We are not machines. Sometimes things happen that take us off our way. Even though we promise to not drift away from our goals, we find ourselves doing exactly that occasionally. That drift throws our hard work away and makes us stagnate or even get worse as time flies.
Are we doomed?
Is it supposed to be like that?
Can we do anything about it?
The truth is that we need to build discipline in the gym just as we do in all other areas of life.
Discipline!
Discipline is doing what needs to be done regardless of the feelings we have and the situation we are in. Discipline in the gym differs not!
That’s the key. If you have the discipline to face the challenges life throws at you, you can achieve anything you can imagine.
But how can we build that discipline?
1. Have Faith
Regardless of your religious background, having faith is one of the strongest human experiences.
When you believe something with all your heart, you start visualizing it and once you visualize it it becomes real.
If it’s real, and not just an idea, you start feeling a degree of responsibility towards it like you are being watched. Faith provides a mental framework that connects physical efforts to broader life goals or spiritual beliefs, giving workouts deeper meaning. With faith, you are not just training for yourself. You are training to prove a point. You are training to show the universe that you are relentless and can overcome whatever stands in your way.
Believing that you are not on this journey alone but have been placed here to achieve certain goals takes away your power of choice. That’s how your discipline in the gym is made. You can’t decide to just not train today if it is your duty towards something greater now, can you?
2. Keep Yourself Accountable
It is as easy to take all credit when things go our way, as it is to point fingers when it’s not. The truth is that there are very few things in life we have genuine control over. We can’t control the weather, we can’t control if somebody likes us we can’t even control our heart beating. We can control the food that enters our mouth, we can control whether we train or not and we can control the intensity and seriousness of our training. We can’t control anything besides the choices we make. Even if you don’t know which foods to eat, you are still accountable. Information is infinite.
It is crucial to understand that regardless of the circumstance, and how complicated things might be, you are given a choice. You choose to skip training, you choose to drink alcohol and you choose to cheat on your meals. Keeping yourself accountable gives you the responsibility to care about breaking your promises. At the same time, it gives you the power to fix it. If you are the one to blame for any misfortune that comes to your fitness journey, you are the one who has the power to fix it. If it’s somebody else’s fault then there is nothing you can do now, can you?
Keeping yourself accountable is one of the best ways to build discipline in the gym and life in general.
3. Set the bar low, but still high enough
Don’t set unrealistic expectations on yourself. If you’ve never trained before you can’t just say “I will follow the routine of X professional athlete”. Trying to mimic the best in the world at once will probably lead to you not being able to follow through.
Discipline in the gym is built step by step.
There is something that you could do today, something small, that you are not currently doing, that you know it’s beneficial for you. You should live by that. Sooner or later your discipline will be on the same level as said professional athlete, and if not yet, it will still be incomparably stronger than it currently is.
4. Become a Sayer
What does that even mean Thanos?
Becoming a sayer means that you say what you are going to do, and then you go out there and do it.
For example, “Today I will run 4 miles.”
You better do it!
Don’t say things you cannot complete, be careful with the things you say, and when you say something feel the responsibility to complete it. That makes your word have value and earns you the respect of others. If every time you say that you are going to do something, you go out there and do it, then the only motivation you need to complete a certain task is to just say that you will. It’s too late to break your promise now!
You said it, so it must be done!
5. Choose Your Friends Wisely
We’ve all heard the cliche that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. This is absolutely true. If your friends have no discipline, chances are that you probably don’t have much either. Choose friends that have the same goals as you and keep each other accountable for getting it done.
Discipline in the gym is a team play. You and your friends don’t just spot each other but you keep each other on track. Challenge your friend and let him challenge you, grow together, and achieve the physique you were born to have.
