It doesn’t matter how great your fitness program is, if your head is not in the right place, your results will be mediocre at best. If you want to see significant changes, you must first conquer yourself, and any limiting beliefs or behaviors you may have. Working on yourself and your belief system is a big part of achieving fitness success. In this article, I’m going to perform a good ol’ fashioned “Jedi mind trick” and convince you to release the fitness superstar I know lies deep inside of you. Let the brainwashing begin!
- You Must Truly Believe Your Goal Is Possible: Many people merely pay “lip service” to the idea that they can reach their goals, whereas deep down they don’t really believe it. This may be because of past failures or lack of confidence in their own abilities.
Unless you truly believe, you will never commit yourself fully to do what it’s gonna take to get the job done. So take a good look at yourself, and try to be aware of your thought processes. What happens in your mind when you’re thinking about doing a workout, but you don’t, or when you eat crap that’s no good for you? What is the internal dialogue?
You see I believe that anyone can achieve lifelong fitness, if they’re pointed in the right direction. Explore this website and you can see and read about success stories Personal Trainers Toronto clients who are just like you, people who faced similar fears and challenges, and have surpassed them. You can do it too!
- You Must Believe You Deserve It: This is really a question of your self-worth, which, if you’ve struggled with your fitness in the past, may not be at its highest. But guess what? The past does not equal the present. If you do not move forward, and let go of these negative emotions, you will find a way to sabotage yourself, perhaps without even being aware of it.
Look, the human body is designed to be a high-performance machine. If yours doesn’t feel like one right now, this is a direct result of the decisions you make. Take responsibility for your health and well-being, and dump all the rest of that stupid head trash! No matter where you are today, YOU have the power to change where you are tomorrow by the decisions you make. So make good ones.
- You Must Take Action: You’ve probably heard it said that knowledge is power. Well, I’m here to tell you that knowledge is not power. Knowledge that is acted upon is power! It doesn’t matter how many Personal Trainers Toronto articles on nutrition or training you read, if you don’t implement what you’re learning, this won’t help you change your body.
Achieving lifelong health and fitness requires a daily commitment. You must do at least one thing each day that will contribute to your success. That can be as simple as going for a brisk 15 minute walk, or choosing brown rice instead of white, but it needs to be consistent action. Don’t confuse activity with progress. You can start with something small, but always be looking to follow through and add to what you’re doing so you continue to move forward.
- Adopt A New Mindset: What it really comes down to is developing new and more supportive ways of thinking about food and exercise. With the right thinking will come the right habits.
This starts with recognizing that food is not merely a source of pleasure, it is fuel for your body. Would you put a low-grade fuel in a high-performance race car? Your body works on the same principle, the better the quality of the nutrients you ingest, the better you will feel, look, and perform in every single way. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also enjoy your favorite foods every once in a while, it just means that if you do this right most of the time, when you do indulge it won’t matter.
It’s especially important when first starting an exercise program that you take the time to notice and focus on any positive emotions you may experience. Not everyone enjoys exercising, but if you pay attention, you’ll find that after a session you feel more relaxed or invigorated somehow. Also, it won’t be long before you notice an improvement in your energy. This is what you need to look forward to, as opposed to dreading the ‘chore’ of doing a workout.
Even for someone who likes to work out, there are times when you just don’t feel like it. But you do it anyway, because you know you’ll feel better once you do.
- Seek Progress Not Perfection: Short-term, incremental changes can lead to massive changes over time. If you just try to get a little bit better each week, that is enough of a reason for your body to change.
One of the most common reasons that fitness programs fail is that people start too fast, or put too much pressure on themselves to do things perfectly. If you start with unrealistic expectations, you’ll be quickly discouraged. Nobody does this all perfectly. Even fitness pros cheat on their nutrition plans or miss workouts every once in a while. The point is, they don’t worry about it, and they get right back on track the next day. That’s why they’re fit!
Just consistently try to make small improvements and before long you’ll be closer to your goal than you ever imagined!
Fitness success is about so much more than just looking great in a bathing suit, it’s about overcoming obstacles, working on your goals, and the character that builds. Take some time to reflect on what we’ve discussed here, and make sure you’re not secretly harbouring any limiting beliefs that will slow you down or shut you down altogether. Then, get your head straight, leave the trash on the curb where it belongs, and watch your fitness levels explode!
