PAURIC GRIMES: ‘I wish I’d started later’

“I WISH I’d started later.” said no one ever.

You think about it, anyone who has found success in life isn’t going to say “If only I’d given it a few more years of thinking time I’d have gotten there quicker.”

They could be talking about learning an instrument, opening a business or more in keeping with the theme of this column – taking action on their health and fitness.

I was lucky enough to be involved in the early knockings of an incredible weight loss story. For years this guy allowed himself to believe he was built to be overweight. Had been overweight from his youth and had accepted he would be no other way until the day he died.

Until that was he got a health scare which prompted him to take action, or that day would arrive at his door sooner than he was ready for.

Fast forward two years and he has lost a mind boggling 70kg+, ran countless 5ks and completed his first marathon. This is a far cry from getting out of puff walking up the stairs.

And as much as he is proud, and rightly so, of everything that he’s achieved, there is one thing he still has a tinge of regret over. “Why didn’t I do this years ago?”

So if you’re in the contemplation stage of taking action, to borrow a tagline from one of the world’s most recognisable sporting brands – Just do it.

This column is for retired players, which means one major benefit you have over your former self is you get to be selfish. Selfish with where your attention goes. Selfish with where your energy goes.

Below are three ideas I want you to be selfish with. Put some of your time and energy into these are they’ll help re-ignite that fire in your belly, give purpose to your daily decisions and improve your general performance.

1. Consistently good beats occasionally great. One of the biggest separators between the high performers I’ve worked with and those who struggle to sustain prolonged success, be that with their own physique, their sporting ambitions or their business, is their relentless consistency. They keep doing the boring things where others fall short. They drink their water, they don’t miss a workout, they have a day to day routine and they stick to it without fail. How can you become more consistent?

2, If your world came to its knees in the morning, who would you turn to? Who are the handful of people who immediately spring to mind that you would trust to help turn things around? Thankfully your world isn’t on its knees but those people came into your mind for a reason. So I’ll put this to you – Are you currently connecting enough with them? Are they in your boardroom? Are you consciously making an effort to spend time with the right type of person?

3. Fear is a performance-enhancing drug. There is no need for needles and tablets when you are standing on the other side of your comfort zone. The fear of the unknown. The fear of failure. Even the fear of success can be what pours cement at your feet and stops you from moving forwards. So lean into that fear. Let it sharpen your focus. Use fear as just another tool to take a step in the right direction.

And even if none of the above hits home. If you aren’t quite there yet and it all feels a little wide of the mark there is one big takeaway you can put into play – No one ever wishes they started later.

So start now.