The Ant
Learn from the little guys!
I read an interesting quote from author Covert Bailey
the other day that I found very interesting. He said
that if he were fat, he would exercise as many times
per day as he had to in order to lose the weight. In
fact, he said that he would be willing to exercise up
to five times per day if he needed to.
His statement made me think about why other
overweight people would not do the same thing. I
mean did he really mean that he would lift weights or
maybe ride a bike five times per day? That goes
against everything we have all heard over the years,
right? You know, it is the old “too much working out
is bad for you” thing. So what exactly did he mean?
After more consideration, I think I understand what
he was saying. To me what he meant was that it is
more of an “attitude” thing than an actual “exercise”
thing. What he could have said is “If I were fat, I
would do whatever it takes to get fit.” Mind you, he
did not say that he would take any pill, starve himself
or use any other unsafe method to lose weight, but
rather he would “exercise” until he was fit. As such, I
agree, -in attitude that is.
I talk to many people on the phone each week and
even more people at my training studio who claim
that they want results. Not only do they want
results, they want them NOW. The thing is, many of
them do not really want to put in the time and effort
to achieve those goals. They are afraid of what they
believe will be endless workouts and starvation diets.
Let’s be really honest for a moment. You know as well
as I do that we cannot go around eating high fat,
high sugar foods all the time and expect to be thin
and fit. You probably agree that we cannot go
without at least some form of regular exercise and
expect to be fit either. Knowing that, why then do
we still wish for the impossible?
If we were to order our new body from a drive
through it would go like this: “Yes, give me one
incredible looking body, add some chiseled abs, some
great legs and throw in some healthy blood pressure
and maybe a side of low cholesterol. Oh, yes, put in
a little more energy for me too.” Unfortunately the
rest of the order would go: “Can I get that new body
without any exercise or healthy eating please?”
That is the part I just do not understand. How is it
that we can have these grand desires for a great,
incredible body and excellent health, yet not want to
put in the time and effort to achieve it? What are
we really afraid of?
What is even worse is that most of us will beat
ourselves up over our apparent inability to succeed in
this area of our lives. We want the new body but not
what we perceive as the ordeal required to achieve
it. Therefore, we mentally feel like failures and many
of us even go so far as to become depressed over
the whole issue. Over time, that sense of failure and
depression becomes normal in our life. Finally, most of
us will start to falsely accept as fact that we are
unable to change and are going to be forever unfit
and unhealthy. We develop a negative “can’t-do”
attitude and then let it grow and grow.
This whole situation reminds me of the ant in the
cave. Remember him? A particular little ant always
wanted to walk across the cave to the other side
where life for ants was so much better. This little ant
had heard from other ants (that had failed at
crossing the cave) that there was a particularly large
monster in the cave who would get any ant that tried
to cross. Not surprisingly, these ants all shared that
same “can’t-do” attitude.
Sure, even this little ant had stepped into the cave a
few times before, however each time he did, he saw
the huge, terrifying shadow of the monster on the
cave wall and each time, he ran back out. Each time
he ran out, he felt more and more like a failure. Each
time he ran out, he also confirmed to himself that he
never would be able to reach the other side of the
cave. The ant knew that some others had reached
the other side, but for him, the goal of success
seemed like an impossibility.
One day, the ant changed his attitude and made up
his mind that he was going to go across the cave
floor to the other side and that he did not care about
that monster. Kind of like when Mr. Bailey said that
he would exercise five times per day to get fit, this
little ant decided that he would just walk and walk
until he reached the other side.
As the ant stepped into the cave again, there stood
the shadow of the huge, nasty monster, just waiting
for him. Each time the ant took a step, the huge
monster took a step. The faster the ant went, the
faster the shadow of the monster went. The little ant
was absolutely terrified and he wanted run right back
out of the cave as he had so many times before, but
he knew if he did, he would only add to his list of
failed attempts and be no better than the negative
attitude ants outside.
“No” he thought, “this time I will press on, -this time
will be different.” Much to his surprise, the closer he
walked to the shadow of the monster, the smaller the
monster’s shadow became. Onward he went, step-by-
step, closer and closer to the monster. In essence,
he was just facing his fears, head on.
Finally, the ant realized that the shadow of the
monster was really just his own shadow. He chuckled
as he stepped closer and closer, the shadow
shrinking with each step. He knew then that there
was no monster in the cave and no real reason for
him not to have succeeded each time in the past.
This little fellow went on to be very happy on the
other side of the cave. It was everything he
expected it to be.
There is a lesson to be learned from the ant. It is a
lesson of perspective and attitude. Realize that the
monster you face with your health and fitness goals
is not larger than you are. It is not stronger than you
are and it cannot beat you, unless of course, you
never face it.
If you will face your monster, you will be very much
surprised that it was not really a big deal at all. With
a little effort, you can get to the other side of the
cave. You too can be fit, healthy and looking better
than you ever have before. There is a completely
new you inside just begging to be set free, but only
you hold the key. -I see it repeatedly at my Ultimate-
Body Transformation Studio. I have seen so many
people face their monsters and I am happy to report,
we have not lost even one of them to their monster.
Get a new attitude. Set some goals. Be aggressive.
Make a plan that includes proper nutrition and
exercise. Then, it is no more complicated than
walking face to face into your monster. Be
consistently persistent and when you succeed, let
me know. I would love to tell your story here one day
to help inspire others.
