By John R. Nocero & Jennifer L. Kennedy
JenniferKennedy@barberinstitute.org
You said this would be quick and easy; AND IT WAS! – said no one ever.
So buckle up. This will be painful. It should be.
According to Shugart (2017), “it is going to be fun and easy” is lie heard a lot in the field of fitness. This lie is mainly told by people trying to sell you diets or home exercise gadgets. Whether it’s fat loss, muscle gains or mobility, none of it comes easy. All of it is harder than most people think.
And they need to know it.
Why is this such an egregious lie? Because when people believe the lie and then struggle, they often quit. When the fat doesn’t melt off “overnight” or the “fun and easy” workouts are neither fun nor easy, people come to the conclusion that diet and training doesn’t work, or they figure they must have bad genetics.
The reality is: it’s neither. It’s lack of effort, commitment and patience. Getting in shape is hard. Neither one of us are ashamed to admit that there have been times that we have been knock-down, drop-dead sexy, and cringe-inducing, hide-your-face pudgy (John to Jenn, “As an aside, “Why do we always go to extremes? Jenn to John, “Because we go big or go home. Now keep writing.”)
And while neither of us could be mistaken for Ronda Rousey or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – yet – we always do something about it. John is currently eating steak and eggs twice a day and has his abs back thanks to vigorous calisthenics. Jenn kills it with interval training on the treadmill and “Bring Sally Up” squat challenges (see references but don’t do this: she’s tougher than you.)
But, as Shugart (2017) says, compare that to being told that something is easy. You try it and you can’t do it, or progress is super slow…but it’s supposed to be fast and effortless. That must mean you suck at life, so why try? That’s some crappy, self-defeating, loser-ass thinking.
What does this have to do with compliance? How often have you told your organization that a compliance initiative, risk assessment or quality plan will be “easy”? “It won’t add any work, buy in” we say; “we’re just tracking what you’re already doing” we say. Is this the truth? Nope. It never is. It’s always more time consuming that we say it will be. It always adds to people’s workload. And just like the not so quick and easy workout, it leaves people defeated.
So why can’t we just be honest about it? Yes, compliance initiatives won’t be quick and easy, but they will be beneficial. They key is in being honest and still getting buy in. It will be painful, this change in tone. But in the long run, it will be worth it. If you can show the value of your programs over time, you can get away from the quick and easy schtick. And we’ll all be better for it.
Changing feels like a gut punch. But it’s better to know something will be hard. Prepare yourself. After you do it, it becomes a matter of discipline and routine.
But getting there? Brutal.
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References:
Shugart, C (2017). To Win, Expect Pain. Retrieved March 12, 2017 from https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-to-win-expect-pain
Bring Sally Up Squat Challenge:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bql6sIU2A7k