What I Learnt From My Failed 5 Week Body Transformation
When my travels ended due to Corona and I suddenly had to go back to the UK, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to get into amazing shape.
My goal was to grow my chest and get very defined abs. I took a “before” picture of myself and designed a 5 week workout plan. I had a pretty decent home gym set up and I was really motivated to achieve my goal.
During those 5 weeks I worked out approx. 5-6 days a week and put myself on a strict diet where I counted my calories and made sure my macros were on point.
On week 4, I was feeling like my muscles were getting bigger, every time I looked in the mirror I could see my chest growing and the abs were definitely getting more defined.
I was really excited to see the transformation so when it got to week 5 I rushed to take another picture so I could compare them.
I used an app to put them side by side and after a few seconds of double checking if I had uploaded the right picture, my face kind of dropped as I realised there was… NOT A SINGLE DIFFERENCE… Nothing!
This hit me quite hard and I suddenly felt a bit depressed... all the hard work I had put in, all those hours of self discipline, showing up even when I really didn’t want to… all for zero results.
The worst part was the realisation that I had probably imagined my chest getting bigger and so not only did it feel like I hadn’t improved, it also felt like I had lost some of my gains. Needless to say I was pretty demotivated to keep going and felt like giving up.
Have you ever given up or been close to giving up on a goal because you were tired of not seeing progress?
Maybe you had given yourself a specific weight target... Maybe you wanted to be promoted by a certain time… Maybe you wanted to be a millionaire before hitting 30...
The struggle is real, as humans we seem to always have high expectations for ourselves and we are always comparing ourselves to where we want to be. This serves us in the way that it gives us direction, but it can also be highly demotivating.
Luckily, around the time I was about to give up on my Zac Efron body goals, I was reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. In this book, he mentions the concept of focusing on the process rather than the outcome.
He even takes it a step further and suggests focusing on the identity of the person you want to become.
In my case, I was so caught up on the outcome that I was always comparing myself to where I wanted to be. This simply wasn’t sustainable because it was a constant reminder of what I hadn’t achieved.
So instead I started focusing on building the identity of a person who has a big chest and abs. This “fit guy” would have great fitness/eating habits and would be committed to sticking to them. Doing all this was just his thing.
Everytime I worked out or ate healthy, I was casting votes towards confirming this new identity. The more I performed these good habits, the more I identified as being a “fit guy”. The more I identified as being a “fit guy”, the more I wanted to do these habits.
It was the perfect positive feedback loop. I was focusing on the identity instead of the outcome.
Instead of getting demotivated by the lack of daily visible results, I was getting motivated by the chance to cast more votes towards my new identity.
I was doing the exact same routine as during the 5 week program, but it stopped feeling like a means to an end, instead it felt more like an empowering “this is who I am now”.
8 months later my identity as a “fit guy” feels stronger than ever. I have achieved all the results I wanted and even more. But the results don’t really matter that much anymore, they are just the consequence of my new reinforced identity.
But HOW can I use this in my life you may ask?
Well, if you want to achieve greater results and accomplish more of your goals. A more sustainable way of doing this is by letting go of your focus on the outcome and instead focusing on creating the identity of the person that will get you there.
Next time you have a goal or a desired outcome, try to following these 4 steps:
Start by building the identity of a person who would achieve this goal, then aspire to become them. If you want to stop chewing your fingernails... become someone who is proud of their hands... If you want to be a millionaire… become someone who is good at saving and investing… If you want to quit smoking and someone offers you one… don’t tell them “I quit”, just become a non-smoker and say “I don’t smoke”.
Figure out the process. What are the daily habits you need to do in order to embody this new identity? If you want to get promoted… What are things that someone in that position does daily that you could replicate?
Forget the outcome, strengthen the identity. Take small steps everyday towards this new identity. Everytime you show up, you are casting votes towards becoming this new person. All you need to focus on is just becoming 1% better each day.
Celebrate! Be proud of the small steps you are taking. Track them. Every time you show up to that workout (even if it’s just for 5mins), praise yourself for casting a vote. As time goes by and that number grows, you will feel more and more proud and therefore more likely to keep going.
BUT what if I miss a day and go back to my old identity?
Don’t beat yourself up, we’re all human so this will happen. When you do, make it your goal to never miss 2 days in a row.
And remember every time you show up, you are casting votes so you just want to make sure you are casting more votes towards your new identity than against it.
Make it so much of a landslide victory that there will be no point in ever asking for a recount.
I hope you found this useful, if so drop a comment with the avatar name of the new identity you want to become!
