We live in a “I want it now!” society where instant gratification is rampant. If we only think back to our own childhoods, such a lot has changed. I used to wake up on Saturday mornings to watch the one channel that had cartoons on it. My brother and I actually had to sit through cartoons we didn’t like because we knew that better ones were on the way. This took patience and discipline but we were happy to pay the price to get what we wanted in the end.
Fast forward to today and we have hundreds of choices in everything we do. Our focus and attention have never been more tested. Social media, advertising, the internet and hot trends are ripping our attention to pieces. Now, more than ever, we need to build our discipline muscle and save ourselves from a halfhearted life of distraction.
When it comes to fitness, the industry has been plagued by offers of instant fixes for your fat loss or muscle gain. This has led to the public believing the hype that you can actually get these amazing results with very little time and effort. This not only hurts the genuine trainers that are doing things right, but also destroys the client’s ability to build a fitness foundation for lasting results. Instead, people get down hearted and frustrated after one month of very few perceived results.
If you haven’t done enough work, why do you expect the results? Getting fit and in great shape is like everything else in life…you get out what you put in. It sounds harsh but it’s true. As the motivational speaker Tony Robbins often says, “You are rewarded in public what you practice in private”. Pull yourself away from the high of instant gratification to focus on your long term game. It’s so much more satisfying! Doing the work pays off, but you need to understand the process.
6 keys to sticking to your fitness journey and getting the results you want:
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Schedule a meeting with yourself every day
To be successful, your workout has to be a top priority in your day. It’s right up there with a meeting with your boss, having a daily shower or brushing your teeth. It simply does not get skipped or pushed to the side for other much less important tasks.
We don’t like to admit it (being busy is celebrated as a measurement of importance), but we all have the time. Planning is a vital ingredient. Do not go to bed without taking five minutes to write out the sequence of the following day. By doing this, you are less likely to allow other demands on your time to drive you from your original plan. When you are starting out, try to get that workout done first thing in the morning. The energy it will create for the rest of your day is worth the few minutes sleep you exchange for it.
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Become a Fanatic
“I have to do my workout!!!”. I haven’t screamed this in many years but I used to all the time at friends and family. It took a long time for them to get it. When you start exercising (or start any new habit), the beginning can be exciting but soon after it can get tough. Usually your experience goes from unbearable to uncomfortable to unstoppable.
Sticking to working out through the first two phases is essential to getting to the unstoppable zone. Once you arrive here, nothing will prevent you from working out and it becomes so much easier to say no to all the potential things that would usually get in your way.
As author Greg McKeown talks about in his book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, focus on the essential few choices in your life over the trivial many. Hence my screams of protest when someone or something was messing with my planned indispensable session. When you become a fanatic, your results go through the roof because missing your training is no longer an option.
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Get your timing right
Remember that change takes time. Inside changes come first and the outside changes follow. Over the first few weeks of a training programme, your body is adapting to the added stress that it’s suddenly under. It’s adapting by learning the way it needs to move for each exercise, setting its balance and becoming aware of how it feels.
Lots of these changes are neuromuscular which means you won’t consciously feel them or see physical changes, but understand that you are taking big steps forward. Be patient with your body. Don’t train hard for four weeks and then throw in the towel because the physical changes have yet to show. You are building your internal foundation on which you will see the external results. After six to eight weeks you will start to see your work pay off. Give yourself a huge pat on the back! You stayed motivated, had faith that your body was doing its thing, and now you’re starting to see results.
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Forget the scales!
How scary are scales?! Does anyone in the world like this apparatus that makes us feel bad all the time? The only thing I use the old scales in my house for is to weigh my bag when I’m travelling. It’s certainly handy for that!
Don’t limit yourself to exercising just to lose weight. This goal lacks positive power. Exercise to have more energy or fit into that beautiful dress you have. Rock up to the gym each day to be able to run after your children or move your body with no aches and pains. Bust out those training sessions to get the tone in your legs and arms that you’ve always wanted. These goals pack a punch and get you fired up!
Losing weight can quickly turn into an unhealthy obsession so forget it from the start. There are so many other fitness goals that will energise you without having to rely on a number from a scales to determine your happiness. Pay special attention to how you feel, your energy levels, how well you’re sleeping and how your clothes are fitting you. This will give you all the feedback you need.
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Say goodbye to some options
I was out in a shopping centre with my brother recently and we were deciding where to eat. I didn’t know the area so he quickly listed the places to get food near us. He listed a few restaurants and finished with a famous major fast food restaurant. This is a guy who struggles a little to stay trim so we discussed why the last place he listed off was simply not an option.
When we are on a mission to become the fittest we have ever been, we have to axe some places, foods and activities from ever being a choice for us again. Personally, I avoid fast food restaurants (especially the major chains) and fizzy drinks and crisps are also no longer an option for me in my life. I know that choosing these things throw me way off track and hurt the speed at which I achieve my objective.
Reducing my body fat percentage or gaining two kilos of muscle by a certain date feels so much better than the taste of a mouthful of processed, fatty food. Sacrifice is a part of your fitness journey so embrace the challenge. You won’t always make the perfect choice but you will be switched on and not just cruising on autopilot.
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Build momentum, momentum, momentum!
Nothing beats the feeling of being on a roll…you’re in the habit and you are flying along! Guard this momentum. We all know that’s it’s tough to get moving so keep going! Everyone has had that feeling of missing consecutive training sessions. When you finally decide to get going again it feels almost as if you are starting over. You lost your momentum.
Don’t let this happen and remember that, to keep things ticking along, you don’t always have to complete a full session. We all know that life can throw things at us that destroy our plans, but even something as small as a one or two-minute burst of activity (think push-ups, squats, jumping jacks or burpees) will fire your muscles and keep away that horrible guilty feeling. Even better, it will continue your roll towards your goal.
Modern life has distorted our perception of how long it takes to cement a change in our life. Contrary to what the advertisements have us believe, anything worth doing, that will give you long lasting results, takes time.
“Instant” is excellent for entertainment and fun but no good for your body. When you decide to change your body shape and performance, understand that you will have to do at least eight weeks of hard work before the real noticeable results start to happen. If you sign up for a training programme knowing this, you have such a better chance of completing the programme, getting the results you wanted, and avoiding the disappointment that always hits you when you feel something isn’t working.
In those first eight weeks, you will be fighting all the bad habits you have picked up. So put your head down, refuse to yield, and pop out the other side with the belief that, if you stick to the plan, the results will appear.