Do we change our behavior when we want a different outcome? Or, do we keep doing the same thing over and over and obtain the same result?  Albert Einstein summarized these actions by saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  I know I have been guilty of this at times.  I must remind myself that if you want something different, then you must do something different. 

Recently, I was watching a show and part of the story line was about a woman who is an alcoholic.  She wanted to stop drinking and learned in the process that to be successful she had to change her behaviors.  She realized she could not find success if she continued to hang out with her drinking buddies, stop off at her favorite bar, or pour herself a drink every evening.  Any of these old behaviors gave her the same old results.  She had to learn to make different choices and make behavior changes.

The same is true when it comes to our fitness.  As an example, hitting snooze on our alarm clock every morning makes us miss our morning walk.  If we continue to do this, we miss our activity/exercise time.  We can’t expect to improve our fitness by hitting snooze.

Ideas to Do Something Different

In our fitness life, there are some things we can do to help us do things differently.

• let go of the old stories you tell yourself
• be willing to try new things
• find an activity you like to do
• learn from mistakes
• schedule time on your calendar
• welcome failures
• take risks
• put in the hard work
• ask for help

What results are you looking for?  What behavior do you want to change to help you achieve that result? Are there one or two things from the list above that will help you to make the needed behavior changes?  Do you need to remind yourself that, “If you want something different, then you must do something different”?