In my experience with the fitness, one of the most challenging conflicts in being successful with your fitness plan is sticking to it. I’ll be one of the first to admit, that fitness isn’t easy. It’s one of those things, that if it was – everyone would be doing it and doing it well.
Let’s clear up a few things that often get in the way:
- Starting a fitness journey cannot be a fleeting thought. Decisions made at 2am or because your saw a cool advertising sign, likely won’t be the reason you stick to a program, at least not long term.
- Starting a fitness journey cannot be something someone else wants you to do. If your spouse or partner wants you to lead a healthier lifestyle or your doctor tells you exercise should be in your weekly plan, likely won’t be the reason yo stick to a program, again, at least not long term.
So, if you personally want to make some lifestyle changes and are driven by factors that are important to you like longevity, your family, happiness, better sleep, and so on then here are some steps to help make your fitness journey successful.
- Schedule your workout time. This is a lifestyle change – you must make it a part of your life. These fitness appointments cannot be traded for other time or other appointments.
- Your gym should be convenient. If you choose a gym or coach that is either close to home or close to work you will be more likely to attend. It should be on the physical path you travel most days.
- Invest in you. Fitness and nutrition are a hard and confusing journey. There is a lot of information available to you, hire a professional to guide you and coach you through the process.
- Find a community that fits you. This might sound weird to be in this list but the people who are clients in the gym you decide to work out in are important. You have to like going there and soon enough you’ll even like the workouts despite how easy or hard they might feel.
- Remind yourself why you started on this path every day. You might need a few pep talks along the way. Some will come from your coach, some from your loved ones, many will come from you. Be positive in the talks you have with yourself and celebrate your wins; big and small.
Fitness should be fun and rewarding. Some days might be hard but once you start you’ll have days in the future where you look back and reflect on where you started and how far you’ve come.