If you have ever started a workout routine and failed to finish what you started, you are not alone. In fact, over 90% of people who make a New Year’s resolution to get in shape end up quitting within the first month. In this article, I am going to discuss why it can be so difficult to stick with a routine and what you can do to make sure you always follow through with your goals.
Why do so many people who start out with a no nonsense muscle building program, or any other program for that matter, quit after only a few short weeks? The first reason is simply because the don’t get clear about what they really want. They may say something like,”I want to build some muscle” or “I’m going to get in shape this year” and they leave it at that. Think about it for a moment. This approach is similar to somebody just getting into their car and driving without having a specific place to go in mind. It can be confusing, frustrating, and you’re not going to reach your destination.
In order to successfully stick with a program, you need to have a clear idea of what it is you want to accomplish. Here are some examples of bad goals, good goals, better goals, and the best kind of goal.
- Bad goal-I am going to get into shape this year
- Good goal-I am going to gain 15 lbs of muscle and get my body-fat% down to 10%
- Better Goal-On Monday, Wednesday,and Friday, I am going to follow through and execute the exercises laid out for me in the No Nonsense Muscle Building program(or whatever plan you are doing), on Tuesday and Friday I am going to do some cardiovascular exercise, and on the weekends I am going to rest. I am also going to keep track of what I eat and start buying healthy foods at the grocery store.
- Best goal-I am going to do my part and execute the plan laid out before me in the No Nonsense Muscle Building program and I am going to follow through on following the meal plan because I looked in the mirror and I was disgusted with my body. If I am disgusted with my body, my spouse is probably disgusted as well and it feels horrible. Living like this is not how I want to live because it is not congruent with who I am and I know I can be better. Also, I want to know what it feels like to be in amazing shape, to have men staring at me in envy and have women giving me double takes. It would be a shame to never experience this and If I keep going down the same road I will never have the chance to. In addition to never experiencing these amazing feelings, I will also experience all kinds of health problems and will probably die an early death.
These are just a few examples of goals, but there are two things I want to talk about in the last one:
You need to also be clear about WHY you are setting this goal. Most people will get the idea in their head one day about building muscle or getting in shape. They may have seen someone who they thought looked good or saw themselves in the mirror and got a quick spark of inspiration, but that is as far as it goes. Their motivation levels dwindle after a few days and they go back to living the way they did before. You need to be absolutely certain about the reasons why you want to workout in the gym, but you also need to be crystal clear about all the things you will miss out on if you don’t follow through.
Write a list all the benefits you will experience if you reach your goals.
Write down all the pain you will experience if you don’t follow through.
Where will you be in 5 years if you keep doing what you did today? 10 years? Will you be happy?
Look over this list 3 times a day and soon you will start to notice that you’re motivation levels are through the roof and you are experiencing an urge to follow through that you never had before. Once all those reasons that you wrote down start to sink into your subconscious mind, it becomes automatic and you just become a machine(in a good way). Don’t take my word for it, though. Follow through on this for just 10 days and see if you notice a change in your motivation levels.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that it better to focus on what you can control. For example, you’ll notice that rather than focusing on gaining 15 pounds of muscle, I focused on following through with my exercise plan. You can’t control how you body reacts to certain stimuli, like weight lifting or eating properly. You may do everything you were supposed to do, but if your body only gained 14 lbs of muscle, did you fail? Probably not. However, this is another sticking point where people can get frustrated and give up. They set goals that they can’t control. They might spend 6 months following a plan, but they may not have reached the point they think they should be at or they may not have achieved the same results that somebody else has. Just avoid this potential frustration by focusing on what you can control and executing it.
If you do these simple steps there will be nothing that can stop you from achieving your goals. While these tips may be easy to do, they are also easy to not do. Like Nike says, “Just Do It”. Remember, it’s the little things in life that make the big difference. Follow Through Right Now.