Get motivated to learn to love fitness with these five mindset hacks.
August 2022. This article is independently written by Shelby Golding. All opinions given are hers. Shelby has been certified as a personal trainer and nutritional specialist since 2007. In 2008, she found her passion for writing about these topics and hasn't looked back.
Unfortunately, you've probably heard that most people who set out on a fitness journey fail. They start bright-eyed, but after a few months, they burn out and return to sitting on the couch after a long day instead of hitting the gym.
Only 23 percent of people exercise enough to meet the CDC’s minimum leisure activity requirements. If you want to be one of the few who do, you need to change your mindset toward fitness.
Mindset Hacks
A few of the most common reasons people stop exercising or struggle to start working out are lack of time, no money for a gym, not seeing results, lack of childcare, stress, and exercising improperly. You may not even realize that you're making excuses, but these roadblocks are your first hurdles to loving fitness.
It's tempting to blame poor health on outside factors. Modern medicine provides a wealth of reasons why illness is not your fault- from inherited diseases to contagious viruses.
1. Take Responsibility
Step one to loving fitness is to take responsibility for all excuses, failed attempts, health problems, and whatever else came before. You need to stop blaming your dislike of fitness on others and realize that your wellness lies in your hands.
People give up responsibility in any number of ways. For example, you may put others' health before your own or stay so busy that you couldn't possibly have time to make it to the gym.
Identify your excuses, and then figure out how you're making them a reality.
Practice self-love and compassion while you're in the first step. You're probably rewriting patterns that have been in place your whole life. Learning to put yourself first, recognizing excuses, getting rid of toxic people and habits- all of this takes time. So give yourself the time and attention you need to make your mindset change last.
2. Figure Out Your Limiting Beliefs
This one is tough. Limiting beliefs are sometimes so ingrained into how you live your life that you may have trouble identifying them when they appear.
Examples of limiting beliefs in regards to fitness might sound like: "I don't have a runners body, so I can't run," "I'm not athletic because I didn't do sports in high school," or "My family has a history of obesity and, therefore, I will eventually become obese."
Only you know the beliefs that are holding you back from loving fitness. Examine your relationship to fitness closely- both past and present.
What's your family's relationship to fitness?
How do you see yourself when you are working out?
What types of activities do you avoid because you think you should?
Try journaling about your limiting beliefs and see how many you can identify. Once you know your limits, you can work towards pushing past them.
Examples of limiting beliefs in regards to fitness might sound like: "I don't have a runners body, so I can't run," "I'm not athletic because I didn't do sports in high school," or "My family has a history of obesity and, therefore, I will eventually become obese."
Only you know the beliefs that are holding you back from loving fitness. Examine your relationship to fitness closely- both past and present.
What's your family's relationship to fitness?
How do you see yourself when you are working out?
What types of activities do you avoid because you think you should?
Try journaling about your limiting beliefs and see how many you can identify. Once you know your limits, you can work towards pushing past them.
3. Find The Lesson
Finding the lesson is an important part of growth. You need to identify your mistakes to keep from making the same ones in the future. If you blame others, you may never be able to take the required steps toward a new mindset.
Regarding fitness, the lesson might be related to how you spend your time or think about working out.
Are you letting other people tell you how you should spend your time?
Did you ignore signals from your body that told you to stop pushing too hard?
Were you listening to your instincts or following the path of your limiting beliefs?
Internalize the lesson and move forward. Don't give yourself too much grief for making mistakes. It happens to everyone. Simply find the lesson and try to make new mistakes in the future.
Regarding fitness, the lesson might be related to how you spend your time or think about working out.
Are you letting other people tell you how you should spend your time?
Did you ignore signals from your body that told you to stop pushing too hard?
Were you listening to your instincts or following the path of your limiting beliefs?
Internalize the lesson and move forward. Don't give yourself too much grief for making mistakes. It happens to everyone. Simply find the lesson and try to make new mistakes in the future.
4. Set your goals
The saying, "where focus goes, energy flows," is accurate advice. Negative thoughts and intentions set you up for failure.
Setting a clear goal is crucial to success. You can't learn to love fitness if your goal is to "maybe make it to the gym once this month" or to "stop sitting on the couch after work."
Setting a clear goal is crucial to success. You can't learn to love fitness if your goal is to "maybe make it to the gym once this month" or to "stop sitting on the couch after work."
In the first example, you're setting an uncertain goal, one that's easily cast aside. In the second, you're focusing on sitting on the couch, and therefore, all of your energy is put into that idea instead of meeting fitness goals.
Once you clarify and map out your goals, you're more likely to make concrete changes. Try replacing negative thoughts with positive ones and unproductive goals with productive ones.
Go from "maybe making it to the gym" to "going to the gym every Tuesday evening." Instead of "stop sitting on the couch," try "after work, I will spend 20 minutes doing something active."
When setting your goals, be clear and pragmatic. And don’t forget, once you’ve met your easy goals (and you will!), set harder ones to keep challenging yourself.
5. Get support
With the advent of apps, learning about fitness became easy. Want to start doing yoga? There’s an app for that. Yearning to bulk up and start lifting weights? There’s an app for that too.
Or, if you prefer real-life support, you can find personal trainers and fitness instructors ready to help in most gyms. But support doesn't just mean in the fitness world. You also need to build a strong support system outside of the gym.
It seems harsh, but you may need to start eliminating the people who fuel your bad habits. Those friends who talk you out of the gym to go drinking or the family member constantly reminding you that you're overweight. While you're changing your mindset, you're particularly vulnerable to these people, and it will be easier to give them some space while you set your path to success.
Surround yourself with people who believe you can succeed and give back support! You don't have to do it all alone.
Lasting Changes
Learn to love fitness by changing your mindset, one step at a time. The path to lasting changes in wellness is never easy, but the results will be worth the effort. Take responsibility for yourself, figure out your limiting beliefs, lessons, and goals, and find some loving support to make exercise an integral part of your lifestyle.
Dealing with chronic pain can make it hard to stay motivated about changing your mindset, but the Kailo Pain Patch can help. You can apply it anywhere, any time, and wear it all day (even while you exercise or shower). It’s designed to relieve pain in seconds, and a recent clinical study showed that 99% of patients felt pain relief with Kailo within 10 minutes of using the pain patch.
Disclaimer: Kailo should not be used if you have a pacemaker or if you are pregnant. Always consult your doctor or health care professional before using Kailo.
Dealing with chronic pain can make it hard to stay motivated about changing your mindset, but the Kailo Pain Patch can help. You can apply it anywhere, any time, and wear it all day (even while you exercise or shower). It’s designed to relieve pain in seconds, and a recent clinical study showed that 99% of patients felt pain relief with Kailo within 10 minutes of using the pain patch.
Disclaimer: Kailo should not be used if you have a pacemaker or if you are pregnant. Always consult your doctor or health care professional before using Kailo.
