How to Make Workingout a Habit and Not Just a Temporary Failed Goal?

Gyms are full of people at the beginning of the year. By months two and three only the ones that have been going for a long time are the ones who keep showing up.

We tend to have this self-sabotage mentality of all or nothing. You get the membership, show up for three days straight, and after the fourth day, you’re too sore to go again. You promise yourself that you will go for sure the next day but intuitively you know it’s not true.

Now because you missed one day you feel like your week’s workout schedule is messed up and now you have to wait for next week because you know that next week is a whole new beginning and you will be ready and more motivated – or so you say so.

Being active and working out in one form or another should be a life habit, not a temporary summer body goal. You work out because is the right thing to do not because it’s your New Year’s resolution.

But it’s easier said than done. Most of the time its a mental blockage or the perspective we have about something that changes the actions you take or don’t take.

When you put a goal into working out, it loses its purpose of working out. If you say that in 90 days you will be able to do 50 pushups, you might start well but then most likely you will procrastinate thinking that you will catch up before the 90th day.

You don’t go and say I’ll brush my teeth for 50 days and then I won’t brush again. What about the 51st day and so on?

Once working out is a habit, your possibilities increase and you can decide how far you want to go. You can then aim for a better physique, more enduraance, more strenght and so on.

Depending on your fitness level this is what I did to make working out a habit. Remember that the hardest part is getting started.

I started with a timer of 5 minutes. This gave me the perspective that 5 minutes is double. It doesn’t matter what you’re physically able to do now, do what you can for that 5min. It’s about building a habit. Do Not Do more than 5 minutes.

I would often be in front of the tv or at work during my break or eating at home and I would be doing some type of small workout. If I was eating I would remove my chair and squat halfway down. If I was in front of the tv I would stretch or do calf raises or pushups. No need to push yourself during those 5 minutes unless you’re really feeling motivated. Eventually 5 minutes went by like a blink of an eye. The easier the 5 minutes get the more you will achive in those 5 minutes.

It got so easy that through the day I found myself stretching, doing one or two squats or some type of moment. And it always just seemed like is I was just stretching like when you stretch after yawning.

After a few weeks from 5 minutes, it went to 7 minutes, then 10 minutes. Now it’s an hour at the gym. As soon as I walk into the gym I start my timer. The days I don’t manage to go to the gym I always go to my basics. I start my 5 minute timer at home. Usually, now 5 minutes feel like nothing so I do another five and another five after that. If after 15 minutes if I don’t want to keep going I just stop.

It has become so normal for me to stretch or work out throughout my day that it feels weird if I don’t do some type of physical activity for the day. I do miss a day or two at times but I don’t feel guilty because its easy for me to get on track now. When I do I take it as my recovery but I feel now more the motivation to work out than to procrastinate.

At 5’5″ I went from 114lb to a healthy weight of 135lb. I look fitter and my clothes look better. Not in three months or a year. It took me two years to get to this normal healthy weight. I didn’t see the results right away but I didn’t care. I knew I would and I know that I won’t always look or feel the same but I will be healthier and stronger compared to not doing anything.

Now that my perspective has changed about working out and it has become a normal thing to do I now get the motivation to want to do more and push myself. I’m starting to run more often and maybe I’ll do a marathon soon. But, if I find myself doing too much where it starts to become a hustle then I just go back to my basics. I don’t need to do a marathon I need to be healthy. A marathon would be more of a personal achievement, not a must.

If your goal is to first lose weight, you can do the same thing. Just add more cardio to it. Yeah, I know diet is a big part of it but for this article let’s focus on making working out a habit first. The rest will follow. I’m not dismissing it, but for this case, it’s more about how to build a habit and make it stick.

Go to the park and walk for 15min. Be on your phone if you want. Watch social media, get lost in your thoughts, call a friend for those 15min. But make it a habit to walk for 15 min. When it becomes a habit then increase the time or length of your walk. Start jogging if you’re ready. Or be at home and do jumping jacks for 5minutes while watching tv and progress from there. Your bad habits that make you procrastinate are already there. Use them to work out. Use them to build a better habit on top of your bad habits until things start to change and those bad habits start to get overridden by your new and better habits.

The more you do this, the more your focus and self-discipline will increase and you’ll start applying this same technique of small marginal improvements to other aspects of your life. Eventually, you will notice yourself not wanting to do some things like watching tv and putting more effort into the activity you know brings more value to your overall health.

Again, we all go through our own struggles and I know it’s not easy but it doesn’t have to be going to the moon hard either and I Believe In YOU. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t think you could.

If you end up on the over-preparation side of this where you will wait for those new shoes, or workout equipment please do me a favor; while you shop online or do more research on how to workout, do it while doing 1 squat, or one calf raise. Yes, just 1!

Every time you find yourself over-preparing, take the first step and keep going one rep or half rep at a time. If you have to, rest as often as needed but do work out. This way, hopefully by the time your equipment arrives, you feel motivated to work out, or your research on working out is done, you will be fit and ready to put all of your over-preparation to work. Ha! See what I did there? 🙂