The Single Reason You Need to Start Working Out Today

You've been putting off your "start working out" plant for a LONG time. You keep saying to yourself:

"It's the holiday's so I'll just get started in January."

"I'll start back up at the gym when work settles down."

"I just can't seem to find the time."

NEWS FLASH: You're conditioning yourself to say that your goal to start working our is not important.

The truth is if you don't have good health, any of the money you make, or time you spend doing it won't matter because your quality of life will suck. And putting it off until "tomorrow" is just programming you to push working out further down your priority list.

But you can change that in an instant (or should I say a bunch of instances done with intention.)

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Mel Robbins explains the 5-second rule here - No, not eating food off the floor within five seconds! - but taking an immediate action step towards something within 5 seconds of thinking about it.When you act immediately on a thought, you condition yourself to get more done. To prioritize now. It's what Mel Robbins calls Metacognition or "a way of tricking your brain in order to achieve your greater goals."(The science can be explained here.) This will build your confidence, help you face fears (is that scary situation you're facing ever really as bad as we make it out to be in our head?) and most importantly, build momentum. Momentum is a critical component of behavior change. The 5-second rule is a strategy you can use to get yourself to do something you don't want to do - like working out.

Yes I know - dragging yourself out of bed, putting on your workout clothes, driving to the gym, and actually getting ready to start working out is not as simple as it sounds.

 You're overworked, overtired, crunched for time and your life just never seems to slow down. So I'm going to give you a simple way to get this started tomorrow morning.

When your alarm clock rings tomorrow morning, actually get up (Yeah it's crazy that we may actually use our alarm clock to do what we use it for in the first place.)

Huh? How is this going to help me get more done you're asking? Well, when you hit snooze, you're basically conditioning yourself to say, whatever I have to do today isn't as important as sleeping in for 5 more minutes. And besides, you know how much more tired you feel when you wake up after a snooze.

So how does this help me to workout? I'll tell you...

When you hear the alarm go off, reach over and turn it off. Instead of hitting snooze, sit up out of bed. Do this within 5-seconds You've now begun the process of reconditioning yourself to act on a thought immediately and building the necessary momentum. 

Next, you think about turning on the coffee pot and making a cup of coffee. Go do it! You're now 2 for 2 and your confidence is building. 

Then you think, "I forgot to make my bed." Immediately go and do it. Not "I'll do it after I check how many likes I got on my Facebook post last night", but immediately when you think about it.

What's happening is simple. As you check off a task from your mental checklist by taking immediate action on it, you're rewiring your brain to GET STUFF DONE and allow your thoughts to become a priority.

So next time you're thinking of getting ready to start working out, but you're hesitating, take an action towards it within 5 seconds and start reconditioning yourself. Maybe it means you go to your dresser and set your workout clothes on the bed. Maybe it means immediately grabbing your phone and putting it on your calendar. Any actionable step, no matter how small, will do. When it comes to changing your habits and behaviors, momentum trumps everything.

What small task that you're thinking about right now can you go and do that can build momentum? If you're on the cusp of getting started, we make it easy for you, just fill out your contact info and we'll reach out to schedule you a complimentary workout!

This article was originally published on mikeurso.com/blog and has been re-published here with permission from the author, our Director of Training, Mike Urso.