I’m going to let you in on the BEST motivation secret that practically guarantees you will get in the best shape of your life. This strategy was passed on to me a few years ago by my friend Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, during one of our conversations on how to get ripped. This one secret has had the biggest and most profound impact on sculpting my physique. Even more important, it taught me a whole new appreciation for my body, which has ensured my long term success.
Tom and I were talking about the way that most people set goals and why they fail to achieve them. Tom brought up the point, “If you just set a personal goal, but it doesn’t have external motivation, external accountability factors built into it you’ve got to be really self motivated. Not many of us are that self motivated. I don’t think anybody can maintain total internal self motivation 100 percent of the time forever. Everybody feels these peaks and valleys at times.”
I then asked Tom, “So how can someone get that external motivation and external accountability in order to keep their motivation high and follow through with their goals?”
Tom said, “The one strategy that I recommend is to schedule the timing of your goal to get super lean with an event. Invent your own event if you have to, because most people are not going to get a phone call from Muscle and Fitness or Oxygen magazine saying, “Hey, we want you on the cover in eight weeks.” That would definitely motivate you.
Most people aren’t going to get a call from a movie producer that says, “Hey, we want you to play the next action hero in our next movie. By the way, you’re going to be in a skin tight outfit.” Most people aren’t going to even win a spot in The Biggest Loser. Most people are not going to compete in bodybuilding.
You have to create a game, or create an event if you’re not invited to one or if there’s not one immediately available to you. For example, there’s lots of opportunities, people get married. Do you want to be in the best shape of your life for the wedding and the honeymoon? Of course. That’s an event.
Do you have a 10, 15 or 20 year reunion coming up? There’s an event. You’ve got a vacation coming up, there’s an event. You’ve got a cruise and you want to look good. There’s an event.
…Hire a photographer. Have them shoot some before photos. Then schedule a date about 12 weeks from now, pay them in advance for the second shoot and tell them to keep the money if you don’t show up.
Now you just invented an event, train for your own photo shoot. No one has to see the photos, but at least you invented an event and there’s something at stake. If you want more leverage, get on a blog and write about what you’re doing and post your photos.
If you find a game, a sport, an event where there’s some real rewards, there’s real consequences, there’s accountability, you’ve got leverage on yourself. Just being fully engaged in that… it might be the only mental toughness strategy you need, because it’s just built in.
If you would like to read the full conversation that I had with Tom, you can download it by clicking Metabolic Masterpiece Super Lean Secrets.
As soon as Tom mentioned the words “photo shoot” a light bulb went off in my head. Something about it really resonated with me. I didn’t have any desire to step on stage and compete in a bodybuilding contest, but I wanted to look like I could compete. Scheduling a photo shoot would give me the same kind of accountability and motivation to push myself for the complete duration of my transformation journey.
I learned a lot from that first photo shoot 3 years ago (pictured to the right). I made the mistake of thinking that I had lots of time to get ripped. Then 4 weeks prior to the photo shoot I was in desperation mode. Although I look pretty darn good and came in pretty darn lean I was not as shredded as I had wanted to be.
I also learned that even when you are lean, having body hair can hide some of your definition. I was very resistant to shaving my body hair for the first photo shoot. After seeing the pictures I vowed to shave before all future photo shoots.
What made the first photo shoot extra special was that my wife took part in it as well. That added a lot of extra motivation as we were both reminding each other of the deadline. We also talked about how we were going to reward ourselves after the photo shoot.
Angie kicked things up a notch by purchasing a bathing suit that she wanted to fit into for the photo shoot. She hung it up on the door so she could see it first thing in the morning and right before she went to bed. It was a constant reminder of her goal.
After experiencing the motivation and accountability benefits from that first photo shoot I knew I need to take advantage of it when I set a goal to get ripped by my 36th birthday last September. The experience this time around was completely different. I definitely gained some confidence when I went through it the first time. I also didn’t make the mistake of waiting until 4 weeks out in order to buckle down.
The greatest difference however was the photo shoot itself. This photographer made me feel really comfortable and she put me in poses that were more casual. Bottom line… she made me feel sexy.
When you make the decision to book your photo shoot I recommend that you do more than just take pictures of yourself posing and flexing. I recommend bringing a variety of cloths and props to play around with. As nice as it was to see myself posing and flexing, I love this shot of myself with jeans and a dress shirt unbuttoned.
Seeing these professional photo’s of myself has really given me a great sense of pride in my accomplishments… but more than anything it has provided me with an incredible appreciation of my physique. I think of training as an art form and seeing these photos of myself is a way of displaying my artwork.
I’ve said this many times since the last photo shoot… getting professional photos that showcase the hard work, commitment, and dedication that you put toward sculpting your body is the greatest reward that you can give yourself. To me, it’s much greater than the accountability and motivation factors that come with booking it in advance.
I now use photo shoots to help me focus on continued progress… and to ensure that I don’t slip up. I have another one booked two months from now. It’s been planned ever since I took part in the last photo shoot. The goal is to showcase the new muscle that I’ve gained and to come in even more RIPPED than the last photo shoot.
It’s been absolutely awesome to see several other Metabolic Masterpiece body sculptors now booking their own photo shoots. I’m looking forward to coaching them through their journey and can’t wait to see their art work displayed in the Metabolic Masterpiece Art Gallery.
I would love to see you do the same thing and schedule a photo shoot for yourself this year. Set a date that will challenge you to stick with the program, but make sure that it’s a realistic deadline that you can absolutely achieve when you put forth consistent and dedicated effort. If it’s going to take you until December 30th to achieve your goal, then schedule your photo shoot for that day.
…Bottom line, I really want you to book it and make 2012 the year that you display your body as a work of art and appreciate the beauty that you posses. I want 2012 to be the year that you appreciate your physique and admire it’s uniqueness. I want this to be the year that you become fascinated with your body and pay attention to the finer details. I want 2012 to be the year that you sculpt a masterpiece!
In the next few posts I’ll discus my experience with final preparations for a photo shoot. Lessons I learned and what I will do different for this upcoming photo shoot. I’ll be discussing water and carb manipulation and providing you with some tips to ensure that you will come in looking your absolute best, so be on the lookout. It’s time to ROCK!
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
About The Author
Scott Tousignant, BHK, is a Certified Fitness Consultant with a passion for transforming fitness enthusiasts into physique artists. His most recent program, Metabolic Masterpiece guides you through the process of sculpting your body into a work of art, by applying what Scott has coined, “The A.T.T.R.A.C.T. Formula.
With his synergistic, boredom busting body sculpting workouts you will melt stubborn fat and gain muscle while skyrocketing your metabolism!