Is this one thing holding you back from a consistent workout routine?
Sometimes getting started can feel like the easy part. We're full of enthusiasm with our new found motivation and then all of a sudden...life happens and the new routine feels harder than ever to stick with. It makes us feel like our fitness journey always falls at the consistency hurdle.
Does this sound familiar?
Setting yourself weight-related goals
A lot of the time our initial motivation to get into an exercise routine is all about working towards an end goal. That might be about wanting to feel confident wearing a particular dress to a wedding or not feeling self conscious on holiday. Often we'll set a goal and put a timeline on it to give ourselves a bit of accountability.
Why do these goals feel so hard to reach?
There's a couple of reasons why I think we struggle to stay consistent with this kind of approach. Firstly we're always looking ahead to get to that end goal. We're forget to appreciate how exercise makes us feel every time we move because our focus is constantly on where we're trying to get to. We're focused on seeing a physical transformation result rather than taking in the mental transformation every time we move. That weight-related goal and motivation isn't usually enough to get us to stay consistent over a longer period of time. Generally speaking, as women, we can be really hard on ourselves and our inner dialogue is often around not being good enough. Even if you were to reach the weight related goal you set yourself, do you think you'll feel all the self confident feels when you get there? I think we'd easily find something else to focus on which might take away from all the amazing work you did to reaching your end goal.
Reframing your motivation
When we're always focused on that end goal, it takes away from how great movement can make us feel every time we workout. Be that more energised, feeling happier, feeling calmer, feeling more confident each day. Personally, those are ALL the feels I want to feel everyday. The cumulative impact of feeling those feels everyday will be absolutely transformational for our confidence and it's that feeling that will keep you coming back for more. The irony is that all the physical results you might be looking for are just the other side of consistency but consistency can feel impossible if that's all we focus on.
Make consistency feel easier than ever
I try to write in a journal everyday and there are prompts in there that get you to think about what you're grateful for each day. It's amazing how much a regular gratitude practice can make you feel so much happier every single day. There's no end goal with the practice. The only goal is to live a little more in the present and start to notice and appreciate all the little things each day. The cumulative impact of this is honestly AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone and anyone that will listen! Approaching fitness in the same way can do absolute wonders for helping you stay consistent with a routine. It's all about focusing on how movement makes you feel each day and coming back each time for that feeling.
The cumulative impact of a consistent workout routine that makes you feel great each day will be transformational for both your mental and physical health. It's all about reframing what motivates us to make consistency feel easier than ever.
If this sounds like something that would help transform your relationship with fitness then make sure you're signed up to receive my weekly newsletters to receive tips on how to reframe your motivation. Click here to subscribe.
If you're interested in starting a gratitude journaling practice then I would 100% recommend the 5 minute journal as an easy way into this. You can purchase it here.
