What keeps you going when you don't want to go?
It’s the classic story of why New Year’s resolutions peter out after a couple of months. On January 1st, you’re full of fire, motivated to eat right, fast 3 times a week, and join the local Orange Theory.
But change is tough, so eventually you lose your enthusiasm for the gym, you’re bored of all your “healthy” recipes, and you’ve pretty much forgotten about fasting.
Maybe you took a trip or a friend had a birthday party. Then you went to the ballgame, and then your kids got sick, and then you had that office party. It’s rarely one big thing, but a bunch of little hits that chip away at your motivation.
It’s ok! It’s not really your fault. Motivation is a battery, and one that runs out real fast. If it doesn’t get a major boost of energy, it quickly dies leaving you feeling defeated and well, unmotivated.
Life happens, and you lose focus.
Consistency is habit. It is formed over days and weeks of doing something regularly. Yes, at first it sucks and you don’t want to go to the gym again at 6am. But eventually, you find your rhythm, and the thing that felt like a chore last week ends up feeling like a thing you’ve always done.
And then you can’t not do the thing, because not doing it would make you feel off balance, like you missed something.
This is the difference between motivation and consistency. Motivation is the burst of energy that gets you started. Consistency is the routine that keeps you going when motivation runs out.
So… how do you build consistency?
Take things one at a time. Enthusiasm to make ourselves better asap often makes us think we can do everything at once. Taking on too much will almost always get overwhelming. Choose one activity, like going to the gym, and stick with it.
Focus on small goals. Instead of taking a big swing and committing to 5 days a week at the gym when you don’t exercise much now, commit to 1-2 days at first and build up from there.
Stick with it. Habits don’t become habits overnight - studies say it takes about 21 days for something to become a habit. The point is, you have to do something over and over, consistently for it to become… consistent.
Ask for help. Starting good habits and overwriting bad ones can be hard and frustrating. Sometimes, we can’t hold ourselves accountable and keep ourselves on track. So if you’re someone who finds it hard to get to the gym or make a nutritious lunch by yourself, you might need an accountability buddy. Find a friend to meet you at the gym, or even just someone you can talk about your workout with, who will look at you disapprovingly if you don’t go.
Or, you can hire a health coach. Holding you accountable is a big part of what we do.
What have you done to build consistency? Is consistency something you struggle with? Tell me in the comments!
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