The fact is, not everyone succeeds at sticking to a new fitness plan. In fact, most don’t. They might stick to it for a while, and even see some nice results. But, at some point, the ball drops.
I think about this a lot, of course, since when a client of mine lets their fitness fall through the floor they stop coming in to see me! I have a solid retention rate that I’m quite proud of, but no matter what I do, no matter how encouraging I try to be, I can’t keep them all. That’s life. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves.
Top 7 Reasons People Fail at Fitness
- Unwillingness – I like to say often that Life is about Trade Offs. You never get to have something without paying a price. Sometimes the price low, in which case the choice is easy. But, other times the price is high. When it comes to fitness, many people see a steep price tag. You have to watch your diet, consistently come into the gym, and work HARD when you’re in the gym. That’s the price. And if you aren’t willing to pay it, you will never succeed.
- Self Esteem Issues – There are so many ways a coach can hear the words, “I can’t”. Sometimes it’s simply a whiny sounding sigh. Other times, it’s explicit, “I can’t do that, I mean it, there is no way that is going to happen. Not if my LIFE depended on it.” Truth is, when a client tells me they can’t, they usually can. But they honestly don’t know it. I know it, I’ve been doing this long enough to have a pretty good idea about what a person can and can’t take. But, they don’t. They have NO experience pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones. As such, they are convinced they are less than they are. This goes to more than just lifting in the gym, or doing their interval training. It is a permeating force of “I can’t” that rules their life. They’ll be doing something well, get right up near the end … and quit. You ARE able to do this. ANYONE can do this. But, until you truly believe it: Fake it till you make it.
- Blame-Game – This one is related to the lack of self-esteem. If you find yourself failing, and your first response is to blame someone else, or some external object or situation, then you’re playing the blame-game. OK, I know there are always those times in life when things honestly aren’t your fault (like getting hit by a car). But, most of the time, at least part of the blame is squarely on you. Take that to heart, don’t let it get you down, learn from it, and do something different the next time. We all fail in the short term. But, the people who succeed in the long term OWN their failures.
- Sheepin’ It Up – This may seem ironic, given the nature of this article, but beware of advice-givers. Obviously, you need to take advice. But, make sure it’s good advice given by people who are in a good position to give advice. For instance, if you are having relationship problems and you need advice, don’t ask your friend who has never been in a relationship that lasted longer than 6 months! They don’t know what they are talking about. (I always find it amazing when people hire out-of-shape trainers who clearly don’t practice what they preach.) You don’t have to spend your life as a sheep. You have a good brain – use it. Good advice is education, bad advice is poison.
- Execute – All the good advice in the world is worthless if you don’t put it into action. A famous coach, Dan John, once said, “Plan the work, work the plan.” A coach can plan the work, but eventually only you can work the plan. How many projects around your house do you “plan to get to?” How often have you told yourself that you were going to start going to the gym. “This year, man, this is it. This is the year I’m gonna go to the gym and eat right and take back my life!” Well … that’s the plan, now do it!
- Closed mind – Sometimes you’ll get great advice, but you’re too closed-minded to take it (or even recognize it as good advice). When I tell people that lifting weights will help them lose fat, I often get quizzical looks. It goes against the grain (cardio is for fat loss, weight lifting is for muscle building … right?). When I say that long and slow cardio won’t help them lose fat, I get rolled eyes. The fact that they’ve been doing long slow cardio with no results for years doesn’t (oddly) occur to them as strange.
- Over-competitive – This comes in two kinds: competition with others; and competition with yourself. Both can be great motivators. But, they can also be major motivation killers! If you are constantly worried about what others are doing (and doing better than you) then you’ll end up paralyzed by irrational fears like, “I’m not as good as them, so I’ll NEVER be as good as them.” The other is over-competition with your own self. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself is a guaranteed way to set yourself up for failure. Like, “I’m gonna lose 20 pounds in 10 days!” … come on. A little competition is good, too much is childish.
Take a good hard look at the above 7 problems and ask yourself if you’re suffering from any of them. I’m sure you are. We ALL are. But, the good news is that admitting a behavior is a problem is the first step toward changing that behavior.
If you’re ready to take yourself to the next level, make sure to contact me to get started on a new strength and fitness program today!
