When I turned 30 I noticed a change in myself. It seemed to happen overnight (but in hindsight, I’m pretty sure I was just in denial of what was happening the previous 4 years). Street signs became a little fuzzier. Playing third base and reacting to a softball off the bat was a bit harder to judge (because I was now over 30 and it seemed like that was the age the you play in over 30 softball leagues….so you don’t really have to run (really because you know you’ll just pull a hamstring)…or try hard (because physically you getting off the couch is hard enough)…but still pretend that you can actually throw or hit or field…but I digress). I found I was doing the squint to see things my kids were trying to show me thing often (does squinting actually help anyone see better???)
And so, after many “nudges” from my wife, I finally set up an appointment to see the eye doctor. “But this is ridiculous because I have always had 20/10 vision as a kid.” (Perhaps therein lay the problem: I was no longer the age I thought I was, which, depending on the day, could be anywhere between 12 and 21).
I sat in the seat, she pulled up the eye chart and started flipping the lenses saying, “Which is clearer, option 1 or option 2?”
“Can I see them again?” (Let’s be honest, I think they are just messing with us half the time when they flip those little lenses. There is NO difference between option 1 and 2. They both are just as blurry.)
“Interesting…”
Interesting like “good” or interesting in “this is terrible?” Or interesting in a “another 30 year old that thinks he’s still 20 and this is when eyes start to go…he has no idea poor guy” sort of way????
Turns out, I was given a prescription. I went, picked out my glasses and…..WHOA. The world is actually clearer with them on. Everything was sharper. I didn’t have to make last minute squealing turns into streets because I could read the signs sooner than 10 feet before I needed to turn. Life seemed to come into focus.
Focus and clarity. It seems these two things get lost on us so often. We function like I did at 30 – in a fuzzy world. I sit down with anyone that wants to be part of our gym before they start and ask: What are your goals? What would you like to see happen in 3 months? And most times it is crystal clear:
Gain strength.
Lose weight.
Gain energy.
Get my nutrition organized.
Try something new to challenge myself.
And the first 3-6 months, maybe even a year, is awesome. Personal bests keep happening. The InBody needle is moving in a good direction.
And then the little gold star doesn’t seem to show up as often. Those pounds we lost seem to be creeping back on. The helping of the extra serving happens more regularly. We keep going to bed 10 minutes later every night. And our vision gets a little bit more blurry.
I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kind of guy. Probably because I feel that the statistics of only 8% stick to their resolution after the first month are all too accurate. What I do think is important is to put the glasses on to bring your goals and situations back into focus. It’s why we try to sit down with our members quarterly and do goal reviews. Not to revamp a lifestyle (although sometimes that comes up) but to remind each other that we need to take the glasses out of the glove box and bring our goals back into focus. Remember why we are doing what we are doing.
It begs the question: Why are you doing what you are doing? Why do you have a gym membership? Why do you care about your weight? Why do you care about the energy levels you have? Why do you care if you are stronger?
Because we do care about those pieces (and rightfully so!)
So then: What are your goals? Better yet, what were your goals 3 months ago? What is ONE step to get you there? Use your gym membership? Hire a nutritionist to hold you accountable? Go to bed 30 minutes earlier to get your 7-8 hours of sleep? I would love to say you can wish these things to happen. But you can’t. Action has to happen.
What needs to come into laser focus for YOU? We are more than willing to sit down and help come up with a plan for that action.