A few days ago, I saw an Instagram story that made me laugh. It was something like this: I got a yearly gym membership six months ago and still don’t see the results, tomorrow I’m going there to check what’s wrong. LOL
Let’s go to the gym?
It happens to be that I also got my yearly gym membership six months ago and, honestly, wasn’t very good at attending it. There are literally millions of reasons that I can come up with in order to skip the gym.
And the funny thing is, those excuses are only for me. I haven’t promised anyone to go to the gym, I don’t have any trainings I must go to. There’s no one else in this game but me. Each time I decide to go to the gym, my mind must try at least a couple of times to convince myself that I’m allowed to skip the gym.
This reminds me during school years when there were some days when I could have done or told my mom anything just to stay at home.
Well, the difference this time is there’s no other person pushing myself to do anything.
But the silliest thing is, even though I come up with dumb excuses trying to prove myself it’s better to go straight home after work, I also allow myself to believe that.
If now you’re thinking, what the heck, this sounds like a real conversation must be going on in her mind, arguing whether to go to the gym or not… Yup, that’s exactly what is happening every time.
But but but! This post is not about the excuses nor about me sharing my-tired-self arguments why I shouldn’t work out. It’s about how I make my righteous-self win the argument.
Yup! Let’s go to the gym!
Firstly, it’s good to think a little bit of the reasons why you don’t go to the gym on the first hand.
I noticed that it’s impossible for me to get up earlier in the morning than usual. And the usual is just enough for me to get ready and go to work. So I need to go to the gym in the evening.
Then, I also noticed, that I must go to the gym straight after work, because, again, if I come back home, it’s mission impossible to get out.
This also means I must bring the work out clothes with me to work. And this leads to another conclusion: if I pack the bag in the evening, I’ll take it to work, but if I’ll leave it for the morning, no way I’m gonna do that.
So that’s my main rules I must follow if I actually want to work out – pack the bag in the evening, bring it to work, and after work go straight to the gym.
Now, another tricky part is on the way from work to the gym. In my case, the gym is in the middle between my work and home. So it’s very easy for me to continue arguing with myself until the very last minute when I’m actually at the gym.
How to win the argument and go to the gym?
Have a goal. My goal is working out three times per week. And my perfect goal is going to the gym on Monday,s Wednesdays and Fridays. When it’s a Monday, I convince myself that a good start can lead to a great week when I’ll be able to be proud of myself for working out and not lying to myself of how tired I am. On other days, I repeat to myself that I’m only one or two workouts away from my goal.
Also, the fact that I’m having sports clothes with me helps a lot too. I don’t like carrying around those clothes. So I tell myself – go to the gym and tomorrow you’re free from the sports bag thing. (Actually, this is usually the checkmate)
When none of these helps, I become the best friend of my tired self who can scold, swear, remind all the times I gave myself a promise, and talk straightforwardly of the things my tired self likes to forget about. You know, like: you paid this and that for the gym and now you’re gonna skip it? Or: so you are saying I wanna be fit! I wanna be fit! and yet you ain’t gonna do a thing about that? Well, you got it… This makes me feel a bit crazy and maybe I shouldn’t write about such things but aren’t we all somewhat mad?
And that’s pretty much it! Fighting mental battles isn’t easy and, oh, I wish I could always remember that working out is fun and healthy, and makes me feel great every single time. But for now, it’s a rare case. Most of the time I have to do the mental workout before working out physically. And packing the bag a day before is also a must!