Consistency to Reach Your Goal

Consistency is the most important element in reaching your fitness goals. Have you ever felt extremely motivated, and told yourself, tomorrow morning is the day I change my life? I’m going to get up early, workout, start eating healthier and tomorrow will be different. Then your 6:00 am alarm goes off, you say “f this”, hit the snooze button, and go back to sleep. That’s because motivation is fleeting. Motivation is a state of emotion, similar to happiness, sadness, excited, anxious, frightened, etc. All states of emotion are temporary and fleeting. The motivation must be followed by immediate action steps – plan a goal, sacrifice the deadweight and create good habits 

Reaching any fitness goals comes down to being consistent and simply doing the work.

How can we be more consistent?

Step One: Plan the Goal 

You must have a clear path of where you are now, and where you want to be. The more specific the better. You can’t just say “Okay I want to lose a little bit of weight, so tomorrow I’m kind of going to start eating a little healthier”. You’ll never end up anywhere with this mentality. You must say “I want to lose 20 lbs exactly 90 days from now”. Having clear goals allows us to work relentlessly towards something, rather than randomly and monotonously going through the motions. It increases focus and makes the path more concrete, tangible and real.

Step Two: Sacrifice the Deadweight

What do I have to sacrifice to reach this goal? In order to reach your fitness goals and become more consistent with your lifestyle, you’re going to have to make sacrifices. All of your idols would have never built any of their legacies without making sacrifices, and being consistent. For example, If your goal is to lose 20 lbs in 90 days ask yourself, what do I have to sacrifice to accomplish this? Okay, I have to stop eating 2000 calories of donuts and cake before I go to bed. I have to get up 45 minutes earlier every day to prepare my meals, workout, or whatever I need to do. Instead of going out 4 times per week and drinking with my friends, I’ll only go once. Having a clear list of everything you need to sacrifice, allows you to make better day to day decisions and be more consistent. 

Step Three: Create Good Habits

1. Wake up early and at the same time every day. Harvard professor and researcher Christoph Randler, discovered, when it comes to business success, morning people typically get better grades in school, have better job opportunities, anticipate problems while minimizing them, are more proactive, and overall have a higher chance of success. You can wake up earlier by simply – yes you guessed it, going to bed earlier. Instead of watching the bachelor, or playing Fortnite until midnight, aim for your 7-8 hours of sleep. Around 9:30pm you should start mentally preparing yourself for the following day, and getting ready for bed.
2. Have a daily routine. For example, let’s say you wake up at 5:30am, go to the gym, prepare your meals, listen to an audiobook, take your kids to school, do whatever you need to do. Now when you start working at 9:00 am you’re already way ahead of the curve, compared to where you’d normally be. 
3. Master time management. Most people don’t maximize the 24 hours in a day that they’ve been gifted. Every night, take 15 minutes prior to going to sleep and plan out every hour of your day. This will allow for you to be more consistent with your workouts, nutrition, and have more time for work or anything else you need to get done.

Summary:

The journey to success is never a straight line. It always involves a combination of forward and backwards progress. Motivation is only the beginning – it must be followed by immediate action! Find a goal you are passionate about so the sacrifice is worth it. Once you implement the good habits for a time, they become easier to repeat. Having a coach or other positive external influence can be a valuable asset to ensure consistency. Once you develop a consistent routine of working towards your goal, success is only a matter of time!

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2010/07/defend-your-research-the-early-bird-really-does-get-the-worm