“Success isn’t always about ‘greatness’, it’s about consistency. Consistent, hard work gains success.”

-Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

We all heard it before, consistency is key.

Consistency beats out motivation. Every. Single. Time.

You’ll never always be motivated to go to the gym.

In fact, if you ask people why they don’t go to the gym, the #1 reason is because they aren’t motivated or can’t find the motivation.

So let’s FORGET about motivation. Motivation is GREAT to give you an extra boost when you need it but it’s extremely unreliable. Yes, I said it. Hate me if you want.

I don’t care if you’re not motivated to go to the gym. Nobody cares. It is a lame excuse.

I’m not motivated either but we have GAINS TO ACHIEVE.

DO IT ANYWAYS.

Sit down, plan it into your schedule X amount of times a week at Y time and go. Simple as that.

Keep going every single time you plan even if you really really REALLY don’t want to.

Don’t think about it. Don’t debate it. Don’t procrastinate.

Set a time and go no questions asked. Don’t allow time to let it sit in your brain and make it a matter of “should I go or not?”

You’re going. Period. End of story.

Think about it this way –

If you’re a parent for example:

Let’s say you have to go pick up your kid at 3 pm everyday after school.

You don’t sit there and debate “should I go get my kid?”

You go get your kid because you have to. I mean, you don’t technically have to but it would be in your best interest to do so if you’d like to keep your child 😂

Think about the gym in that same light. It is something you don’t think twice about doing. It is something you GET the pleasure of doing. Not everybody can say that they get to go to the gym. Some people physically are unable to do so.

Being able to go to the gym is a blessing.

So let’s go over how to successfully make the gym a long term habit which ultimately boils down to the combination of your consistency and goals.

What are habits anyways?

According to Google, a habit is, “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.”

As humans, we have both good and bad habits.

A good habit may be considered brushing our teeth daily when we wake up.

A bad habit may be considered late night snacking.

In order to form a habit though, it takes time.

According to James Clear, the author of “Atomic Habits”, (which is an AMAZING read by the way and you should 100% read that if you haven’t already. Click here to check it out), a habit takes an average of 2 months or 66 days to form.

And in order to break a habit, it takes even more time. To be honest, we never truly “break” bad habits, we just replace them with better ones.

But in both creating and breaking habits, there is one common theme.

Consistency.

You can’t build a new habit or break a bad habit without being consistent over a long period of time. It is simply impossible.

That same principal applies not only to the gym, but everything in life.

Our “good” habits are generally driven from our goals so let’s go over a few things you can do to start setting quality goals –

1. Start small. Many people make the major mistake of setting goals that are too hefty to achieve. Don’t get me wrong it is good to set high goals for yourself but if they are too much at once, you’ll get easily discouraged when you don’t hit that goal in the given time frame. For example, if you want to lose 100lbs (which is A LOT by the way), it will take a lot of time. If you set your 100lb weight loss goal for 1 year but at month 6 you’ve only lost 30lbs, you’ll be extremely disappointed that you’re not at half of your goal halfway through the year. You may give up with the thought that you’ll never hit that goal in time. If you had set your goal smaller though, and said you wanted to lose 5lbs every month for the next few months. At month 6 when you’ve lost 30lbs, you’ll feel amazing. You’ll feel as though you’re exactly on track to where you need to be and you’ll be encouraged to keep going and hitting more goals. See the difference? It’s a mental thing.
2. Make sure to set SMART goals for yourself. If you’re unsure of what that means –
   • Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
   • Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
   • Achievable (agreed, attainable).
   • Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
   • Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive)
   • EXAMPLE –
   • Mediocre goal: I want to lose some weight 
   • SMART goal: I will lose 10lbs in the next 10 weeks by doing a combination of strength training and cardio 4X a week + eating in a 500-calorie deficit each day
3. Make sure to track your progress. Are you hitting that small, SMART goal you set for yourself daily, weekly, monthly? This will be key to building up your habit in the long term. Physically write down and check off your goal each day if you need to.
4. Make sure to celebrate your small wins. This could be rewarding yourself with a gift, some relaxation time, a snack of your choice, etc. This will help keep you motivated and stay on track because who doesn’t like rewards? It’s important that you ONLY reward yourself when you are succeeding though. If you reward yourself whenever you feel like it, it takes away the purposes and it will no longer work as a motivator.

All of the suggestions above circle back to having a plan in place.

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

-my boi Benjamin Franklin.

And in true Coach Emily fashion, I save the most relevant piece of information until the end.

The most IMPORTANT aspect you need to figure out is:

• WHY you want to build this new habit
• WHY you want to break that bad habit
• What are you doing it for?
• Who are you doing it for?

If you are unsure of the true purpose of why you set these goals in the first place, you are highly likely to fail whenever you set a new goal or try to create/break a habit.

You need to find your passion. The real underlying reason why you want to build or break this habit.

Passion increases motivation and excitement and the likelihood of your success.

Most people aren’t in the gym just to look good naked. That is not their passion or their purpose. That is just a benefit that comes with it.

Most people are in the gym because they are passionate about their own health. Living a long life for themselves, and their families.

They do it for their physical health, their mental health, their sanity.

The gym is a sacred space for many people. A place they go to release the stress and tension from daily life.

So, I encourage you to dig a little deeper inside.

What is that reason for you?

Why do you want to build those long term healthy habits and find success in the gym?

What will it do for you?

If you still feel like you need help setting or accomplishing the goal you set for yourself, I have 2 spots open in my 1:1 online coaching program. You can apply here. I’d love to help you out!

Until next time,

Coach Emily