Hardest part of simply working out is consistency

The most common excuse, being “I'm too busy.”

Which there's no denying that life makes it tough at times to make time for your workouts.

Especially after a long day and all you feel like doing is relaxing. But whether you have time constraints or not, you still have to work out. You still have to be consistent.

So, how do you find the motivation and desire to work out consistently when it’s hard enough just to get started?

DON’T OVER-COMMIT

In other words, make a smaller commitment. Many people struggle to stay consistent because they over-commit.

Example: They commit to working out 6 days a week for life when they aren’t exercising at all right now.

That isn’t the only type of over-commitment.

The other type is over-committing to how long or how hard each workout is going to be.

If you’re not working out now, committing to working out an hour a day sounds great, but can be very challenging to follow through with.

After all, consistency is more important than anything else you could be focusing on.

MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE

Reaching your goals, and more importantly maintaining your goals, is a life-long process. You can not just hit it hard for a month or two and expect to achieve the results you want and keep them forever.

No, fitness is a lifestyle.

you will have ups … you will have downs … there will be times you really hit it hard and make a lot of progress … and there will be times that you are taking it a little easier.

Having the mindset out of the gate helps with consistency and longevity of sticking to the plan, because it alleviates a lot of pressure.

A small step forward is better than doing nothing that day. Do the best you can in each situation and understand that one workout isn’t going to make or break your results.

PUT IT ON YOUR SCHEDULE

Yes, physically put your workout into your schedule.

By putting your daily exercise time into your schedule (no matter how short or long), you prioritize the workout in your day.

This simple action makes it a little commitment to yourself and will show you that you do have time in your day for it.

Try your best to not move the time around and definitely avoid skipping it altogether.

If you do have to move your workout time though, re-schedule it for sometime in the week, don’t just tell yourself you’ll fit it in somewhere else because let’s be honest … that won’t happen.

SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE

What we say matters. It matters a hell of a lot more than you think.

What we say shapes our mindset and our reality.

Without getting into a metaphysical discussion, just look at these examples and see how you FEEL after saying them…

I can’t do it.

I can never lose weight.

I suck at this.

It’s too hard.

I don’t have time.

Now, say these phrases and notice how you FEEL.

I can do it.

I can lose weight.

I’ll get better.

It’s getting easier and easier every time.

I will reach my goals.

The last list of phrases made you FEEL better … didn’t it?

When you change your thoughts and words … you’ll change your mindset and results.

REFLECT AND REWARD

That would be a great time to take a second to reflect and pat yourself on the back for sticking to the commitment to work out.

Unfortunately, though, most people will focus only on the fact they couldn't do their normal workout ... they'll focus on the frustration... which doesn't help.

Instead it would be better to acknowledge that you had to change plans, think about how you can prevent that in the future, and then also take a second to remind yourself "even with the change, I still got it done rather than skipping it like I would have before."

Then, as you reach smaller goals, say, consistently working out 5 times in the week as you committed to, reward yourself for sticking to it, or at a bare minimum, acknowledge it.

This reward doesn’t have to be big (and you should try not to make the reward one that undoes your progress), but by rewarding yourself for reaching that smaller goal ... you are reinforcing the positive actions that it took to accomplish it.

RECRUIT AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

Having a trusted friend, loved one, or co-worker join you in your fitness journey can make a huge difference in your success.

We spend the majority of our day around these individuals anyway, so having daily support from them makes sticking to the plan easier.

You can help one another work through excuses and give each other a kick in the ass when needed.

ACTUALLY PREPARE

The simple truth is that by preparing, you eliminate a lot of excuses.

For example, by simply taking your gym bag with you for the day it eliminates the excuse of not having your stuff with you … not having time to run home and change … or if your workout time changes, you are prepared to workout at any time.

Most people fail because they don’t take the few minutes needed to prepare.

Because they aren’t prepared, they feel stressed and anxious, which leads to them wanting to eliminate the stress, so they just cancel their workout plans.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

This might be my favorite point.

It's also the point that I think I do the best in many areas of my life and what has helped me the most.

Because the truth of the matter is, in most cases, what we need to do is simple. It might not be easy, but it's simple.

We just make it complicated.

Take working out for example. We can technically workout anywhere.

We can run ... walk ... do push-ups, air squats, sit-ups, lunges ... and the list goes on and on.

Because in the grand scheme of things, when it comes to building the habit of working out and earning results from it ... what matters most is

ACTUALLY working out.

Then, second-most important, is the effort we give during the workout ... and third, would be the actual program or style of workout.

Said a different way, you could have the "best plan" in the world, but you wouldn't get any results if you didn't actually do it, and didn't put forth a good effort.

So, keep it simple.

Workout ... give your best effort for the day ... and keep moving forward.

#DONTLETANYONE