Have you hit that workout/exercise wall yet? You know, the one that stops us dead in our tracks, sucking away every little bit of motivation we may have left?
When you began your journey, you had a plan in place, a vision of where you were going. Your intentions were aligned with it and your focus and excitement was high, driving positive motivation, inspiration and actions.
Suddenly, it seems, you hit a wall of resistance? Why has this dense shadow crossed your path weakening your resolve to reach your goal (if not killing it altogether)?
Why does this happen? What’s causes this dreadful blockage to surface from within that steals our time and energy? How did a once positive journey towards health and fitness turn into a “terrible, sometimes dreaded task?”
It’s all about how we “see” things, what our perceptions are telling us…what our inner eyes are relaying to our emotions, that in turn drive our actions. In this case, your perception about exercising shifted from a positive feeling to a negative one because your thoughts about it were negative and this gave rise to resistance.
It’s very hard to keep any sort of motivation going because motivation is directly tied to how we feel. When we don’t emotionally “feel good” about something, we don’t want to do it and resistance is the result.
When our perception about exercise shifts from a positive angle to a negative one, our energy is no longer driven towards accomplishing something through the joy and love of knowing we are contributing to the health and longevity of our body.
The focus has shifted to negative perceptions. What used to be “fun” perceptually has now become “work” and this transition in perception steals away our joy, excitement, motivation and positive actions, causing resistance to rear its ugly head.
Our thoughts matter –
The reality is, our thoughts towards exercise and fitness greatly influence our motivation and outcome.
This has been proven in studies done at Harvard University. A select group of housekeepers was educated on how physical work qualified as exercise. They were taught how all the squatting, lifting, scrubbing, stair climbing and walking performed during their day was beneficial to their physical health.
This new “understanding” and clarity shifted their view on work from a negative perspective/angle to seeing the positive effects of their actions.
The results 4 weeks later:
This select group of housekeepers felt fitter and researchers discovered a decrease in: BMI (body mass index), blood pressure, collective body weight, body fat, and waist to hip ratio.
On the flip side, the housekeepers that were in the control group (those that did not view their work as exercise/a positive thing) were denied these health improvements. To them it was simply work.
So, although two groups of housekeepers performed the same tasks, the ones sporting a positive perspective, those that viewed their work as exercise (rather than just a work/task to be performed) enjoyed the gift of far better health benefits.
Once again, the power of the mind comes into play.
What words and titles are you assigning to your exercises?
What adjectives are you using to define them in your mind? Are you associating exercise with negative connotations such as pain and suffering? This study proves that how you “think about” something is what it becomes to you. It proves that your thoughts do count and how you think and approach exercise – as work or play, as pain or pleasure (the pleasure coming from the awareness of the benefits received) – does matter a great deal.
If you currently struggle to get yourself up and exercising properly, if your motivation is all but nil, it’s time to take a deeper look at what’s causing this resistance – at what is distorting your view, stealing your motivation and stalling your actions.
Pause for a moment and reflect on what is going on within when you feel “resistance” about exercising. Take any negative energy (even if you cannot specifically identify the cause) and shift it to the positive by changing your view and assigning new definitions.
Remind yourself why you began this journey in the first place. Discover the passion that drove you initially and hold onto it.
Was it your health that initially drove you? Maybe it was fitting into that sexy dress for an upcoming occasion, maybe it was simply feeling fantastic. Whatever it was, pull it up and feel the positive, driving excitement and emotion of it again.
The first step towards stellar health through exercise and fitness is the same for everyone. It’s about adopting a positive mindset. Without that in place first the journey becomes a struggle.
Isn’t it empowering to know we have the potential for so much mind control! Don’t waste it!
Super Productivity Secrets IS the complete owner’s guide to achieving true balance in life. What’s more, it is also the complete guide to achieving the personal and financial success you have been dreaming about but have not quite figured out to achieve.
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