Having just joined a gym, I am fully aware of the path most people’s gym membership takes. Intense usage for the first month, followed by sporadic visits and finally lapsing within a couple of months.
The energy and enthusiasm that gets us started on a road towards a target can be lost as life gets in the way. Exhausting workloads, intense international travel, family commitments and taking care of children. It’s very difficult to stay committed to complete a change. Not only in health but also any significant life changes requires attention and constant maintenance. Conventional wisdom says that if you complete a new action for 21 days it becomes a habit, but in my experience that is just not true. Maybe in the past when the amount of stimuli in people’s lives were much lower, but not today. There are so many things competing for your energy and attention that it requires ongoing attention to stay the course.
One technique that you can use to sustain yourself is to set very easy targets to start. By setting low targets you guarantee that you start succeeding from day one. My ultimate running target is to run a 5 minute kilometer average for 10 kilometers. But I first target was “to put on my exercise clothes”. I found that by making this goal so simple it broke through the procrastination that had held me back for several months. Then I set an easy target to walk for 40minutes on the treadmill. Now as I regain my fitness levels, I am very gradually moving up these targets. For example, now I walk for 4 minutes and run for one minute. I will gradually increase the amount of running over the weeks, and by tracking my speed and heart rate will be able to slowly but surely reach my targets. Most important of all, I won’t get injured and I build up my confidence by making it easy to succeed.
Ultimately, the most successful people don’t necessarily have special knowledge or approaches. With google, best practice techniques are within easy reach of us all. But successful people are consistent. They demonstrate good beahaviour constantly and relentlessly over days, months, weeks and years. Set yourself up for success, make success easy for yourself. Small easy targets. Be constant and enjoy the fruits of your hard work! Best of luck.