How to Motivate Yourself to Work Out
Have you ever sat on the couch convincing yourself to get up and go to the gym. It can go on for hours on end, and then by the time you’re almost motivated enough, you’ve probably frittered away enough time that you’ve got things to do. Then the guilt sets in. Then the cycle continues. But clicking on this article already means that you’re willing to work out! You can do it.
Method 1 of 3: Motivating Your Thoughts
Find your reason. Find your why. Everybody has one. What’s yours? Do you want to be sexy (or healthy) as hell? Do you want to see your grandkids through their 20s? Do you want to fit into those jeans you wore 5 years ago? Do you have a crush on that babe at work? What is it? Isolate it. Focus on it.
- You know how it goes — “out of sight, out of mind.” So if you keep this reason on the forefront of your conscious (that is, you’re thinking about it all the time) you won’t be able to ignore the logic behind working out. It’ll be the simplest solution to getting what you want. Humans are pretty good at doing what they want — so lining these two things up (the motivation and the action) will become easy as pie.
Talk yourself into it. You’re probably telling yourself something like “I should exercise right now. If I don’t work out, I’m never going to get fit.” This statement has many hidden obstacles. For one thing, feeling like you should do something makes it seem like work, or an obligation. That’s no fun! You’re also thinking about what will happen if you don’t exercise — in other words, you’re threatening yourself with punishment (the image of being unfit). Subconsciously, you’re flooding your mind with negativity. Instead of thinking about how you’ll look if you don’t work out, think about how great you’d look if you did!
- It’s very important to think in the positive. Instead of, “God, I feel terrible for not working out,” think “I’d feel better if I worked out — so tomorrow I will.” If you think in “nots” and “nevers” and “didn’ts,” you’re just bogging yourself down, making it even harder to get motivated!
Set a goal for yourself. This can be at any point — it doesn’t have to be your end goal! If you want to work out twice a week, have a goal of two times a week — simple. Then you can reward yourself after! If you want to run 10 miles a week, have that be your goal. Smaller goals (rather than losing 50 pounds, say) bring the light at the end of the tunnel a bit nearer, making it more achievable.
- Sign up for a charity walk or run that will encourage you to train. Once you have a set date to work towards, you’ll have a goal in mind while you’re working out. The feeling of accomplishment after you’re done will encourage you to sign up for another or to just continue being fit.
Set up rewards. What’s the point in having goals if nothing is going to come from it? You gotta reward yourself! And again — the rewards don’t have to be dangled in front of you until the very end (that’s just cruel); give yourself teeny rewards from time to time for sticking with it.
- Make a reward for every session, every week, every pound, or every task you do/exercise/lose/complete — whichever speaks to you. This is all about training your brain. When you see the good stuff behind all the work, it’ll give you the strength to keep going and to stick with it.
- The other side of the coin is to make the alternatives worse. Tell yourself if you don’t work out, you have to organize the attic, donate $50 to the KKK, or call that cousin you haven’t spoken to since that awkward family reunion. Now that’s one threatening motivation.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re not lazy — this stuff is just hard. A person that runs 5 miles a day doesn’t get that the energy they exert is a lot less than the energy someone uses that hasn’t worked out in years. So don’t label yourself — you’re just starting out, that’s all.
- When you stumble and fall, you have to understand that that’s normal. It happens to everyone. It’s unimportant that you have a setback — it’s only important that you get back up. These tiny failures will happen (you’ll miss a day, you’ll get sick, whatever), so when they do, relax. You’ll get back at it. Keep your chin up.
Hypnotize yourself. Hypnosis is a state of intense concentration, when your mind is extremely receptive. The “Best Me Technique” is a form of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, which encourages you to pre-experience the accomplishment of a goal. See the video below for more insights as to how self-hypnosis can help you get motivated to exercise.
- This will only really be effective if you believe it’ll be effective. If you’re a skeptic, don’t waste your time. Stick to more concrete endeavors.