Are you struggling to find the motivation to stick with your fitness routine? You're not alone. Many people find it difficult to stay motivated when they're working out on their own. But what if you could change your mindset so that you felt unstoppable?
As a personal trainer, I've noticed a single area everyone struggled with — mindset. Your internal chatter with make or break your fitness habit, but in five easy steps, you can stay motivated and overcome the challenges of the mind. In this blog post, we'll discuss how you can build an unbeatable mindset.
Understand that your mindset is more important than the exercise itself
It's no secret that our mindset has tremendous influence over our life. Our mental outlook and beliefs can inform our decisions and contribute to our success in any given situation. We may not always be aware of the power of our mindset, but if we can learn to cultivate a healthy outlook, it can make all the difference in achieving more of our life goals. When difficulties arise, remind yourself that you do have control over how you respond and view them. By taking ownership of your attitude and looking at challenges as an opportunity for growth rather than something to be feared, you will be able to tackle each problem one step at a time.
Remind yourself you are in control of your mind
Take ownership of your daily attitude
View challenges as growth
Understand that your mindset is everything; once you have this awareness, you can use it to create a healthy path toward success. So what does this look like practically?
Write counter-affirmations for your most negative inner-talk
Remind yourself that you are in control of your mood and attitude
Use your breath to response rather than react
Use physical activity as a tool for growth (e.g. when it gets hard, treat it as training for the hard things in life)
While it's difficult to see to start, you'll begin to see exercise as a lesson for life. Taking the first step is always the hardest, but in time you'll learn that this mindset shift is more impactful than the muscle gain or fat loss. Make space for all sorts of wonderful achievements by understanding that your mindset is truly everything.
Believe in yourself and your abilities
Everyone has a unique set of skills and abilities that enable them to achieve things that others may find impossible. It’s important to trust in your abilities and allow yourself to believe that everything is possible. To do this, it’s essential to reflect on how far you have come rather than focusing on how far away you are from your goal. This can be done by looking back at how hard you have worked, how much knowledge you have acquired, the mistakes you have made, and how those mistakes have helped you grow.
Take time each day to think about how strong and capable you are and appreciate your personal qualities and talents. And most importantly, don't be afraid of making mistakes or taking risks—it’s these bold attempts that often lead to success! In practice, this can be:
Use a gratitude journal to note wins
Place positive affirmative post-it notes on your mirror
Surround yourself with examples of success (e.g., read inspirational fitness stories)
Write down your fitness goals
Write down what you've learned from the day's mistakes
Ultimately, believing in yourself requires a combination of appreciation for accomplishments thus far, recognition of strengths and weaknesses, understanding how failure leads to self-development, and openness towards taking risks which will ultimately help one reach their goals. Believe in yourself – it will give you the strength to realize your dreams!
Be patient - Rome wasn't built in a day!
It can be frustrating when we don't see immediate results from the hard work and effort we put in. We naturally want to move quickly and achieve goals, but that doesn't always reflect reality. The old saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" is still true today, so why is patience your key to success?
When striving for a goal, it's important to look at the bigger picture and break it down into smaller achievable steps - taking shortcuts often leads nowhere. We must take the time necessary and believe in ourselves because positive changes come with consistency. Here are some tools you can use to help with patience:
Micro Habits
Habit Tracking
Habit Stacking
Breaking Down Large Goals into Weekly and Daily Tasks
You can practice all these techniques in The Goal Getting Journal. Patience also helps us accept that mistakes are inevitable and challenges occur along the way; instead of getting discouraged, we must keep trying and pick ourselves up each time like a warrior after a battle. By taking our time without hurrying, we get the chance to pause, reflect and make adjustments as needed.
Take care of yourself both physically and mentally
The missing ingredient in most fitness regimes is mental health care. We are so productivity-driven we work out until we burn out, and the stop-start cycle continues. Taking care of yourself is essential, both physically and mentally. Physically, if we don't take care of our bodies, our energy levels can suffer, and we can become more vulnerable to illnesses — but you already knew that. That's why you're here. To build an unstoppable mindset, prioritize your mental health.
Mentally, it's just as important to pay attention to our emotional needs. This means focusing on your mental and emotional health and seeking help when needed. Making space for moments of relaxation is also essential to reduce stress levels can prove enormously beneficial in this regard. Here are some activities to engage in:
Yoga or meditation (or better yet, holistic fitness classes)
Therapy or coaching
Mindfulness
CBD, functional mushrooms or ashwagandha
Doing things that make you happy (dancing, hiking, long baths, etc.)
Getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night
Ultimately, taking good care of ourselves physically and mentally is an ongoing process that requires patience and dedication - but the rewards for doing so are invaluable.
Surround yourself with positive people
Everyone knows that it's good to surround yourself with positive people, but why exactly is that? When you have a circle of positive influence around you, it encourages good habits. Including fitness habits. Positive people often have a strong desire to improve themselves and those around them, and their presence will help inspire everyone to be their best, directly or indirectly. Positive people can often be more understanding of struggle — after all, happiness is a choice. Here are some ways to audit your social group.
Identify the friends who you feel energized after spending time with them
Identify the friends who you feel drained after spending time with them
Identify the friends who subtly or obviously put you down for new goals and ideas
Unfollow social accounts that make you compare yourself to them
If you want someone to cheer on your successes or remind you how far you've come after a setback, your circle of positive friends is a must. You might even find friends to exercise and workout with you or act as an accountability buddy.
You become the five people you spend the most time with.
So take the time to carefully choose who gets into your circle of influence—people that will motivate and inspire you to become even better, fitter, and faster than before. It can be the most powerful thing ever for your growth and progress in life.
Learn the skill of focus
Yep, you read that right. Focus is a skill, and anyone can learn it. In a click-bait culture, staying motivated and focused on your goals is harder than ever, especially when faced with a difficult task. Getting up an hour earlier for a morning workout seems harder than ever, but there are several ways to ensure you keep pushing forward.
Start by establishing how you want to use your time each day (you can do this in The Goal Getting Journal)
Decide how much time you will spend on tasks related to achieving your goals
Commit to stick to it
Planning out your day in advance and getting real with how much time you can invest in your exercise regime can be a game-changer. Like tip three, start with micro-habits. Five-minute workouts are better than no workout. It helps you stay focused on forward moment. You wouldn't expect yourself to do a 100lbs bench press on day one, so why would you do a 45-minute intense workout five times per week on week one? Focus and commitment are skills — build them by committing to a goal while starting small.
No matter what your starting point is, remember that your mindset is everything. If you don't believe in yourself, it'll be impossible to achieve anything. Be patient - success takes time and hard work. And finally, make sure to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. Fitness isn't just about looking good; it's about feeling good too. Join the holistic fitness community for support and motivation on your journey!
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