How to Never Quit Your Fitness Program

Welcome to Readyourarticle

We will Discuss:

1. The Wrong Kind of Motivation
2. Lack of Enjoyment
3. Lack of Support
4. Wrong Expectations
5. A Lack of Time

So, let’s dive in to it

The five most common reasons why people quit their fitness programs (and subsequently lose self-discipline) are:

• The Wrong King of Motivation

There are two kinds of motivation: internal and external.

“when we act without any obvious external rewards. We simply enjoy an activity or see it as an opportunity to explore, learn, and actualize our potentials”

External motivation, also known as extrinsic motivation, such as the motivation to win medals, receive financial rewards, and attract attention from the media. This is known as external, or extrinsic, motivation because it involves participation in sport for some kind of reward that is external to the process of participation”

The type of motivation you need to stick to your fitness program and build your self-discipline is intrinsic motivation. Just like you shouldn’t build your self-discipline solely because you want to impress somebody, you shouldn’t go to the gym only because you think someone will praise you or admire you for it.

If you work out primarily because you expect a certain reward and draw little to no personal enjoyment or fulfillment by doing it, reconsider your motivation.

You build your self-discipline when you keep doing something simply because it helps you realize your full potential and not because it will make you look good in the eyes of other people or provide you with rewards.

If you can’t seem to find intrinsic motivation, try a different, more enjoyable sport that will encourage you to explore, learn, or actualize your potential. If you hate it. You won’t do it in the long term, anyway. Speaking of which, the second reasons is.

• Lack of Enjoyment

Having a lot of discipline is great, but it doesn’t mean you have to always choose things you don’t like (don’t confuse it with doing thing that are uncomfortable for the purpose of growth).

If you don’t enjoy your fitness plan, change it. Try to pick at least one of each type of exercise — anaerobic and aerobic. If you go to the gym, nobody says you have to use this or that machine — there are various ways of achieving the same goals (although a simple approach with free weights is usually the most optimal).

Have fun when moving. Play tennis with a friend. Jog with your dog. Go on a bike ride and explore your surroundings. Have a kayaking trip with a group of friends. The less it feels like exercise, the easier it will be to make it a permanent part of your life.

• Lack of Support

It’s great to have enough self-discipline to achieve your goals without the help of other. However, it doesn’t mean it’s the best way of doing things. In fact, support from other people can often make or break your resolutions.

A phenomenon wherein a person works harder as a member of a group than when working alone. If you can work harder and develop better discipline when working with a group, why not benefit from it and get support?

• Wrong Expectations

Regular physical activity improves your self-discipline by teaching you two things: how to adhere to a specific plan and how to be patient when waiting for the results. If you start your workout plan with the wrong expectations, though, it’s likely you’ll quit before you improve your mental toughness.

Due to the phenomenon of the false hope syndrome (making frequent attempts at self-change while holding unrealistic expectations about the likely speed, amount, ease, and consequences) you’re likely to set unrealistic goals and expect things that can’t happen in a specified time frame. To avoid discouragement, research what kind of results you can expect realistically and set them as your goals. when building self-discipline, small wins are more important than aiming for the stars and not even landing on the Moon.

• A Lack of Time

A lack of time is usually the least legitimate reason to quit a fitness program because it masks a different kind of a problem. If you can’t find time to take care of your body, then the problem isn’t your lack of time, but your lack of priorities.

What kind of tradeoffs do you have in your life, and do they reflect your own values?

Do you value family and health over your career, yet spend 60 hours a week working with no real plan to reduce your workload? Perhaps it’s time to figure out how to change the work-family time ratio.

If you avoid these five most common reasons, you’ll have a much easier time sticking to your workout routine, and consequently, building lasting self-discipline. Don’t forget, though, that all of these problems are there to help you become tougher — it’s your job to figure them out, not use them as excuses why you should give up.

This Article is taken from Daily Self-Discipline

Written by Arshad. A

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