The quest to develop a stunningly fit, lean and attractive

body is a long, slow journey. It's not something you

achieve overnight by popping a few pills or strapping an

electric gizmo to your belly.

Which reminds me, did you know that by the time the FTC

finally blew the whistle on the electronic ab belt scam,

the makers of those "ab zappers" had swindled over $100

million dollars from unsuspecting consumers? Fortunately,

some of those companies had to pay it back, and then some!

The FTC charged three companies - Fast Abs, Ab Tronic and

Ab Energizer - with false advertising and deceptive

warranty practices for these "ABSurd" gimmcks.

But I digress… back to what I was saying about the journey

to a better body...

Last week I looked out my window, and where there was once

nothing but a dirt-filled empty lot, there stood a

sprawling six story brick condo complex. If someone looked

at this massive completed structure for the first time,

they might not be impressed. However, since I observed the

entire construction process unfold from my living room

window, I was impressed - amazed even - at what goes into

erecting this kind of structure.

I remember watching the crew humming around diligently

every day like busy bees, laying one brick after another.

From one day to the next, it didn't seem like much changed.

But slowly, over a period of a year and a half, I watched

the building gradually morph into the finished product.

When you look at someone with an incredible body as a

finished product, you often tend to dismiss the long,

arduous journey and hard work it took to build that body.

Unless you were side by side with that person in the gym

(and in the kitchen), observing the work involved, it's

easy to attribute such a chiseled physique to genetics or

give credit to a supplement (they just took product XYZ and

voila - overnight abs). What you don't see or appreciate

are all the months and years of sweat and hard work.

Getting in shape is a lot like a construction project.

First, there must be a picture in the mind. Then the

vision goes onto paper as a blueprint. It takes months just

to lay the foundation. More months of work will follow. On

a daily basis, it doesn't seem like much is happening. You

look in the mirror and appear, for the most part, the same

as you did yesterday. But sure enough, the small

improvements are slowly accumulating like compounding

interest in the bank. One day, you look in the mirror and

"suddenly," your blueprint has become reality.

The body of a fitness model, figure competitor or

bodybuilder is no more likely to be built overnight than a

high rise is to be built overnight. It's not physically

possible. Accepting the idea that any type of pill, powder,

drug, supplement or machine of any kind will make it happen

sooner than nature intended (without negative consqeuences

or side effects) is pure folly. You can't force it.

Growth and development of any kind always requires a

gestation period. For a baby, it's nine months. For corn, I

believe it's about three months. If you were an expectant

mother, would you want to hurry the process? Could any new

development in nutrition or medical science speed up this

wonderful miracle even one iota? If you were a farmer,

would you try to harvest your crop before it was ripe?

Would you dig up your seeds to see if anything was growing

down there?

The answers are obvious. If only we would adopt the same

patient, nurturing "mother's" or "farmer's mindset" towards

getting in shape, then no one would waste their money on

"fast abs" or "exercise in a bottle" or any such silliness

ever again. We would understand that one must sow first,

then reap the harvest, but that you can't sow and reap in

the same season.

If you ever get frustrated with the rate of progress in

your fitness or weight loss program (and who doesn't), just

remember; success is always guaranteed to the persistent.

Nothing in the world can stop someone who knows what they

want and is willing to continue paying the price until they

get it. It just takes time.

Become the architect and builder of your own dream body.

You WILL build the body you want eventually if you're

patient enough and you refuse to quit. And set your goals

HIGH! Create a fantastic blueprint. Michelangelo said, “the

greatest danger is not that we set our goals too high and

miss them, the greatest danger is that we set our goals too

low and we reach them.” Envision a castle - a veritable Taj

Mahal of a body! There's nothing wrong with building

castles in the sky, as long as you patiently work at

putting the foundations underneath them. There are very few

unrealistic goals; only goals with unrealistic deadlines.

So keep laying those "bricks" - every day - one at a time -

and sure enough, eventually, you'll build yourself a palace.