The Power of Consistency and Discipline When in Pursuit of Your Fitness Goals

Countless people dream every day about how they would feel and look with their ideal physique; the satisfaction in knowing they have achieved their weight loss goals and can proudly look at themselves in the mirror. However, all they do is wish. They fail to take action because deep down, they don’t truly feel like they can make their goals a reality. You may feel this way reading this right now. This is where you must start anyway, as doubt is normal when setting out to achieve a big goal. Consistency and discipline triumph over doubt in the long run, due to the power of momentum. The first month or so someone in your situation may not have noticed much of a difference in their weight loss or muscle building journey, and were on the verge on giving up. Regardless, they kept churning along. After the second month, that individual realized they lost 8 pounds of fat while putting on 2 pounds of muscle. They became ecstatic, and that created a snowball effect of eagerness and excitement to continue their pursuit. This is all because they refused to listen to that voice inside their head that told them to quit.

I’m going to be honest with you: there’s going to be days or even periods where you truly don’t want to continue lifting to build muscle or lose weight anymore. Once that initial excitement wears off, you might feel bored and ask yourself what the point is. However, this is the stage that separates the winners from the losers, the haves and the have-nots. Develop the willpower to stick to the continuous pursuit of your goals, whether you feel like it or not, day in or day out, rain or shine. This determined attitude over time will make it near impossible for you to quit, as science shows that it takes around 90 days to build new habits in your brain. New habits can be very hard to form, and bad habits often seem harder to break. There are no two better traits than consistency and discipline to combat this.

Building up your mental fortitude is one of the most rewarding things that you can do for yourself, as you will realize it’s not just about achieving your physical fitness goals, but it’s about the person you become, which will be a wiser and more resilient version of yourself. View every training session as something you have the privilege to do, as opposed to it being a chore. Fall in LOVE with the process of seeing your body go from skinny to muscular, or from fat to slim. It cannot be put into words just how much it does for your self-esteem when you change your physical appearance for the better. So keep going, and remember why you started: to change your life for the better.

• Pat