People fail at their fitness journey for alot of different reasons. I could go on for days about why people fail and how they never even realize it. However, I’d rather focus on how to achieve success in our fitness programs. That’s why I want to discuss an idea I have that will help you with your success. It involves doing something that anybody can master.
Discipline Over the Short Term
When you set about to be disciplined about something, what do you imagine? Do you imagine a month straight of great days? Do you imagine a long string of successes? Well it is time to change your thinking because that’s exactly what is causing you to fail and not even realize it. Discipline in anything is accomplished over the short term, not the long term. Anybody can be disciplined at anything for a week. That’s right. If you set out to be disciplined, plan to do it for just a week. Don’t go into it with the great idea that you will be disciplined for the next month. Don’t set a goal that says you will eat 3,000 calories a day for the next 30 days.
Instead of this approach, plan to be disciplined for just the next 7 days. Mark it in your calendar and then set out to accomplish it.
String Discipline Together
Once you have achieved the 7 days of disciplined behavior, start the cycle again. Strive for another 7 days of disciplined behavior. Use the success of the previous 7 days to reach your second 7 days goal. Keep repeating this process over and over again. Before long you will amaze yourself with how long you can be disciplined. The string of successes will just lead to more and more successes. At a certain point failure will no longer be an option.
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Once you have successfully strung together a bunch of successful periods of discipline, stick to the methods you are using. Only make changes where absolutely necessary. The process is obviously working and changing it too drastically can derail you at this point. Do not reinvent the wheel because that is just a waste of time. Replicate your own success over and over again.
Eat the Frog in Small Bites
This is the same approach used with time management. You don’t try to swallow the entire frog with one bite. Instead, you take one small bite at a time until the entire frog has been consumed. Do this with your discipline and you will see major changes almost immediately.
