FITNESS MOTIVATION
The Only Thing Stopping You From Building An Exercise Habit
No, it’s nothing to do with programs, exercises or discipline…
Here’s a question you may ask yourself while scrolling online:
How come all these happy clappy *ssholes on Instagram have built an exercise habit, but I can’t?
It’s frustrating seeing people who look dumber than you managing to nail the thing YOU struggle to do. For you:
- Working out is a stop-start thing, not an Every Week thing
- Motivation is up and down
- Even when we are consistent for a while, results aren’t impressive enough to make us catch the exercise bug and build the habit.
So let’s figure out how to make exercise a habit.
And to do that, we need to identify the one thing you’ve probably been overlooking the whole time…
How You Have Built All Your Current Habits
Let’s look at the reasons you’ve built other habits in your life so easily:
- Not doing The Thing means Bad Things Happen that you want to avoid — teeth brushing, going to bed on time, grocery shopping, being nice to your partner ;-)
- Doing The Thing means Good Things Happen pretty quickly that you obviously enjoy — watching TV is entertaining, drinking a beer is relaxing.
All those things have one thing in common — speed.
Good or bad things happen quickly if we do or don’t do The Things. And this is why it’s hard to build a habit of exercise after 40:
- If you DO go work out, nothing good or fun happens straight away
- If you DON’T go work out, nothing bad happens either.
Hmm. You see our predicament, right?
A single bout of exercise has no positive or negative effect on us at all, so we push it back to tomorrow… next week… or when “things are less busy”.
Don’t You Just Need More Discipline?
There is an approach to building habits online, popularized by high profile ex-military guys (Jocko Willink, David Goggins, etc).
Their approach is essentially:
Shut Up, Quit Whining and Just Do It. If you can’t build an exercise habit, you are weak and pathetic, because if ex Navy Seals can do brutal workouts and have cast iron willpower for years then so can you, Gary The Accountant!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of doing your workouts and learning how to get them done when motivation isn’t there…
but I’ve managed to keep working out for 30 years without ever:
- getting up at 5am
- making my bed
- doing grueling workouts that make me puke or
- living my life by any code.
So I assure you we can build an exercise habit without having to berate ourselves into doing it!
The Mindset Shift You Need To Build The Exercise Habit
Here is a simpler way to build an exercise habit that transforms ‘working out’ from being something you guiltily feel you should be doing, and turns it into something you want to do, becoming as much of a habit as brushing your teeth.
You need to start with a Strong Why.
Not ‘get in shape’, ‘feel fitter’ and all that vague stuff — those are too easy to ignore and stay on the sofa.
No, you need to focus on an outcome that’s really really important to you, right now — more important than watching TV or anything else you currently prefer over exercising.
This Strong Why is what you need to start, but it won’t be what keeps you going for years to come and reaping the benefits.
Let me tell you a story…
When I was 17 a guy called Neil in my class started working out, got jacked and got more girls despite being no Brad Pitt.
To a skinny, spotty 17 year old like I was, THIS was a very strong Why.
I wanted to look better in the hope of getting more girls, or actually in my case, just A girl would have sufficed.
- That desire got me started, I wanted to work out 3–4 times a week.
- I understood the outcomes would take a while.
- This Why was strong enough to keep me going for those first couple of months of not having arms like Arnie in Predator overnight.
Unsurprising Plot Twist…
I did NOT get any girls in my teens as a result of working out, as I too was, and am, no Brad Pitt (though my wife is pretty far out of my league so maybe the muscles DID ultimately help me years later).
But in my teens having that Strong Why kept me doing The Thing for long enough to see results, both physical in terms of body shape changes, and mental (building confidence, helping me stay calm).
So I was hooked. It’s been a habit for 30 years now, and is no longer about getting the gurls ;-)
Do This To Find YOUR Why
Before you go creating any workout plan, joining a gym, scheduling workouts and whatever — Stop.
It’ll all be a waste of time until you find a strong enough Why, because without it you won’t stick with the exercise habit for long enough to make any progress.
What is your Big Why then?
Even if you’re in your 40s, it’s OK to steal my 17-year-old Why and just want to look better for your own vanity or your partner ;-)
And let me tell you it is a very low bar these days to look in better shape than most guys our age and get admiring looks!
But maybe you’ve had a health scare, so your Why is to take better care of yourself so you can be there for your kids and grandkids in the coming years?
Maybe you have big plans for travel, life adventures or whatever in the coming years. So your Why is to make sure you’re fit and able to do everything you want, your health and fitness won’t stop you?
Get your Why, and that will get you through the initial couple of months of feeling:
- useless at all this fitness stuff;
- weaker and less fit than others in the gym;
- clueless about how to do various exercises.
That won’t matter because your Why will be strong enough to outweigh that discomfort and crappy feeling.
Why Being Fitter Is Addictive
If you can use that Why to get through those first couple of months, the evidence will start stacking up for you that you should keep exercising. You will finally build the exercise habit and you’ll find yourself WANTING to keep doing it.
Because the side effects of having built an exercise habit become addictive:
- Feel good endorphins from pushing yourself a little;
- Body shape changes, looking better in clothes;
- Strength and fitness gains make you feel increasingly useful and bulletproof;
- A sense of control — life may be a sh*tshow but that barbell will do exactly what you tell it when it’s in your hands!
You will become someone who gets a bit antsy if you don’t work out for a while because you want your ‘hit’, that feeling of control, the sense of taking care of yourself when you know others struggle, the spring in your step you have after a work out where you showed your body who’s boss.
Wanting those outcomes means you’ll keep turning up.
And even if you’re no Brad Pitt like me or Neil, you’ll be happy with how you look and feel in the years to come ;-)
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