Two-time Figure Olympia champion Erin Stern doesn’t let any obstacle stand in her way. In a recent YouTube video shared on September 25, 2024, Stern revealed three sneaky reasons why you aren’t able to achieve fitness goals.
Erin Stern has proved that she has a tenacious drive, especially when it comes to competing as a professional bodybuilder. From dominating on the Figure Olympia stage and becoming a two-time champion in 2010 and 2012 to trying her hand in the Bikini category and smoking it with a win at the 2022 Republic of Texas Pro, Stern has proven she can do anything she sets her mind to.
Now, that’s not to say that Erin Stern hasn’t taken a tumble with troubles along the way. However, her ability to navigate those setbacks, such as injuries or even motivational lulls that she combats by hitting the gym, is what makes Stern stand out from the pack.
Erin Stern Reveals Three Sneaky Reasons Why Individuals May Not Be Reaching Their Fitness Goals
After years of competing at the highest levels, Stern has developed her own methods for accomplishing her aspirations and pushing through obstacles. Considering she has personal experience facing plateaus, Stern recently provided insights into three reasons why individuals may not be reaching their goals and shared how to get past them.
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“I wanted to talk about three sneaky reasons why you may not be achieving your goals,” she shares.
Erin Stern’s Three Sneaky Reasons for Not Reaching Goals
- You Feel Like You’re Not Worthy or Deserving of Achieving Your Goals
- Lack of Objective Vision or Manifesting
- Stuck in the Swamp of “Shoulds”
1. You Feel Like You’re Not Worthy or Deserving of Achieving Your Goals
To get started, Stern expressed that mentality can really impact how you achieve your goals.
“Number one, you feel like you are not worthy or that you don’t deserve to achieve said goal. Now, just think about that because a lot of us, especially us women, feel like we are imposters, like we do not deserve, we are not worthy of what we in reality could have and should have and this could be, it’s a sneaky reason but some of the things behind it are sneaky.”
When you don’t feel that you are worthy of reaching your goals, it can creep up on you in other areas, such as eating habits, ultimately setting you back.
“These are things like self-sabotage, maybe over eating or not eating enough or intermittent fasting for example, where you are just basically starving yourself.
This just goes back to eating in a disordered way and the underlying cause can be you just don’t feel like you’re worthy.”
2. Lack of Objective Vision or Manifesting
Next, Stern revealed that having a clear idea of what you want to achieve plays a pivotal role in how you actually go about accomplishing that.
“Now, this leads to me to number two. Whatever you can dream you can achieve and you are not duplicating what you have up here or what you have up here is cloudy so you are not able to manifest this.”
She suggests the use of a vision board to help you properly manifest your goal, taking into consideration personal attributes, such as structure and genetics.
“When it comes to your physique, having a vision board or looking at someone an saying oh I want those shoulders or I want those abs, it’s a good start but you have to be able to imagine it to see it so clearly on your own physique. To see your own body, to look at your own structure, your own genetics, to know where you are going with it” Stern explained.
3. Stuck in the Swamp of “Shoulds”
Finally, Stern expressed that getting caught up in the expectations of others can prevent you from reaching your full potential.
“Lastly, number three, I call this ‘the swamp of should’s’ and the reason is we get stuck in other people’s expectations.
We see stuff on social media or perhaps you are an influencer yourself and you got a following and people expect you to train for figure and even though you’ve decided that maybe you want to do something different, you continue to pigeonhole yourself because you have these expectations on what you should be, what you should be doing.”
She emphasizes that trying to achieve a goal halfheartedly more often than not leads to failure.
“If you have expectations that are placed on you or even you placed on yourself from social media or friends and family that expect you to be a certain way, you are just bogged down in this ‘swamp of should’s’ and it is just not doing it for you and when you have something that you are trying to achieve that is not in your heart to do, you are just not going to do it.
You are going to give fifty percent, if that. You are going to be derailed easily and the motivation isn’t going to be there.”
Erin Stern is all about reaching new levels when it comes to fitness. Recently, she revealed five steps for bringing up lagging muscles. While there could be several reasons for a specific body part falling behind, such as genetics or neglect, Stern had easy methods for pushing through the lulls you may find yourself in physically.
Regardless of how you are looking to improve your health, Erin Stern has ample knowledge using her tried-and-true tricks to get you where you want to be. If you are struggling to get through a plateau, give Erin Stern’s suggestions a try and let us know in the comments if they worked for you!
RELATED: Hit Your Protein Goals With 2x Figure Olympia Erin Stern’s Healthy Chicken Nugget Recipe
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