Every day we make thousands of choices – some big, some small – and every one of them can influence your life. Even the most minor choice you make can have a major impact.

Before an early morning workout, for instance, you can choose to go out partying all night, or you can choose to go to bed early. You can choose to hit the snooze button several times and rush to your session on an empty stomach, or you can wake up early and have a healthy, energizing breakfast. You can choose to have steak and eggs for breakfast with a nice cup of coffee and a handful of almonds, or you can quickly wolf down a bowl of cereal with skim milk, a banana and a glass of orange juice. You can choose to do a circuit training program with plenty of big, compound, multi-joint movements, or you could hop on a treadmill for an hour…

I’ve been in the field of personal training for over 20 years now and I’ve seen it all. People believe that hiring a trainer is all it takes to get in shape. Not true! A trainer can certainly help you get in shape, but the onus is on you. You ultimately control your fate. No one can do it for you. A trainer can lead you to water (filtered water, of course), but they can’t force you to drink.

Remember, a trainer is only with you for an hour – once, twice, maybe three times a week – that’s it! The rest of the time you’re on your own. And when you’re with that trainer, if you come in to the session with a negative attitude, you won’t achieve a positive response.

Personal training is what you make of it. A personal trainer can guide you and motivate you, but you need to push yourself to work hard in order to succeed. That applies outside the gym as much as it does inside the gym. You’ve heard it before: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym!” No donut enters your stomach by chance. It enters by choice!

Start the year off right: Make the right choices and you’ll get the right response.