going.