Fitness: Understand your 'why' to get the most out of your time in the gym

Creating a robust New Year’s resolution to drive positive change.

That time of year is upon us again when we turn our focus to creating resolutions that will lead us to live a healthier lifestyle. As well-intentioned as our resolutions may be, the reality for many is that they are short-lived and quite quickly motivation wanes. Before long we are back to square one, frustrated we cannot hold true to our intentions. But why is this? We genuinely want to be healthier & live a better quality of life. So why do our good intentions and motivation dissipate?

The answer is often rooted in our ultimate reason for change, your why. Your why is the most critical component for introducing, & maintaining, positive change in your life. Identifying your deepest reason for change is the first step in creating a healthier lifestyle and is what will maintain your perseverance, particularly in challenging times. 

The opposite unfortunately is also true. When your reason for change is not deeply rooted in you, then motivation can quickly fade and most likely diminish when the obstacles of everyday life come our way. When we genuinely examine our current situation through deep reflection and identify why we want to change for the better, we are creating a 'guiding star' for ourselves that will help to keep us pushing through when we feel like giving up. 

Ultimately your why is the vision of the person that we wish to be. It will drive us to wake up early or go for that run in the rain, or do that gym session when we are tired. Our why gives us purpose & provides the fuel for the fire required to achieve our goals; to be that person we wish to be!

Everyone’s why will be unique to them. The key is that your why is deeply rooted in why you want to better yourself or achieve a particular goal. 

For example; you may wish to exercise regularly due to mental benefits and how much better you feel; you may wish to tone up or lose a few kg so you feel better about yourself physically; you may wish to train so you eventually can run that marathon you have always desired to do; you might just enjoy the social interaction of completing a fitness class!; or you may wish to improve your health and wellbeing because you know how important it is to people you love the most! 

OWNERSHIP

The key is that the reason is most inherently important to you!

Once you have identified your why, now we turn to moving this to action. The next step is creating a simple plan to help us achieve. The keyword being simple!

Simple enables the greatest opportunity to persist with the plan and achieve gradual improvement over time. When we know our task is relatively simple to execute, it eliminates the temptation of quitting due to complexity. However, simple is not to be confused with easy! Easy is doing something that is not challenging and ultimately will never allow you to achieve your goal. 

Remember the greatest of athletes go through periods of reduced motivation. The reason they ultimately succeed, is their ability to stick with the grind during these periods, knowing it will bring them closer to their goals their why. They have created the habit of sticking to their plan. 

You can achieve the same. By creating a plan that is realistically achievable, allows you to create a path to your ultimate destination, Your Why. You can roadmap the journey by creating achievable targets. Milestone targets & goals are like signposts on life’s motorway. They produce positive reinforcement you are progressing closer to your destination, as well as reassurance, we are still on the right road!

The most important characteristic in determining the success of your plan/routine is the ability to show up. When we decide that we are going to show up & commit to what we have set down, we are on the road to progress, the road to positive change. 

Every journey begins with a first step. It is this ability to continue to show up, no whatever what the voice in our head in telling us, that will result in long-term success. Think of it as every day you have a decision to make, will I show up and choose the path that brings me closer to the person I wish to be (my why)?

Or will I choose the path that takes me further away from that person I wish to be?

There shall be periods when making the correct decision will feel difficult, this is natural. But our ability to continue to show up for our stated activity will eventually lead to the results we desire.

Now I am going to be fully transparent, you may not see or even feel these results in the early stages, again that’s natural. Remember it's simple, but not easy! 

But if we continue to show up and stay true to our why the results will come. When this occurs, we have now moved into a prime position for reinforcing positive change. Now we are receiving positive feedback continually from our efforts. 

The dopamine flow kicks into to overdrive. This is the point where you verify your efforts are driving you closer to your why, ie. your process for progress is effective. However, we cannot get complacent at this stage. 

We have battled through some very challenging periods of self-doubt and hardship. We have worked hard to put ourselves in this position to achieve consistent progress. But we are yet to achieve our goal, so at this point, we remain disciplined to the process and continue striving forward towards our destination.

What if we may arrive at a great position where we have achieved our goal? Simple, start the process again. There is always a deep meaning for you to become the best version of you, a so-called infinite purpose!

KEY TIPS

Identify your why!

Create a simple plan!

Always show up!

Continue to drive ahead!