The OAR and the BED*

Wednesday, 10 July 2019, By Jamie Crowe

Have you worked hard to achieve a result, just to find yourself back at the start again? Have you found yourself in a situation where you thought; "I'd be able to have the body I wanted if my life was like this", or "if my partner wasn't like that", or "if the gym was closer to my house"? Sound familiar?

In your journey you have the choice to play above or below the line.

Above the line is good, above the line will get you the lifestyle you want and deserve, above the line behaviour will have you looking and feeling good, and if its maintained it will keep you that way.


Above the line personal characteristics include:

Ownership - taking ownership for where you are at, your mistakes, your wins and losses. Not blaming anyone else for your state or actions.

Accountability - Holding yourself accountable to your personal commitments.

Responsibility - Understanding that you are responsible for getting yourself to where you want to be. Yes, your family can create an "easier" environment, your trainer will definitely guide you thus minimizing setbacks and raising confidence… But ultimately, we are responsible for the person we become and the lifestyle we choose to make out of our current situation.


Now below the line… Hmm.

This is the "easy" way. The behaviours that guarantee a lack of results, or will at least ensure any positive results obtained will be temporary and short-lived.

Below the line personal characteristics include:

Blame - Blaming other people for sabotaging your results.

Excuses - Attempting to take away any sense of responsibility for your results.

Denial - "I didn't eat the cake, I swear!"

Look, let's be real here. No one has ever tied you down with a funnel in your mouth pouring a blended mess of wine, cheese and chocolate into it…You picked it up with your hand, put it in your mouth and started chewing, because it was tasty, or maybe you were sad, or had a long day at work. Then you felt bad and decided to say it was your friend's fault because they pressured you into it.

That seems like the easier way out for sure, issue is you're the only one that loses there.

Now imagine if you turned it around and owned it, you said: "Damn I really overate at lunch today, next time I'll have 2 glasses of red instead of the whole bottle": OWNERSHIP

"Alright I've overeaten, but I have 3 more kilograms to lose before my holiday, I need to figure out how to burn this off" - ACCOUNTABILITY.

"Okay I'll track all the food I ate at lunch, message my trainer and ask how much exercise I have to do to burn it all off!" - RESPONSIBILITY.

12 hours of sprints later, and you're are back on track to the holiday body.


We all slip up from time to time, it is an inevitable part of your journey. Getting a result isn't about never slipping up, it's about how you handle the slip up.

By blaming anyone else for your slip up, creating excuses to take away your responsibility in the scenario, or being in denial about it happening; you completely give away your power to control your life and your health.

Take control of your health, take ownership for where you are at right now, set goals, hold yourself accountable to them and make it your responsibility to handle any barriers that come up along the way.


So will you use your OAR, or stay in BED today?



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