“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”(Vincent Van Gogh)

Everyone has an ‘end goal’, a place of financial independence with all the time in the world to exercise and do the things we always want to do! So, how do you go from here to there? Well, you need to crawl before you can walk! You need to make a start with small steps…Make the start today by including these 7 simple steps in your everyday life!!

get started today towards your ultimate lifestyle!!

1. Lose The Fat!!

I don’t think there’s one person out there who doesn’t enjoy being in great shape or want to get into great shape! The first part of getting into amazing shape is usually to lose body fat and trim down and really is it NOT ‘easier said than done”! It just takes a little discipline with working out and your diet. Focus HARD on cardio and High Intensity Interval Training. Give it 3 or 4 months for your body to make adjustments and don’t give up on it!! Losing body fat is going to give you extra energy and make you feel great both mentally and physically!!‏

2. Add Lean Muscle!!

Adding weight/resistance training as part of your workout routine is important as muscle requires more energy to exist than fat does. Thus your body requires and uses more of its ‘stored energy’ when muscle exists! The muscle I want you to concentrate on is ‘lean’ muscle. This is muscle that is built up slowly over time and has the nice ‘defined’ look, not the big ‘puffy’ look. Work out hard in the gym but lift lower volumes and compliment weight training with cardio to get the more natural athletic looking figure. You want to look like you play a lot of sports, NOT spend all day in the gym!

3. Clean Up Your Diet!!

Diet is the building block we must utilize if we want to make changes to our bodies!! Train all you want but if your diet is poor, then the results will follow. I stick to a relatively low calorie diet, but am not fanatical about counting calories!! I believe in balance and will NEVER be completely anal about calories or working out. If you deprive yourself of something, you’ll tend to binge on it! In saying that, it’s important to get to what I call the ‘maintenance

eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables!!

phase’ first. (look out for an upcoming post on this). When you’re in the maintenance phase, you’ve done the hard yards and know how your body reacts, it’s more about maintaining your fit body 12 months of the year! Anyway, back to diet..I eat the normal 3 meals a day but pretty much just cut out the crap and eat fresh natural foods! Lots of chicken, meat, salads…just beware of quantity and calories.

4. Set SPECIFIC Goals!!

‘I want to lose weight’
‘I want to travel’
‘I want to meet somebody nice’
‘I want to purchase my first property’

etc…

These are NOT specific goals and you will not reach them!!

Be CLEAR & SPECIFIC!!

‘I am going to lose 5kgs within the next 2 months’
‘I am going to save $200 per week and travel to South America in November 2008’
‘I am going to make myself more available and meet 2 new people everyday’
‘I am going to do my research, use my savings, and buy my first property within the next 3 months’

Notice the difference? The second list is assertive and specific!!

5. Write Down Your Goals!!

Once you’ve set specific goals you need to write them down!! You need to drill them into your head, over and over!! Place them somewhere where they’re always in your face!! I have some goals that I’ve placed on my fridge so every time I go to open the fridge I am forced to read them over and over!! These goals should be specific and attainable but also hard to reach…set the bar high for yourself! Go over your goals with a friend and be held accountable for them if you slack off!

6. Sort Out Your Finances!!

There is no excuse for paying a higher interest rate on your home loan than what you need to! There is a lot of competition out there and a lot of products that will apply to your specific situation and help reduce your payments or pay off your loan quicker! Get motivated and discuss your situation with a professional and sort out your mortgage!
Be mindful not to run up too much personal debt such as personal loans and credit cards and if you have a few of these along with a mortgage then think about consolidating them into your home loan (there are pros & cons to this) and then make sure you cancel that debt completely. Credit cards also have zero percent balance transfer from one lender to the next, it’s just a matter of doing a little research…And there is nothing stopping you from doing this over and over and over again every 6 months!

7. Take Some Risks!!

Ok, every one has a different situation you are currently in whether it be married with children or just out of University. My posts are written from the point of view of a early thirties, single, sporty guy but that doesn’t mean if you are older and settled that you shouldn’t look at creating opportunities for yourself! If you are happy and content then that is great but keep challenging yourself to do better…you can ALWAYS do better! As we get older it’s more difficult to stay in great shape but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done! A saying that I enjoy is ‘Risk and Reward’, take some risks and enjoy the rewards! Start a business, take that overseas trip, get that promotion, get in fantastic shape!!…life is short remember!!

BE A LION!!!!