So many people tend to make excuses as to why they can’t get fit or even be consistent in their exercise program. You may have heard things like,
“I don’t have enough time,” or
“the gym is too far away,” or
“my children take up too much of my time.”
Those are all excuses. The reality is that we all can exercise. The problem is that the great majority of people don’t really want to. They look for some magic pill solution to getting fit. Folks, let me tell you, there are none.
In order to get fit, you’ve got to want to get fit. Changing how you look at fitness is a big part of the real solution. It’s a mindset change.
How you think about fitness starts with your attitude towards it. That may stem from your childhood, the people you hang around the most, and so forth. Those that have been lifelong athletes tend to keep that mindset. Fitness has always been a part of their daily activities. The average person, and especially in today’s world, tends to be a couch potato. Many are not engaged with their bodies.
In order to develop a mindset for fitness, you’ve got to take action. The reason for this is the development of habits. Now you may be thinking, “If I’m gonna have a mindset for fitness, you mean I gotta get fit?” Well, sort of. You see, athletes have that natural desire to workout because they’ve been doing it most of their life. It’s a habit for them.
What I’m telling you to do is to start taking some sort of action based on a goal and a plan. Baby steps at first and then increase it. I will give you some techniques that will help you achieve this mindset faster.
One of the ways that has helped many is to use visualization. Imagine that you are already an athlete and doing the kind of workouts that they engage in. Make sure this takes place in the future in your mind. What you want to do is to work towards that goal. And speaking of that, having a goal is important. Working towards some purpose will help engage you longer into working out.
In fact, any physical activity that you shoot for will help create the desire necessary to achieve it. Consistent and increasing challenges will help keep you motivated. Hanging out with athletes also will help you develop that mindset. It’s been said that we are the sum average of the 5 people we associate with the most. So, if you associate with really fit people, you’ll start to be more like them. You should be able to find fitness-oriented people within your own community as well as on social media sites, like Facebook.
One tool that will help keep you on track is a journal. Get one and start using it. Your aim is to keep track each day of your activities. Write down all that you did in terms of physical activity and what you ate to feed and fuel your body for performance. The simple process of writing this down will help to install into your subconscious mind that you are fitness-minded. And if you have any challenges that you met and exceeded, write that down too. This adds to what you already did within your own mindset.
BTW, any activity that challenges you physically counts. You don’t have to do to the gym to get a good workout. Having a fitness mindset, you will learn that anywhere is your gym. I recently used what I had in a hotel room to workout. For my back I simply held on to the top edge of the desk and let my body hang below and did body weight rows. I also was able to do body weight squats and push-ups. There was no excuse from me as to why I could not workout. I just did it. It’s my mindset that led me to figure out how.
I wish you the best in your efforts to develop that mindset. Again, keep on track with your journal. Make sure it matches with you personal goals. And take consistent action with ever-increasing challenges. That’s even if you’re simply starting a walking program, like 10,000+ steps a day. Just do it.
Bob Choat works as a Peak Performance Coach/Trainer and has certifications as an NLP Trainer, Hypnotherapist, NASM-Certified Personal Trainer, & EEG Neurofeedback Practitioner. His formal education includes a Masters in Psychology as well as degrees in Leadership and Business.
Bob is a Peak Performance Coach, Trainer, Public Speaker, Writer, and Fitness Coach at Robert L. Choat & Associates.
He lives in Granada Hills, CA.
