In this great fitness game there is one thing I truly believe. There is one deep dark secret that people rarely talk about. That is that you must learn to love the process of getting fit to be successful at it for the long haul. Most everyone I know who’s had any success loves doing what it takes to get and stay fit. That includes working out, eating the right foods, and doing what it takes in the name of fitness. They love everything about it. For me personally, going to the gym is often the highlight of my day. It’s the thing I look forward to the most out of my normal daily routine. A lot of the people I see at the gym on a daily basis feel the same way.
On the flip side, if you don’t like working out, if you don’t like eating healthily, what does this mean? Does this mean you are doomed for failure? Does it mean you shouldn’t even try, because I’m saying you won’t have success since you don’t love the process? Not at all! Don’t worry, you absolutely can learn to love the process. I don’t think anyone loves working out right off the bat. It’s hard, your body isn’t use to it and it feels almost like punishment. Fortunately there is hope even if you currently hate it.
I can sum up in one simple word what makes people start to love the process: results. When you stick through the tough part and you really start seeing results, you start to crave more. All of a sudden working out doesn’t seem so bad, the right food choices start to seem more worth it. Stick with it long enough and you start to fall in love with it.
I really do believe fitness is addicting. Things you never thought possible you are now able to do and that is an amazing feeling. It is really enjoyable when you can say you can do certain things. For instance, when you are able to say you can run a certain minute mile, or bench so many pounds, or when you are able to do so many pull ups. When you start accomplishing things you never thought possible, well that’s one incredible feeling nobody can ever take away from you.
One thing I absolutely love is when people are just getting started with an exercise routine and then seeing how excited they get when they start to see the results. That mental and physical transformation that takes place is amazing to me. What starts as I can’t turns into I can. What starts as it’s too hard turns into I can do this. What starts as I hate this turns into I love this!
A number of my friends have turned to me for advice about fitness when they first get started, which is something I really enjoy. It’s very rewarding when they come back to tell me how well things are going, or how much they love some of the things they are doing. It usually starts out with them not knowing where to start or what to do. It just takes a little advice to get the ball rolling. Once there is an action plan in place, they feel better about what they are doing and the motivation starts to kick in. Once they get after it for a while and they start to see results the excitement kicks in. There are few things I find more satisfying than when someone starts telling me how excited they are about fitness!
Lastly, I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s not possible to have success without loving the process. It certainly COULD happen, but if you don’t like what you are doing it’s going to be a constant struggle and you will battle yourself the whole way. Why not embrace it and go in with a positive attitude? Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are almost always going to be right.
Happy Lifting!
