So the world cup has just started and it got me thinking. Why is it that over time, even several generations later, it’s the same teams who are the best in the world? Give or take a few surprises, it’s always the same teams that out perform everyone else. And why is it that, for the last few decades, England have struggled to break through as one of the favourites?

I believe it has to do with the standards that you set for yourself. It’s the same story in athletics. Why is it that the USA consistently outperform Britain in track and field athletics?I’ll answer this question first.

In the USA, even to make it in the collegiate system the athletes have to achieve an exceptionally high standard. And during the US trials, simply to qualify to represent their country, the athletes have to beat some of the best athletes in the world. By the time they come to compete in the international events, the US athletes have already had a high exposure to high pressure competition on a large stage and beaten some of the best in the world.

In Britain, to achieve the status of the best in the country and to represent your country doesn’t require the athletes to reach such a high standard. I’m not saying it’s easy – far from it, but it’s more difficult in the US. Clearly there are other factors such as financial investment, but I think this is one of the key ones.

It’s the same in football. Simply to live up to expecations, players in Brazil, Argentina and so on have to meet an expectionally high standard. The expect more from themselves and each other than anyone else does.

So how does this relate to you and your fitness goals? Well, in order to achieve better results and greater success you need to raise your standards. Your past does not equal your future but if you keep your standards and your personal identity the same it will. You need to create a vivid image in your mind, not only of what you will look like but also of how you will behave every day. The standards that you expect from yourself day to day need to be congruent with the image that you have of your goal. You can’t have an image of yourself being super fit, lean, healthy and strong, and at the same time think of yourself as someone who cuts corners, skips meals, slacks off in training and picks at junk food. The two just aren’t compatible.

Raise your standards in terms of what you expect from yourself every day. You’ll get better results and be inspired to make even greater changes in the future. When you do your imagery sessions, don’t just imagine your end goal, vividly imagine your lifestyle and the day to day leading up to that goal. Once you’ve created these images in your head, spend a few minutes each day just revising them and reminding yourself of them. You’ll notice a big improvement in your results.

The other day on my facebook page, I asked what the most difficult aspect of physique transformation is, and it seems that for the most part, people struggle with staying consistent, whether it’s with their diet, exercise or both.

So how can you keep up your motivation? In short you have to change your identity and raise your standards. This has to do with the image that you carry around of yourself in your head, who you picture yourself to be and what you do on a daily basis. You have to create an image of yourself being exactly the way that you want, and behaving in a way that is congruent with that image. You can’t imagine yourself being super lean, fit and healthy whilst at the same time going out and drinking every night, snacking on your favourite cheat foods every day and skipping training sessions. When you create a vivid image of yourself looking great AND behaving in a way that is congruent with that, whenever you feel tempted or like slacking off you’ll think “I’m better than this” and you’ll do what’s right. But this has to be the default image that you refer to the majority of the time. To begin with this can take a bit of repetition and practise. All you need to do is spend a few minutes creating this image as vividly as possible. Once you’ve done this, periodically remind yourself of it throughout the day to overwrite any old, unhelpful images you may have had.

People will argue until they’re blue in the face about their beliefs. They’ll even fight and die defending their beliefs. But they are just that – beliefs, not facts. Unfortunately humans are really bad at distinguishing their own opinion and their beliefs from facts.

Beliefs are almost always unconscious which means that they’re influencing you without you even realising it. The first step in changing your limiting beliefs is to make them conscious. Start by spending a few moments answering each of the following questions:

Write your answers on a piece of paper and answer these questions fully before reading any further.

In my work in health, fitness and physique transformation, there are certain limiting beliefs that seem to crop up time and again. Things like:

You might notice that some of these reflect how you feel personally. If that’s the case, add them to your list, along with any others that may come to mind.

If you have an underlying belief that “I’ll always be fat!” you can imagine the type of impact that’s going to have on your results right?! It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the most expertly designed diet or exercise programme, at some point you’ll just think “what’s the point?” and give up or sabotage your progress in some way.

You can’t prove that something is impossible – you can only prove that it either is possible, or that it hasn’t been done YET. There are countless examples of this from the 4 minute mile, to the maximum speed that the human body could tolerate, to freediving world records. Most people put limiting beliefs on themselves that they don’t even know are true. They are just making very bad guesses by massively generalising a few attempts at reaching their goals.

Your past does not equal your future, but things won’t change for you until you change those limiting beliefs that are getting in your way. Start becoming good at distinguishing absolutely undeniable, quantifiable facts from your own opinion. For many people, simply identifying those limiting beliefs and making them conscious is enough to change them because they suddenly realise how ridiculous those beliefs are. Remember, the only thing standing between you and the body, the life and the success that you deserve is the story that you tell yourself about why you can’t have it. Let go of the story and a whole world of possibilities opens up to you.

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