Psychology of Fitness
By TrickMyMind | June 1st, 2020
Exercising SUCKS!
Let's face it...for most of us, exercising sucks. We realize that we should be doing it, but there are so many more tempting things to do instead...like sitting on the couch and watching Netflix.
The good news is that the reason exercising sucks is just because we don't know what game we are playing. Once we fix that, things get a whole lot easier. Using a concept popularized by Simon Sinek, fitness can be defined as an infinite game. However, most of us play the game by using only finite goals. We usually set a goal of losing X pounds, or getting in shape by summer. Then, whether or not we actually meet our goal, we usually drift back to doing nothing at all.
So, how do we play the infinite game of fitness, and at the same time, make exercising not suck?
Trick My Mind
To do this, we must trick our minds by doing a few key things:
1) Realize the Goal of the Game
Since fitness is an infinite game, it goes on...and on...and on...and on...and never ends. It is not something that we suddenly win at by losing X pounds. It is a game that keeps going for our entire lives, whether we want to play in the game or not. So, focusing just on that fact, we really only have one main goal, and it is a rather simple one:
Just stay in the game.
We don't have to be experts at the game, or even good at it. We don't have to dedicate hours on end to it. We simply just have to stay in the game by doing a little bit each day. We only lose the game if we choose to drop out.
2) Create an Infinite Habit for an Infinite Game
While we might have a goal of exercising for 30 minutes, 3 x week, that is just way too unrealistic to use as a lifelong habit. That goal is perfectly fine, but instead of looking at it as a hard set goal, we need to view it as an upper limit. Next, we then need to create a lower limit, which will also be our starting target. This will need to be something that can be done each day in under 30 seconds, and with no equipment. Examples of this might be 2 x pushups, or 2 x squats, or a 30 second speed walk. You will know if you have the right target because it will seem almost stupid to actually set it as your target. The purpose of this is laser focused though:
a) It will help you to create and maintain your fitness habit, which in turn...
b) Keeps you in the infinite game of fitness.
3) Multiply the Snot Out of Your Target
To help you stay motivated, you can multiply your starting target. Take that tiny target and multiply it by 10 years or more. Doing 2 x pushups a day equates to over 7,000 pushups in a decade. So each day, when you take that 30 seconds to do your habit, remind yourself that you are on your way to 7,000...or whatever your number might be. Another way of phrasing it, is to ask yourself, "When I'm older than dirt, will I be healthier if I have done 20,000 pushups, or none at all?"
Create Your Habit Using the App
Using this strategy, our app helps you plan out and create your lifelong fitness habit. One thing to emphasize is that our app focuses on just that...getting you to create your lifelong fitness habit. It focuses on the psychology, and is not an app that runs you through an exercise routine.
So, with this in mind, the app will break your habit down into two routines. Using this strategy, it gets you to permanently lock in your new habit using your mini-routine, and then helps you achieve your goal with your main-routine. For more information and examples, read our Create Lifelong Habits blog.
Remember, just stay in the game. You only lose by dropping out.
Last Updated: October 30th, 2022