It feels like an uphill struggle that never ends. AREN’T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE VALLEYS AND STUFF?! You’re controlling your portions, taking in plenty of veggies and other healthy stuff. You’re finding time to exercise daily and you even spent like $300 on your friend’s latest pyramid scheme weight loss supplement company. But nothing has solved your problem. You still have the excess weight riding around with you wherever you go.

What else is there? Would you believe me if I told you, it’s a lot bigger issue than just your weight? That’s not the underlying issue, that’s just the most visible result of the underlying issue. It’s great you are taking all of this time to pour into the physical you, because overall that’s going to be what it takes to meet your weight loss goals. But… There is something that is equally as important in your fight to take back control of your health and fitness.

Your mental health.

I’m not talking about therapy, although that can be an amazing route to self-discovery. I’m talking about self-development and self-growth. One place you can start is I’m talking about listening to podcasts about wealth mentality, leadership, success, empowerment, and growth mentality instead of listening to the radio every day. I’ve found that most radio shows are just pouring useless gossip into your ears.

Mindless talk shows that don’t foster any kind of mental growth or education. The type of content actually showcased on these radio shows build a negative mentality in the listener which contributes to a negative filter that is used to view the world. The same thing goes for television. Those shows that you love to watch are just reasons to procrastinate the growth your body desires, both physically and mentally. I’m not telling you that you have to completely give up music or television. Just be present more often.

Trying to lose weight, gain weight, maintain body mass, etc. is next to impossible if your mind isn’t in it. If there is too much negative, too much self-criticism, you will always find an excuse not to do the things you need to do to reach your goals. You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You think like them, you talk like them, you emulate them in every way, even financially. If you’re hanging out with losers who are always participating in self-deprecation, illicit drug use, binge watching Netflix, video games for multiple hours at a time, you need to find some new people to associate with. You don’t have to cut these people out of your life completely, but you need to fill your life with more people who have giant goals they’re chasing after. You need to LEVEL UP.

Your physical body is not the only thing to focus on during your voyage to conquer your fitness goals.

Take care of yourself.

Meditate.

If you don’t know how to meditate, guess what? There’s an app for that. And books too.

Turn commutes into educational courses!

Those thirty minutes each way that you spend just commuting in the day to and from work can actually be useful! Turn your vehicle into a rolling university. Listen to audio books, audio content from online courses, and podcasts. Use these moments to be aware of your surroundings. Ground yourself in the moment.

Find yourself a mentor that will teach you important things. Self growth, financial education, success habits, wealth mindset, jiu jitsu, mindfulness, financial freedom, just to name a few. Learning a new skill or grounding yourself in new knowledge can help you overcome so many obstacles in your life.

At the end of the day, what you are lacking in success in conquering your goals, lies in your every day habits. Your routine. What’s the first thing you do in the mornings? Turn on the TV and grab a cup of coffee? Try some green tea and 15 minutes of a good book about self-development, leadership, business, you name it. Spend 10 minutes meditating, journaling, or stretching. Take this time to ground yourself before you glance at your checklist for the day or scroll through Facebook. After you’ve taken this time, take a glance at your calendar and prepare for the day.

Don’t focus so much on the weight you haven’t lost.

Take the small wins!

Looser fitting pants, a smaller shirt size, inches lost, etc.

Start tracking your habits instead of the pounds lost. Write down new habits you would like to instill (64 ounces of water a day, logging your food, meditation, reading in a book, listening to a podcast, minutes of exercise, type of exercise, and the list keeps going). If you don’t know where to start, check out some books like The Compound Effect or High Performance Habits. They are a great start to changing the way you think so you can map out a plan of success in your life.

When you really start realizing how many hours you waste each day, that excuse you present to people “I just don’t have time” becomes just that, an excuse. And a lie. You have the time. Next time you feel tempted to give that excuse to someone, try saying “it’s just not a priority” and see how that feels. Not good right? Because now you’re having to accept some responsibility for your actions, or in most cases, inactions.

When you start focusing on the things that matter in your life: finances, family, opportunity instead of celebrity gossip and an overall lack mentality, you’ll find you are much happier. The difference between a ditch digger and a millionaire isn’t the money. It’s the way each of them think and the habits instilled in their daily lives. The best news? You can change both of those.

Stop focusing on what you don’t have. Stop focusing on the negative. Stop kicking yourself when you eat that cookie and then look in the mirror and loathe what you see. That’s not helping. In fact, that’s hindering any progress you could make. Have a vision. Write down an actual mission statement for your life and your health and fitness. Break that down into manageable goals with timelines like immediately, 3 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and so on. Most importantly, just take it a day at a time. Track your habits and watch your results slowly start to align with your goals. It’s simple. So what are you waiting for?!

Get out there! Keep kicking butt, but don’t forget to live a little along the way. Take the journey, but enjoy the scenery along the route. When you start working on the other areas of your life that you’re not 100% satisfied, you will start to find yourself experiencing more bliss and those last few pounds may begin to melt away faster than you ever thought possible. There’s no quick fix, or magic pill, but getting your head right is a giant step in the right direction.