Many people find it difficult to maintain the commitment needed to follow an exercise program. They will put forward an array of reasoning as to why….. work, family responsibilities, tiredness, etc. However this is usually just their mind looking for the easier option.
Your mind is simply a suggestion engine.
Most of the time it’s suggestions are based around powering down to conserve energy, stepping away from stress (or what you personally deem as stress) and doing things that make you feel good in the moment.
So when you get these thoughts in your head
– Press snooze to sleep in longer
– Don’t have the uncomfortable conversation to not have the stress
– Eat the ice cream to ‘feel better’
Think of them purely as suggestions.
The more you follow the suggestions towards the least path of resistance the lower the results that will follow in that area of your life. If we consistently follow suggestions over a period of time, then the gap between your suggestion and response grows smaller and smaller until it doesn’t even seem like there is a gap anymore; It just goes “alarm goes off, snooze gets smashed and you don’t even remember doing it.”
To do anything worth while, including sticking to an excercise program, you need to not follow the suggestions your mind presents you towards the least path of resistance and have the courage to step up to them.
To ignore the suggestion and develop the GRIT and understand the temporary discomfort of not pressing snooze will make you feel more productive all day.
To ignore the suggestion to go home straight from work and take part in that gym exercise program and know that tomorrow you will be that little bit healthier because of it.
To ignore the suggestion of eating the ice cream to ‘feel better’ and know that tomorrow you will be less sluggish because you didn’t.
To ignore the suggestion of scrolling social media and doing the necessary work so over the next month with consistency you will progress with your business or job.
To ignore these suggestions you need to expand the gap between stimulus and response and choose what’s best not for the current you, but the future you.
Stimulus ‘alarm goes off’, we then need to consciously breathe and ask ourselves “if I get up now will my day be more productive and will I feel great,” we then choose the response our future self would want us to choose.
The more we ignore these suggestions the stronger we get at choosing the path of discipline until one day they stop being suggested all together.
Understanding that this is life, and most of the time the hardest decision in the moment is the one you HAVE to choose if you want to get the results you desire.
By using the tools above and joining a Prime Health and Fitness exercise program, you will achieve a sense of control over your body that will translate to an improved sense of control over other aspects of life which is key in defending the mind against stress. People who exercise regularly demonstrate higher levels of self-esteem and find it easier to maintain self-discipline.
Contact us to join our fitness exercise classes and become the healthiest version of you possible.
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