At the beginning of 2019, I set out the goal of working out 5 times a week. I’m so proud to report that throughout the entire year, I logged 260 workouts of me moving my body in some way or other. Working out has become a part of me, and I can’t go longer than two days without moving my body because it’s become too addicting! I love challenging myself and I love that feeling once you finish a workout. So, how in the world did I keep up with this throughout the entire year? If you want to keep reading, I’m going to share my tips that led me to successfully accomplish this goal!
#1 Track and Plan
Back in 2018, I put as my New Year’s Resolutions that I wanted to achieve my dream body that year. And guess what? That didn’t happen. It was too general of a goal to actually stick to. How would I even go about doing that? That’s when I learned that you have to write down specific goals if you actually want to accomplish them. So you want this thing, but what do you have to do today to get there? That’s why I chose in 2019 to workout 5 times a week. It was specific and something I could work towards every week.
I found that it was easy to track this when I had a fitness journal. I use this journal not only to track my workouts, but also to write down and plan my workouts for that specific day. I’m not the type of person that can go workout and completely improvise the entire session. I like to have a written down plan that I can easily stick to and not think about what I should be doing next. All I had to do was put what day I was on and the date (Ex: Day 1: January 1st2019). I have this rule with myself that if I write out my workout plan, I have to stick to it and not stray away. I have to do everything that’s written on that page. I definitely think this tip is what led me to having great success in habitually working out. As the quote goes, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.”
#2 Make it a Priority
There’s that one quote about switching “I don’t have the time” to “I’m not making it a priority” and that applies here. If you don’t make it a priority, you won’t succeed. You can wish all you want for being better and working out, but if you don’t prioritize the time to actually accomplish that goal, it will never come true because you aren’t putting the time in to do it. It can’t magically happen. You have to want it so badly!! This then leads me to my next tip:
#3 Stick to Your Why
What’s your why? When I started working out, I thought that my why was that I just wanted to look lean and fit. But once I got into the habit of working out, my why thankfully shifted into something else. I realized my why for working out was for that feeling you get once you finish a workout. It’s the mental clarity you feel and how good you feel for taking that time during the day to take care of yourself. It wasn’t about how I looked on the outside, but how I felt on the inside.
#4 Don’t Think, Just Do
Your mind is a powerful thing. I know firsthand that there have been multiple times that my mind has talked me out of doing things because I convinced myself I wasn’t good enough and what was the point? Before I worked out in 2019, I would think about how I didn’t want to workout. I was “too tired” and “just didn’t feel like it.” Once you allow yourself to start thinking that way, guess what? You probably aren’t going to workout. You already started to talk yourself out of it and have convinced yourself that it’s ok to not workout that day.
Although it seems difficult, my tip is to not think, just do. Once it’s that time of day to workout, don’t allow yourself to start thinking about the workout and how you just aren’t feeling it that day. Don’t allow yourself to do it! The more you think about it, the urge to just not do it creeps in and it might take over your mindset. As soon as that thought enters your mind, tune it out and don’t allow yourself to keep having those same thoughts! Tell yourself you are going to workout and remind yourself of your why. Tell yourself that the benefits of this workout outweigh those of not doing this workout. I always think of the quote from the book Unbroken by Louis Zamperini: “One moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” This pain won’t last long, and in the long run you’ll look back and be happy that you put yourself through that. Will you allow yourself the short term joy of not working out and then say to yourself later how you should’ve worked out? Although I overthink a lot of the time, fitness has become such a habit that’s stuck with me that I don’t have to think about doing, I just do it!
This tip not only applies to getting yourself to workout, but it has also helped me during those workouts. There’s just some days where the workout seems to last forever and there is no end in sight. And that’s when I start thinking how much I just want to be done with it. But once I catch myself doing that, I try to start replacing those thoughts with how this workout is good for me, and I need to focus on my movements and form other than how much I don’t want to do the rest of this workout. Hone in on the workout and if you are having proper form and the mind muscle connection. So when those counteractive thoughts creep in, shift your focus on the positive and that will change the way you workout!
#5 Be Flexible
I am a gal of many interests. I like to do a lot of different things and don’t like to be limited. I’ve always been that way, so it comes as no surprise to me that I feel that way when it comes to the way I workout. I like to run, strength train, do yoga, ride the bike, etc. If you are bored with your workout regime, chances are that that plan isn’t going to last long. My tip is to be flexible with your plan when need be, not only with how you train, but when you train as well. As much as I want to plan my workouts by the week and say this day will be my rest day and that day I’m going to train legs, you have no idea how your body is going to feel that day. I like to take the day by day approach. I assess in the morning how I’m feeling that day, and what I’d like to do. I have a general plan in my head for the week, but it’s flexible enough to make time for whatever workout I want to do that day.
#6 Enjoy the Journey
My last and final tip is to enjoy the journey. I got really discouraged last year when I just wasn’t seeing any results of what I was putting into working out. There wasn’t any change happening and I thought, “What’s the point?” It made me realize that I was focusing too much on the results, and I had to go back to tip #3, my why. I workout because I love challenging myself and I love what working out does for me mentally. I shouldn’t focus so much on the results, that won’t sustain you in the long run. You just have to take it day by day and enjoy the journey and not be too hard on yourself. You don’t have to workout, you get to workout! Think about how many people out there that don’t get that opportunity. Not only does the way you talk to yourself matter, the way you think about your workout matters too.
I look back on 2019, and although there were some tough times and still some that carried over into this year, I think about how I prioritized fitness, and how I can’t see myself without it. I love fitness. I love working out. 2019 was the best year in regards to my fitness, and I will look back at it thinking that was the year that I started taking care of myself. If you were in the same boat I was in prior to 2019, I hope you can utilize these tips and help you accomplish the goals you want to accomplish. I’m rooting for you! Hope you guys are having a great first month in the new year <3 See ya Monday!