White Lies We Tell Ourselves About Our Fitness

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White Lies We Tell Ourselves About Our Fitness by Coach Jared Macdonald 

 

What do you do when motivation wanes or disappears completely? This is a common problem with just about every aspect of life, but especially when it comes to health and fitness. The New Year isn’t so new, life is busy, days are longer, sleep is shorter. We tell ourselves three little lies that sabotage our efforts.

  1. You have to be inspired to have good habits

This is usually backwards, action creates inspiration…..action is the key

2.  You should always be motivated to do them

There is no such thing as permanent motivation, you will not always have flow

3. Experts are always motivated to do them

What separates amateurs from “experts” is not motivation, but action! They hunker down and find a way to get the job done even when they don’t feel like it and keep practicing/training when they hit a plateau

 

So how you find the will when motivation abandons? Here are some strategies special forces use to push through their rigorous training, and corporate executives to tackle their biggest projects.

 

 

  • Break a big goal down into small chunks, it’s less intimidating and easier to act
  • Make getting out of the bed the hardest part of the day, if the hardest part of the day is already over everything else is downhill
  • Quit tomorrow, keep moving today…..rinse/repeat
  • Focus on the next rep, calorie, good habit, not the larger challenge
  • Celebrate small victories, success breeds success

 

 

Finally, incorporate the 3 “S’s” to help fuel action.

 

 

  • Structure

 

      • Have a daily, weekly routine that helps you stay organized
      • Look for a gym that is convenient to home or work
      • Stock your kitchen with healthy food

 

  • Systems

 

      • Have an evening ritual of laying out your gym clothes
      • Have a morning ritual for making your food for the day
      • Start your workout with a warm-up that prepares your body to move

 

  • Scheduling

 

    • You don’t go to routine doctors/dentist visits on the day you feel like it, you make an appointment. Do the same with exercise and nutrition, make appointments to eat and workout. You will be more likely to act!