"The new year is a time for a slew of self help articles about fitness, careers and money. One particular money article titled Slow, Difficult Steps to Become a Millionaire was quite interesting, because if you substituted fitness for money, it was great advice in that medium too!

1. Stop obsessing about money fitness.

While it sounds counterintuitive, obsessing over how fit you are or are not, can distract you from doing the things that truly contribute to getting fit.

So shift your perspective and just enjoy the process.

“See fitness not as the primary goal but as a by-product of doing the right things.”

2. Start tracking how many people you help, even in a very small way. (ie. motivate, cheer and support others in your community, and reap what you sow).

The healthiest people I know in the gym – both physically and in other ways – are shockingly helpful. They know their success is ultimately based on the success of the people around them.

So they work hard to make other people successful.

3. See making money getting fit as a way to make (do) more things.

Generally speaking there are two types of people.

One exercises because they want to look good; they hope that the more exercise they do, the better their body. What they actually do in the gym doesn’t really matter that much to them – they’ll do anything as long as it works.

The other wants to exercise because it allows them to do more things. They want to improve their physical fitness. They want to improve the quality of their life. They want to run a mountain trail, swim in the ocean, and play with their kids. They love what they do and they see getting fit as a way to do even more of what they love and a strong, lean, healthy body is a welcome side effect.

“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” ~Walt Disney

4. Do one thing better at a time.

Pick one thing to work on in the gym, or in the kitchen .Just. One. Thing. Become maniacally focused at doing that one thing. Work. Train. Learn. Practice. Evaluate. Refine. Be ruthlessly self-critical, not in a masochistic way but to ensure you continue to work to improve every aspect of that one thing.

Successful people do at least one thing better than just about everyone around them.

5. Make a list of the world’s ten best people at that one thing. What do the fittest people in the gym do?

How did you pick those ten? How did you determine who was the “best”? How did you measure their “success”?

Use those criteria to track your own progress towards becoming the best.

Don’t just admire successful people. Take a close look at what makes them successful. Then use those criteria to help create your own measures of success. And then…

6. Consistently track your progress.

We tend to become what we measure, so track your progress at least once a week against your key measures. Sessions trained per week, weights lifted, reps gained, good quality meals eaten etc.

7. Build routines that ensure progress.

Never forget that achieving a goal is based on creating routines. Say you want to write a 200-page book; that’s your goal. Your system to achieve that goal could be to write 4 pages a day; that’s your routine. Wishing and hoping won’t get you to a finished manuscript, but sticking faithfully to your routine ensures you reach your goal.

Or say you want to get a 200kg deadlift. That’s your goal; your routine is to train the deadlift twice per week. Stick to that routine and meet your deadlines and if your training quality is great you will reap the rewards.

Wishing and hoping won’t get you there – sticking faithfully to your routine will.

Set goals, create routines that support those goals, and then track your progress. Fix what doesn’t work. Improve and repeat what does work. Refine and revise and adapt and work hard every day to be better than you were yesterday.

Soon you’ll be good. Then you’ll be great. And one day you’ll be world-class.

And then, probably without even noticing, you’ll also be a millionaire really, really fit."

Darren Ellis, Crossfit New Zealand

TRAINING JANUARY 13th