Are you thinking about beginning an exercise program? Have you already started one but feel a little directionless or overwhelmed? You’re not alone. Anyone who first starts something new will inevitably become anxious about the task at hand.
Maybe they need to lose 50 pounds, or they want to build a Michelangelo-Esque physique, or perhaps they want to be able to keep up with their children outside.
Whatever your case, there are a series of realizations that you must make and internalize before you let doubt creep in and become jaded. Exercise is a lot simpler if you take these three critical steps!
Step 1: Find Your “Why?”
The “Why?” is the reason for doing anything, including starting an exercise program. If you don’t have a deep reason, then you have no foundation for doing anything. To find your “Why?” you must first ask yourself why you’re doing the thing you want to do?
If you want to lose weight or build muscle, okay, but that’s just a result of an exercise program. You need to go deeper. Why do you want to lose weight? Is it because you want to move better? Do you want to gain more confidence in yourself? Maybe you want more energy to perform at your peak in your career?
It doesn’t matter what your “Why?” is as long as you can emotionally attach yourself to it. Once you build that emotional connection to exercise, then you begin to form a strong bond that is difficult to break, but you must always remember your “Why?” because difficult times will come and your “Why?” is going to be the reason that you press on towards your goals.
Step 2: You Must Enjoy It
Exercise isn’t supposed to become a chore. It may feel that way at first, but that’s just basic psychology. Your ego will attempt to stop you from doing something new because its role is to create comfort in your life.
But change is not comfortable. If you want to become better, then you must learn to discipline this natural reaction, and the best way to ensure you stay disciplined is to find exercise and activities that you genuinely enjoy doing.
If you already have an idea of what you like, then stick with it! If you have the correct guidance from a trained, experienced professional, then you’ll be able to overcome the obstacles much easier and stick with your path.
But if you’re still unsure of what you want to do, then just pick something and run with it for at least 30 days. If you don’t like it by the end of a month, then it’s as easy as trying something new! The bottom line is that you need to experiment with different forms of exercise to find out what calls you.
Step 3: It’s Going To Take Time
This step is the most difficult for people to grasp, but the most important for longevity and commitment. Nothing worthwhile in life is easy to obtain. Making physical and mental changes takes time, and that time is entirely dependent on your starting point, as well as the effort you put into it.
Think about the first time you learned how to ride a bike. Can you remember it? The frustration, the scratches, the bruised knees. It was all normal and part of the process. But most kids were learning how to ride a bike, so you wanted to be like them and enjoy riding bikes with your friends.
So what did you do? You persevered at all costs, and eventually, you learned! Slowly but surely, you got better at it, and riding that bike became an absolute joy. Learning how to exercise and live a healthier life is no different. It might be difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature to you, and the time aspect becomes irrelevant because you’re in your groove.
In Summary:
So those are the three necessary steps to starting an exercise routine. Once you develop a connection to the reason behind your doing, find the types of activities that you love, and accept the fact that you won’t get all the results you want immediately, then exercise has the potential to become a passion of yours.
But most importantly, don’t stay inside your head and fuel your fears and doubts. Get outside your mind and take action towards the things you want to achieve in life. No one is stopping you but yourself. So go out there and take what’s rightfully yours.
