The most powerful animal we have on land – with the ability to push down towering trees simply to reach the most delectable berries weighing in at up to 15,000 pounds can be held trapped in place by the most insignificant stake.

How can it be that a flimsy rope and stake can so confine a mighty beast such as the elephant?

And how does this relate to us?

Conditioning.

It’s a mental rope that shackles the elephant in place.  To paint the picture, from when baby Jumbo could barely walk it’s leg was bound with a heavy chain attached to a solid stake driven deep into the ground.

With limited strength our youngster strained to break free – desperately pulling and tugging – struggling in vain until after enough failed attempts it decided trying to escape was impossible and it resigned itself to a life of pain.  From this point on the elephant can be securely bound by a constraint weak in comparison to it’s full grown strength – yet sadly effective.

It’s worth considering which beliefs you’re currently entertaining that hold you back from achieving your ideal body.

What are your current answers to the following questions that have been repeating non-stop in your unconscious mind and as such determining the choices you make and the actions you take:

What is exercise to me?

What is food to me?

What is being fit and healthy all about?

Why am I not at my goal weight already?

AND are the answers close to what you’d expect to hear from the person who is already at peak health or do they need some refining?

As the elephant has the strength to break free of it’s stake in an instant if only it knew how easily it could access that power, so too are we all capable of utilizing everything that we already have within us to bust free from our self-made restraints.

Lets now take a scamper on the small side and analyze the ant.

Have you too noticed that ants are always headed somewhere – these little guys and gals are on a mission and they’re going with a singled minded focus. If you try to stop them they will simply climb over, under or around – they will always find another way.

So we see our tiny friends will NEVER quit and they are also always looking ahead.

In summer they start to prepare for the winter and store the food that will get them through – planning ahead is of course key to any sustainable fat loss regime….though our foraging friends are motivated by preparing to avoid starvation your motivation can be preparing to avoid resorting to consuming the fake and nutrition-less crap-o-la food that will simultaneously sap your energy and pack on the pounds.

Finally let’s take a look at the ants work ethic – how much will they store away in the summer for the colder months? 

All they possible can.  It’s an extra-mile rather than a bare minimum approach.  After all the end result is certainly worth it – whether we’re talking about having enough food in the ant castle or sculpting your best body.

Final point – the ants get to store for the lean winter times, our goal is to get lean for the fun in store at summer time!

Next time you catch YOURSELF holding yourself back I challenge you to think of the mighty yet mollified Jumbo and the tiny yet triumphant Atom and as Woody Hayes said “Paralyze resistance with persistence”.