Are you struggling in finding the right health mindset? More so, have you experienced having a history of ups and downs with workout regimens and diet? In this episode of Incorporating SuperPowers, host Justin Recla is joined by health and fitness coach Chad Austin as they discuss the importance of mindset and health. Chad shares his experiences with clients who fall into a pattern of the up and down roller coaster, where they only get inconsistent results. Join Justin and Chad to discover how you can change your mindset and make a workout a part of your regimen.
Welcome back to Incorporating SuperPowers. If you are like me, full transparency here, folks, if you’re like me, then you’ve probably had a history of ups and downs with workout regimens and diets and all of that, right? If you’re like me, you probably realize it doesn’t work and that there’s a better way of going about this, there’s a different way of going about this.
That’s why I’m super excited to introduce you to my guest today, Chad Austin, who is helping people do things differently, do things better. So, we’re going to be talking about a better health mindset. This is really, long-term implications of this, and changing your health mindset versus changing just what diet you’re on or exercise regimen you’re on is really the way to go. I’m super excited to have you on the show today. Chad, thanks for joining us today.
Absolutely, thanks for having me on.
So prior to the show, we were talking a little bit, you’ve got a background in teaching, you’ve been a personal trainer for the last 15 years. Tell us a little bit more about your mission and what you’re here to do for the people that you serve.
Well, I’ve been a trainer up here in the Kansas City area for about 15 years now, and I think as I’ve evolved as a personal trainer, I’ve shaped my message into helping people get long-term success. I’ve realized that really the true purpose of a fitness professional should be that. But when most people come to a personal trainer, when they hire a personal trainer, they’re coming to us fueled by short-term motivation, right? There’s something coming up that they will want to get fast results for.
That has got us to fall into this pattern of the up and down roller coaster, where we get great results, but it’s not long-term, it’s not consistent, it doesn’t stay with us for very long, because we don’t have a plan that’s going to stick with this very long that really fits in our life. So helping people change their mindset and their approach to fitness so it’s something that they can keep doing, and it’s more of a behavioral change that fits in your life so you can get long-term success, that’s really what my mission and what makes fitness a priority, what it means to me.
Yeah, this is something that I see, one, I’ve seen it so long in myself, right? That I’ve committed to, just again for myself, to not make any changes in my life, health, food, diet, relationship, otherwise, business, unless it’s sustainable, right? Because to me, there’s nothing more important than that sustainability piece, because as you’re going through life, who wants to stop and think about what you’re doing next, right?
Yeah.
I think that’s where the challenge for a lot of people, people are busy nowadays, trying to find time to work out, we’ve got this whole pandemic thing going on, how do you go to the gym? All of that going on, whereas if you can just change your mindset and make it part of your regiment, it seems to be a lot easier. So, what are some of the big things that you notice that people are resistant to making this shift? Let’s call it what they are. What are some of the excuses that they make for not wanting to develop this mindset?
Really my first book came around, it’s called How to Win the Fight Against Your Excuses. The way it came around is I’ve just realized that we all have these obstacles and challenges that we face every day that become excuses. So the reasons why we’re so busy with our lives, or maybe it’d be that we all have different obstacles that we can use, right? Maybe we have busy jobs, maybe we have to travel for work, maybe we have kids at home or multiple kids that have their own activities going on every other night of the week and we have to be there to support them, we want to be there to support them.
We have so many things that can get in the way, and what we do is we put fitness off until later. So we’re always finding more and more reasons to put fitness off until later, and the problem we find out is that that way of thinking is that all the obstacles and challenges that we use to put fitness off until later, like “I’m too busy now, I’ll get to it later.” Those obstacles aren’t going anywhere, they’re always going to be there. We’re never going to run out of excuses that we can use to skip our workout or to validate going to.
But the problem is that people don’t see. When I speak to a group of people, my goal as a speaker is not to convince people that eating right and exercise is important. Because I’ve been doing this long enough, I know that people see the value in that, they know that, but what I have to convince people and help them realize, have a realization about, is that even though you’re busy and you have all these challenges and things in your way, you can still make fitness a part of your life now, just like you do with your family, your career, your faith, everything else that’s a priority in your life. If you do that with fitness, your overall quality of life, and everything else in your life is going to get better.
So that’s my mission, is to help people realize that even though they’re busy and they’re using all these excuses and obstacles that they have as excuses, that if they don’t let those things get in their way and realize that they have to find a way to do it now, that their life will get better. So I think that realization is really the key to overcoming those excuses, just making the realization that there’s always going to be an excuse you can find if you want one.
Especially if you’re in business, especially if you’re trying to figure out how you’re to be working from home, homeschooling your kids, right? The excuses just got bigger, right, with this whole COVID thing or whatever the next emergency is, right? It just seems to compile on it. So, what are some things that people can be doing in regards to, “Okay, I’ve tried this diet, I’ve tried this exercise routine.” How do you guide people into recognizing that this over here, that’s just another fad, or this over here is good for you? I’m glad they’re taking that step, but it’s not sustainable. How do you show them the other side of that mindset piece?
Yeah, well, there’s so many new fad diets and weight loss scams, there are all programs out there all the time, I mean, they’re preying on our deep desire to look and feel better, basically. So what I help people in having a better health mindset is I’ll be like, “There are so many programs out there that can be good programs, but it may not necessarily be the best fit for you.” So, there are two big flaws that I had people look out for when they’re looking for their next program.
So the first one is, is if it’s the same program for everybody. So if it’s a program that it doesn’t matter what shape you’re in, it doesn’t matter what your schedule like, it doesn’t matter what you’ve been doing lately for exercise, if it’s a 12-week program, a six-week program, whatever the program is you’re interested in, if it’s the same for everybody, then you’re setting yourself up for long-term failure, because fitness is not one size fits all. That’s a big thing that you have to learn right away when you’re a trainer, that everybody’s workouts are different. So, there’s that.
If the goal is just to get you as many results as possible in the six weeks or 12 weeks, however long the program is, and they work you as hard as possible in those times, then you know on the last day when the first day is. So, it begins with an end in mind. So that’s the other flaw, that it begins with the end in mind, which most programs do. I mean, you start something for six weeks, 12 weeks, 30 days, however long the program is, but at some point, you have to take the time to ask what’s next. So if you don’t take the time to ask what’s next, then what’s next is going to be nothing.
I’ve done that several times, and I’ve done it, I’ve seen so many people do it. When you work so hard for a certain amount of time, I mean, you deserve a break. So, no one can work as hard as they can forever. Even professional athletes have different seasons, and so it changes, but the difference is they always know what’s coming next. So if you don’t take the time to ask yourself what’s coming next, even if it’s not going to be as hard, what’s next is going to be nothing. So you have to take the time to ask what’s next, and the program has to fit your life. A better health mindset has to be something that’s customized to you and it’s not one size fits all.
This is perfect. Folks, if you’re paying attention, Chad just pulled the curtain back on the industry. We’re going to dive into the topic of a better health mindset a little bit further on the backside of the break here. But Chad, before we go on the break, where can people find more information about you?
Make fitness a priority is my fitness theme for everything, and that’s where you can find me everywhere. makefitnessapriority.com, you can find me at Make Fitness a Priority on Facebook and on Instagram.
Fantastic. Folks, I’ve been there, I’ve been to the site, I’ve checked it out, one of the things that impressed me most about what Chad has to offer is he’s got an online accountability program. This is brilliant, Chad. This is absolutely fantastic; I look forward to diving into this further. Folks, stay with us, we’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
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