bEN's Story

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT'S IMPORTANT AND TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE

Ben's before and after photos.

Today I'd like to highlight one of my current clients Ben Fields.  Here's a brief look at his story and how he took responsibility with bold action in order to become a better version of himself.  His vulnerability, clarity of goals, and willingness to follow through has allowed him to achieve an incredible transformation.

JASON:  What got you to contact me in the first place?

BEN:  I was at a point of frustration with my health and physical appearance. I realized I needed a higher level of accountability and guidance to help me make lasting change. 

JASON:  Before working with me, what was your biggest struggle or frustrations?

BEN:  Weight fluctuations from age 8-38, and during those periods of weight gain I dealt with confidence issues permeating every aspect of my life. 

JASON:  How did your struggle or frustrations affect your life? What did you feel like before you made your transformation?

BEN:  It's hard to focus on others when you're hyper-focused on how you're coming across to those same people. Those issues with self-confidence affected my marriage, other relationships, decisions I made, and any leadership roles I had.

JASON:  How did our program help you?

BEN:  Setting goals and a coach to help me achieve those goals was a step change in my approach to health. Accountability was a really important piece of the puzzle, but the education in how my body works and responds to exercise and nutrition has been something I can take with me for the rest of my life. 

JASON:  How is life different for you now?

BEN:  Night and day difference. My body has changed, and that was one of our goals, but even more importantly, I've had a mindset shift. I'm confident, and I can model good health for my family. 

JASON:  What’s your favorite thing about our program?

BEN:  I am equipped with knowledge and experience to continue to improve my health over the years. I've been educated, not just told to do this or don't do that. 

JASON:  How do you make time for exercise?

BEN:  Like you make time for anything in life. You make it important. Then, you make it a habit. You stop relying on feeling motivated to workout and rely on getting what's important done. For me, part of making it important is having goals I'm pursuing. I loathe aimless workouts. I have to be working and progressing towards improving something, i.e. increasing weight, reps, decreasing time, etc.

Here’s Ben sharing a valuable lesson learned from his journey.

“I set a health goal for myself in the second half of 2020 and I DID NOT reach it. By the way, I don’t recommend setting a health goal with a deadline at the end of the year - way too many holiday treats beckoning to be indulged in…but enough about my excuses for not hitting my goal.

I reupped this same goal for 2021 and set the due date for June 23rd, one day before my 40th birthday. [insert mid-life crisis joke here]

I began my efforts in January and made some progress month to month - slow progress. The plan was a good one, but I wasn’t making the progress needed to hit the goal.

As my deadline approached, I started getting more serious about cutting out certain foods, increasing the volume of workouts, and counting macronutrients with more accuracy than ever before. The trajectory did not point to achieving my goal by the deadline, it was going to be close, but not quite make it.

In the last month, I noticed my numbers moving more quickly in the right direction, and I came to terms with an ugly fact – I had been lying to myself.

In January I thought I had time (plenty of time) to reach my goal, and so the weekly indulgence meal turned into an over-indulgence meal. I told myself that was “probably” 10 chips, not 20. I told myself I could guestimate that portion, or remember what and how much I ate yesterday. We can rationalize all things in our own head.

External accountability is a wonderful, if not comfortable, opportunity to increase honesty, transparency, and awareness, but that accountability is only there for a small portion of the time. You are with you, always.

I hit my goal, but it was an absolute hustle to get there and it didn’t have to be. I wasted time by not being honest with myself.

Whether you’re working towards a goal, or hitting a KPI, or trying to achieve anything – learn to be super real with yourself. You can’t course correct if you’re masking the issue.

The point isn’t that you need to micromanage yourself in order to hit a goal. The point is to recognize when you’re deceiving yourself.

Owning your Responsibility isn’t just about keeping your word to others, it’s about keeping your word even when no one else knows you made a commitment.

Get honest with yourself and others and you’ll experience great freedom and real movement in your life.”