Goat in Sheep's Clothing

So, you signed up for a Beachbody Challenge Group and man OH man you were excited (but nervous) to get started! You were all in! This was the time that you were really going to make a change and it was going to stick! So here’s what happened. Some of you started out strong, fell apart in the middle and finished strong. Some of you paid for the program and didn’t really start at all. Some of you were freaking rock stars. Some of you did your best given the unexpected life circumstances you got thrown at you. And you know what, there is no right answer here. Because only you know you and only you know your life.

It’s really interesting watching people go through the Challenge Groups from a coaches perspective. I’m glad that I was a Weight Watchers leader before I started Beachbody. Because I experienced firsthand the stopping and starting turmoil that comes with a weight loss program. People came and people went in the Weight Watchers meeting rooms. Some people came back and some people I never saw again. I always wondered what happened to them and did they continue their wellness journeys.

A few months back I was listening to Beachbody’s CEO speak and he talked about the mission of a coach. That as coaches we need to stick with our Challengers to get them to their goal and beyond. That Beachbody is not just about selling products or signing someone up for a challenge, it’s about helping people get healthy, even when they don’t believe in themselves.

As a Beachbody coach, my husband likens me to a shepherd. I really do love my flock and I want them all to be their own definitions of success. And I want to guide them toward their goals. As a person who has tried and failed, and tried and succeeded to lose weight over the last 21 years- sometimes we are sheep and sometimes we are goats.

Have you ever been around a goat? Growing up we had goats. Goats can be so darned cute but so darned stubborn. Goats can be a menace to themselves. They’ll eat anything even if it’s bad for them. They’ll run through an electric fence even though it hurts, heck they’ll gnaw through a barbed wire fence. Our goat Buttonwood, she’d climb on the top of our cars and do a little prance when she got to the top like “heh-heh you can’t stop me.” And we do that sometimes as Challengers. We begin to self-destruct. We experience success and then fear. And that fear sometimes has us running in the opposite direction of our goals. I KNOW this. I have stopped and started “diets” and wellness programs a gazillion times. Every year for Christmas or my birthday I buy a new exercise program or piece of equipment. I’m enamored with it for a while and then it begins to gather dust.

So here’s the real deal. As Beachbody coaches, we can only get you so far. You have to want to get there and to have a vision for where you want to go. The challenge is yours, the choice to change is yours. We can’t make that choice for you. It’s up to you to figure out what you want, to get your mind right and to let us know what you need. And if you’re not sure what you need, tell us that and we can work together to come up with some strategies to help you succeed. Chalene Johnson has a great podcast on motivation. She talks about the fact that motivation doesn’t last forever but habits and discipline do. That is IT right there! Heck my motivation comes and goes depending on my day. But the habits that I’ve created, they will help to get me through the days when I just don’t feel like it. One of my favorite sayings is “when motivation wanes, let perseverance and consistency reign.”

Beachbody has helped me to develop consistent behaviors even when I’m being a goat in sheep’s clothing. And for me, those behaviors are reinforced through Challenge Groups. If a Challenge Group is not for you (I get it, they’re not for everyone) or if you’re burned out, and you’re a sheep that’s lost its way- please reach out to your coach to develop a plan to get you to your goals.

While I can’t speak for your Beachbody coach, I can say that most coaches I’ve met have the best of intentions. But we’re just people, who are also struggling with our own behaviors. Sometimes we’re on it and sometimes we’re not. We have our demons, our insecurities, our good and bad days. It might appear that we have our shit together, but there are times that we don’t. Sometimes we’re shepherds, sometimes we’re sheep and sometimes we’re goats. This is why it’s so important to keep it real and to stay in community with each other.

We fall and we rise together.

Commit to the choice. Ask for help. Continue with courage.  

Hugs and friendship,

Tara