What’s the first thing you do when your alarm rings at 6 a.m.? If you’re like most people, you’d hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Despite knowing how vital the workout is to your health and well-being, you just can’t force yourself to let go of your bed.
In contrast to a commonly-held belief, the reason why we cannot force ourselves to go to the gym every day isn’t that we’re lazy. It’s just that we lack the motivation which would push ourselves to get dressed and hit the treadmill on the designated hour.
That’s why I decided to come up with this article. Add these three tips and tricks to your life and you’ll never skip the gym again. And the best part about them? They have worked (in my case) and are a cinch to follow.
#1: Focus on the System, Not Goals
As James Clear notes in ‘’The Atomic Habits,” the reason why most of us fail to achieve our goals is that we attach too little importance to the systems that we need to follow to achieve those goals, and too much importance to the goals themselves.
However, if we want to succeed, we should do the opposite. That’s because while we can directly control the system (running on a treadmill for 25 minutes per day), we cannot directly influence the goal (losing 20 pounds over the next three months).
Therefore, the next time you hit the gym, only keep your focus on the number of workouts you promised yourself you’d do before you entered the gym. Provided you could maintain this focus, you’d become a consistent gym-goer. That consistency, in turn, will help you realize your goals.
#2: Get a Self-Driven Partner
Do you have a friend who is a gym-fanatic? Then enlist them as your partner. Adjust your routine so that you always exercise with them. Give them the freedom to (gently) push you to stay motivated and consistent whenever both of you are working out. Ask them to text you whenever you’re late so that you’d be forced to head to the gym by taking your smartphone off the phone charger station.
Provided you don’t have such a friend, join a fitness group on any social media platform. This way, you’d meet people who take the gym very seriously, and would push you to do the same once you’re in their company.
#3: Join a Team Sport
According to a study, 95% of people who start a work-loss program with friends end up completing it successfully. Knowing that there are persons out there who count on you keeps you on your toes and makes it less likely for you to spend time on your mobile as it’s placed on charging station for phones.
Furthermore, when you exercise in a group, it feels less like a chore that you have to endure and more like a play that you could enjoy. I could tell from personal experience that once you develop a sense of community, you’re less likely to let others down by bailing out at the 11th hour.