HOW TO BRAINWASH YOURSELF TO WORKOUT AND TO BETTER HEALTH
3 Things You Can Easily Do That Will Eventually Turn Into Autopilot
KEY POINTS
Creating a repetition for key activities
Creating habits that will eventually create the person you want to be
Creating a purpose over pleasure
Someone asked me the other day how I manage to stay motivated working out. I told them I don’t. To consistently do something over a long period of time isn’t motivation, it’s a series and collection of habits that you create that will eventually create you. When you first start to do anything new, it’s hard to stick with it because what you are doing is trying to write a new program. The challenging part is that the old program starts to kick in and your mind doesn’t want to accept the new program.
Your brain wants to default to the one it’s familiar with because “change is bad”. The older we get, the tougher it has been to make change. If you try to force the change, it usually doesn’t stick. The question is, “How do you put these new programs into place, so they start to run automatically”?
Every time I started to work out in the past, I was never able to get over the hump of “installing” the new program. I would do a few things for a little bit of time but could never really develop the habit. Your goal should not be focused on the working out itself but building the routine and habit to allow you to be consistent. You can apply this to anything you want to start incorporating into your life, and it doesn’t have to be solely for working out. If it is, then I’m here to help you by sharing some of the habits and routines I was able to install in my life that have gotten me over the hump. Once you do these, you’ll be on your way to making more consistent progress.
1.Creating A Repetition Of Key Activities
Establishing A Routine:
Everyone has the same number of hours in the day, yet some people happen to use them more effectively. Whenever I want to introduce a new routine or habit, I think about what must be removed. I think of it as uninstalling an old program before I can install the new one. You need 3 things to develop a new habit.
Habit Requires:
Queue or Trigger
Behavior & Routine
Reward & Positive Reinforcement
To get any new habit to stick, you’ll need something to alert you to the new behavior. When I first started to work out, I was never consistent as I worked out at different times each day and no days would ever be the same. I would work out after I left work, and I was at the mercy of whatever events happened to occur that day. As soon as I started to work out in the mornings, this all changed. My trigger is the alarm, and it’s the first thing I start my day with.
Since incorporating that routine, I now feel lost on the days I don’t work out first thing in the morning. The act of going to work out as soon as I wake up has now been engrained. When you start to do something at the same time every day, no matter how small, you will be amazed at how the time will trigger you to complete a task. If you have trouble doing this to start, set a daily alarm for specific time to alert you.
Pro Tip: If you want to build a new habit or routine, start with doing it at the same time every day. This has been one of the biggest keys to my success is using the time of day as a trigger. I’m amazed that 4am seems to come at the exact same time each day.
Other Key Habits:
Setting your clothes out the night before
Setting a time to do your meal prep
Drinking a protein shake as soon as I sit down at my desk
2.Creating The Habits For The Person You Want To Be
Creating A New Identity:
Growing up overweight, I’ve struggled on and off with my weight. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize most of my challenges with being in better shape were less about working out, and more about breaking a psychological barrier about my own identity. The way you see yourself will determine the actions you continually do each day. It’s almost as if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When you start to create and build new habits for the person you want to become, it will feel uncomfortable. You’ll be battling against old programming that wants to circumvent the new “code” you’re trying to install. You’ll need to figure out what kind of habits the person you want to become has, and then start to slowly build them into your life.
Most people try to do too much too quickly, and they end up “crashing” the program. Think of it as the computer freezing and then shutting down. First, figure out what are the habits that coincide with the person you want to become, pick a time, and slowly start to replace old programs.
Habits To Replace:
Old Habit: Always tired New Habit: Goes to bed early
Old Habit: Eats junk food 5 days a week New Habit: Eats junk food 1 time a week
Old Habit: Doesn’t wake up early New Habit: Sets alarm 1 hour earlier
Old Habit: Eats out most meals New Habit: Prepares most of their meals
Old Habit: Doesn’t drink water New Habit: Drinks 1 glass of water when they wake up
“Big change has more to do with many small changes that add up”.
Everyone thinks to make significant changes requires some monumental effort and some huge “big bang” event. Real change takes time, and it’s the sum of all these small decisions that compound over time. I am not special (as my wife likes to remind me), and she’s right. That is a good thing, because if you make small consistent changes that stick over time, you’ll be shocked at how much they add up.
3.Creating Purpose Over Pleasure
I think many of us feel lost after we finish school. There is a series of planned events all laid out for us, and we move from one stage to the next. When we finish school, get a job, get married, have kids, and a lot of people struggle with finding purpose. We are creatures of habit, and we are programed to seek comfort.
When we are younger, much of the “program” is determined for us. You move to step 2 after you’ve completed step 1. When we don’t have a goal or something we’re working towards, it’s easy to feel lost. You may feel like your floating, and since our brains are hardwired to seek pleasure, that’s not a recipe for success.
We need things in our lives to be hard so we can gain that sense of accomplishment. If you play a video game, and it’s too easy, you get bored and stop playing. If the game is too hard, you’ll get frustrated and quit. Think of building your physique as a way to develop your physical character in real life. You’ll not only gain a sense of satisfaction as you “level up”, but it will provide you a short-term purpose. Without a purpose or something to focus on, most of us seem to wander around aimlessly because nobody has told us what the next phase is.
When I started working out consistently “again”, something felt different this time. I wasn’t working out to achieve some overall look. Although it’s nice to be in great shape, the goal for me has changed. The goal is to focus on the work that must get done today. I don’t worry about what I must do the next day, or day after that, and my purpose is closing the habit loop every day.
It's through closing the habit loop (Which is working out), that brings me satisfaction and peace each day. The fact that I’ve done something hard and continue to do it is the reward. My reward is now tied to accomplishing the goals I’ve set each day and has less to do with the outcome. When you set up your goals and purpose like this in anything you do, you can be rewarded every day, and who doesn’t want that.