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Conscious Incompetence
By Keith | June 20, 2008
You know who you are……
You need to lose 20 pounds. Your love handles spill over his jeans and your beginning to look eight months pregnant. Not a good look for a 40-year-old male or female for that matter. You haven’t put on a bikini or swim suit with confidence in a long while.
But you are no idiot, and you are not lazy in the gym. You read articles about diet and nutrition you know all about calories, the glycemic index, you know that you should drink plenty of water, eat 5-6 times a day, stay away from sugar………
…but you eat tacos, French fries, and ice cream anyway.
You are not alone! Don’t fret…This is the stage in develop known as Conscious incompetence. You know that you are doing things to your body that are not good, but you do them anyhow. This is the failure stage for most of us. To get past this. This is the way to go.
This is the mental development of physical performance….
1. First, you don’t’ know what you don’t know. This is known as Unconscious incompetence. This is the stage when people think working the abs is doing crunches and sit-ups, when the whole point of having strong abs is to develop mid line stability of your spine so you can move correctly. But no one has told you that so how could you know. This is also the point when you think that it is OK to work hard in the gym and eat what ever you want. That the lack of the correct fuel will only help you shed those pounds. No one has told you any different so you go for a fasting diet and killer work outs.
2. The next stage is the conscious incompetence. Now that you know that to get great abs you need to have strong mid line stability in your spine so, dead lifts overhead squats, and moving correctly develop your abs more than any number crunches could ever do. Now all you have to do is shed that tire with proper eating to show that great six pack. But, you don’t do any of that because you either think you know a better, faster way, or you just don’t want to. I have found that people don’t things for 2 reasons they can’t or they won’t. At this stage you just don’t want to or for what ever reason you think you can’t.
3. Conscious Competence. This stage you force yourself to make the good choices because all of a sudden it has become important to you. You go to the grocery store when you are not hungry and make great choice with your food for the next week. It is hell, but you let go of wanting to eat French Fries and McDonald’s, or drinking your favorite beverage in excess.
4. Finally comes Unconscious Competence. You are on vacation. Five days in Ochos Rios at an all-inclusive resort. Sweet. After check-in, you head to the gym to check it out. You’ll need to train three times while on vacation to keep up with his schedule. This doesn’t bother you. In fact, you are looking forward to it. What would bother you is missing a workout.
Next, you and your companion for the week hit the buffet. Youload up on chicken breasts and vegetables and skip the mountain of “all included” desserts. This doesn’t bother you either. You are anxious to see how the Jamaicans grill up your chicken. And after that long plane ride, you are salivating for something green and perfectly steamed.
Fitness is a precess. You don’t get there over night. It takes time and effort. Remember it took you a long time to get to where you are. After making that decision to get back on track, know that there will be pit falls and trials. Stay on the track and you will evolve unconsciously competent with your fitness. Stay with it! It is a great place to be!
Topics: Articles |
June 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Well put Keith.