Survey says "because of my kids, there's no time for fitness"

For 99.79% of you, your health and fitness is important.

Phew, that’s a relief, but for the 0.21% of you that it isn't – this post is NOT for you. Stop reading immediately and go find a site that caters to your other interests. But for those of you engaged in living a healthy and active lifestyle, please read on.

Three weeks ago we launched a survey that was specifically designed with 2 questions in mind:

1. What’s preventing you from reaching your health and fitness goals?


2. What can we do to help overcome the obstacles that are keeping you from reaching your health and fitness goals?

What’s the difference between a Dream and a Goal?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a dream is “ something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time ”. Whereas a goal is defined as “ something that you are trying to do or achieve; the end toward which effort is directed ”. It’s clear when you start down the rabbit hole of popular thought that many share a different opinion about what these two words mean. More contrasting opinions exist when it comes to the “how” one achieves a goal. In past posts I've referred to the art of SMART goal setting - a technique I've applied to my own goals and have found works very well – also, I've shared commitment methods for staying the course when striving to reach goals.

So what’s the biggest difference between a dream and a goal? As Disney says, " a dream is simply a wish your heart makes ". Whereby a goal is the action of taking a dream, wish or want, and put it to paper, then creating an action plan for reaching it. Cool or cool? Enough dreaming already, time to get after it!

[box type="info" align="aligncenter" ]A big part of asking all these survey questions was to help with developing a specific solution to help overcome many of the obstacles that throw us off the path to an active lifestyle. You can get your free copy of the 1% Solution  here.[/box]

Survey says! The Top 5 Health, Fitness and Wellness Goals are…

Of the 932 people who responded to our survey, the top 5 Health, Fitness and Wellness goals were:

1. Look and feel better


2. Increase lean muscle mass


3. Weight release (not “loss” – say bye-bye to extra body fat forever!)


4. Be able to do anything and not be limited by physical ability


5. Age well

I loved these responses!

People are thinking long-term lifestyle and not short-term, “skin deep” goals. Don’t get me wrong, looking better naked is a plus, but I challenge people constantly to look for the R.O.I. on their health based on long-term goal setting.

If you happen to ever catch one of my presentations, I often ask the following question: “ how do you want to live your retirement? ” This question is simple in concept, but the responses I get are extremely varied and more often than not, gravitate to monetary wants and needs. I’m all for being comfortable and being able to support a certain lifestyle, but no matter how much money you have set aside during your golden years of life, it won’t help you with mobility issues, lack of energy and strength, or dis-ease caused by poor or failing health. After all, “Do you want to spend the last 5, 10, or 20 years in and out of care centers, hospitals and/or assisted living homes?” The latter being your last stop when you are unable to care for yourself.

[box type="note" align="aligncenter" ]Being functionally fit is more about lifestyle than it is about having a 6-pack or nice butt, it's being able to do what you want, when you want and not be limited by your physical ability. This is truly where lifestyle and aging well meet! Hence the creation of a system like WOD 24/7 and the 1% Solution Guide.[/box]

Did you reach your health and fitness goals?

When we posed the question, “have you achieved your fitness/health goals?”

12% said “no” they missed reaching their goal; 40% said “made progress but fell short”; 19% said they didn't have any health/fitness goals, leaving an amazing 29% that said “YES!”

I'm amazed at how many said “YES!” This is amazing and just shows the power of setting a goal and getting after it with a well laid out plan.

As for the 19% that said they didn't have any. My guess is that a decision was made to NOT set a goal based on the fear of failure. In a recent IPSOS REID survey, when a population of Western Canadians were asked why they didn't set a health and fitness goal, 42% admitted they have no plans to set a goal while 15% said “why bother” based on the assumption of futility in reaching a goal they plan to fail in reaching. Um…. Wow! Furthermore, when these people were asked what prevented them from reaching their goals, the top 3 reasons were:

1. Lack of time


2. No motivation


3. Don’t know what to do or how to do it (citing lack of education and knowledge)

What prevents you from exercising/working out consistently?

Interesting to note, when we posed this question to 932 people, the top 5 reasons for not being able workout on a regular basis are:

1. Being exhausted after a long working day


2. Lack of time due to work or social obligations


3. Stressful job demands


4. Wasted time commuting to and from work


5. Time being taken up by my children

As far as time is concerned, I feel your pain. This is a very real and growing concern for many people today. Our days are limited to 24 hours – of which more than 1/3 of our waking hours are spent on a job, which for the most part is sometimes stressful and compounding that, is also largely sedentary. The statistics will blow your mind! We are moving less, eating more, and as a result getting further and further out of shape whereby the new “NORMAL” is a state of “un-health” rather than “healthy”. If you don’t know what “hot” is, how are expected to be able to describe “cold”? Yes, that might seem more rhetorical, but it has to be asked. How would you explain the difference to someone that has no sense of touch? We all have a point of reference to pull from based on life experiences. Unfortunately with today’s North American cultures of instant gratification, caloric automation and corner to corner transportation, we've become the unhealthiest era than any before us. Almost to the point where being unhealthy is the new normal !

Get right with your ‘why’ and the rest will follow

Number 1 through 4 didn't surprise me too much, but number 5, well what’s with that?! Language, in particular the inner dialogue that goes on in our heads, dictates many of our actions. If your current perspective is your children are at fault for you becoming further and further out of shape , the reason why you are leading a sedentary lifestyle, then it’s time to give yourself a serious face-palm. Why not try to view your kids as the REASON WHY you should be leading the healthiest, most active lifestyle that you can? To me, my two little girls and family are the driving force reminding me why I want to live as long and as healthy as I can.  My kids are my WHY but what’s yours?

Okay, I'm not trying to be all about the doom and gloom, there's something about all these survey questions that begs 2 questions:

“ What can we do to make sure we get our daily fitness fix? ” and “ how do we do it? ”

After years of working with clients all around the world, in particular those that took the time to answer this survey, I've got a solution that I’m excited to share with you…

This is just a sample of some of the items that are coming down the pipe from WOD 24/7... a service focused on helping people work out on their own, but never alone. I'm pumped and stoked to share more with you in the coming weeks. Click on the following link or image below to get your FREE copy of the 1% Solution as well as get onto the WOD 24/7 Pre-Launch team.

Stay healthy ( and tuned for what's to come! )

~ Dai “Moose” Manuel