Josh Bowen: Bacon or Eggs – Part One

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
– Vince Lombardi

What is the difference between dedication and commitment? As one of my best clients I ever had told me years ago; the difference between commitment and dedication is like the difference between the bacon and eggs. The chicken is dedicated, dedicated to hatching eggs for all of us that love eggs. However, the pig is committed. committed to the cause and willing to sacrifice their life so all of us can enjoy the great taste of bacon.

So here is what I have done:

1. Given you a visual of the difference between being dedicated to something and being committed

2. Completely over-dramatized the difference between both dedication and commitment and bacon and eggs

3. Introduced my next piece on how to become committed

Extra Credit: Hopefully I made you chuckle…just once.

Let’s bring it back down to planet earth now. Commitment is a huge part of success in anything, not just fitness. However, without commitment to the cause, the results will become hindered and adherence to exercise maybe damaged. So lets first look at some common reasons that challenge people’s commitment to fitness.

1. Time- We live in a world that goes from 0-60 the moment your feet hit the ground. It is easy to use the excuse of “I don’t have time.” Here is the hard truth, we are all given the same amount of time everyday, how we use that time is on us. An hour of exercise a day is 4% of your day. Honestly, in some cases you could get by with 10-20 minutes of exercise. So now you are telling me you don’t have time? Dedication versus commitment.

2. Cost- Money is always an issue in things that are perceived to cost money. Gym memberships, personal trainers, fitness clothes, organic food etc. can sometimes interfere with people starting and/or continuing a fitness program. Truth is fitness can be free. With the wealth of information out there (ie my blog) that is free one can start and continue a program without really having to shell out any cash. However, if buying a gym membership and maybe a personal trainer (come see me!) is what you want to do but are scared of the cost remember value versus cost. If you see value in something you can always budget for it but if you look at it as a cost it will always be just that, something else you have to pay.

3. Fun- Exercise isn’t fun. All of us in this industry (I’m guilty) have done a horrible job making fitness fun. We still use the archaic ways of fitness; 3 sets of 10, push and pull movements, elliptical and treadmill. What if working out consisted of going for a walk with your dog and you took their leash off and you throw a ball around. You get your heart rate up, you have fun and you burn calories. What if you played with a balloon? First one to the let the balloon hit the ground loses. Try that and I guarantee you will see one thing; a smile. Exercise is what you want it to be and it can be fun if you are creative and let your imagination run wild.

So this leads me to leave you with a cliffhanger. I am going to get two blogs out of this topic. Next time I will hit you with how to boost your commitment level and take your body and your mind to the next level.