Here's a bold claim:
95% who don't reach their fitness goals have the right information.
Everything is at your fingertips:
- Nutrition magazines
- Workout templates
- YouTube channels
- Fitness apps
- Health blogs
The real question is, what stops you from applying it?
One of the core factors is limiting beliefs and attitudes.
These are like computer programs that govern your behaviors: if they prevent you from using the knowledge you got about working out and dieting, the knowledge won't translate into results.
This newsletter will dismantle the #1 belief that prevents you from achieving your fitness goals - and I'll also show you how to reprogram it (it's easier than you think).
Keep reading to learn more about it.
Programmed for laziness?
Growing up, there’s one line I heard over and over again:
“Learn something good!”
Everyone told me this - my dad, my grandparents, the teacher, even the bus driver.
But they didn’t just tell me to take care of my education:
They said it in a sense that if I don’t learn “something good”, I’d end up doing the same work as they’re doing.
As a 7-year-old, I couldn’t grasp why people were spending their days doing something they’re not enjoying.
What stuck with me is that work is a necessary evil.
That attitude held me back for a long time: I avoided work as much as I could and just did the bare minimum of work to pass - whether at school, working a job or even most university classes - producing only mediocre results.
That pattern shifted only when I put myself into a position where half-assing work wasn’t an option anymore: starting my business.
One day, I sat down to do work I didn’t want to do. I got into my typical pattern of procrastinating and cursing the task ahead, until it hit me:
No one forces me to do that!
I saw the parallel to working out in the gym - the one area I always enjoyed doing hard work: I didn’t approach lifting weights as a chore, but I loved the challenge of sculpting my body to my own desires.
And if you’re an entrepreneur or creator, that’s likely why you’re passionate about building your business: You value autonomy - the ability to choose your own challenges and goals.
And that’s the same attitude we’ll need when talking about fitness.
Health isn’t a chore
Here’s one thing my most successful clients have in common:
They see working out and eating healthy as something desirable.
If you believe that your workouts are just something to “get over with”, you’re doing the opposite: You’re turning it into a chore, like a job you just do to get by.
And that’s a terrible strategy for fitness: It’s your intrinsic nature as a human to be active.
Modern office workers average less than 3000 steps per day, while our ancestors did 20000.
But compared to our ancestors, there’s one key difference:
Modern society doesn’t force you to move.
There’s no tribal warfare, no dangerous animals that threaten to hunt you down and food supplies aren’t scarce.
That’s a blessing and curse at the same time: Your brain is programmed to conserve energy - an ancient survival mechanism that’s not designed for a comfortable lifestyle.
That’s why you have to be intentional about getting your ass off the chair.
You don't have to move, you get to move.
Let’s dive deep into how to approach that.
3 Steps to stop making fitness a chore
Here are four steps that turn fitness from a chore into a labor of love:
1) Compelling vision for your health
There are two prime motivators:
- Moving away from an undesirable state
- Moving towards a compelling, desirable state
The first one is much stronger and unfortunately, that’s where most operate from when it comes to health and fitness: They don’t change until they have to (at that point it’s often too late).
Your only other option you have is to create a compelling vision for your health.
As an entrepreneur or creator, you’ve likely started your business from a strong vision. That’s what allows you to work long hours, without getting resentful.
Do the same for your body and get clear about what ideal health looks like to you:
- How do you want to feel?
- What do you want to look like?
- What would become possible for you in your business and private life?
If you need help clarifying your vision, check out my article about deep goal-setting.
Then, follow up with step #2:
2) Imperfect action
Most people think that once you’re “on a diet”, there’s no way back: If you “eat clean” and exercise, you’ll make progress.
But as soon as you “fall off track” - eating a pizza at your kid's birthday party, not sticking to your workout routine on vacation or having a glass of wine at your friend's dinner party - it’s game over.
Thinking that way is like saying your entire business will fail because one of your ads didn’t perform: You put immense pressure on yourself and get trapped in overthinking and perfectionism.
Here’s the best advice I can give you:
JUST. FUCKING. START.
I’m sure you already know at least 5 things you could start doing right now that’ll have a tremendous impact:
- Going on a daily walk
- Sleeping 30 minutes longer
- Starting your day with water
- Drinking fewer sugary drinks
- Having a protein-rich breakfast
Pick one of them, and make it a habit. Then choose the next:
3) Progressive overload
Once you get the ball rolling, you can gradually increase the effort.
Take my client Kathrin as an example: At school, she sucked at sports and hated it in her early life.
But later on, she wanted her daughter to get active - so they joined self-defense classes together.
Later, Kathrin discovered Kettlebell workouts. Then, she saw her husband train with barbells and got into it as well.
She fell in love with strength-training, started competing in powerlifting and now even gets to start at the European championships.
Notice that no one forces her to do that: She does it because it makes her happy and confident.
Of course, you don’t have to go that far, but she’s the perfect example of what becomes possible if you get rid of thinking of fitness as a chore.
Define your vision for your health, get clear on what’s necessary to achieve that desired state, then establish the required actions - step by step.
If you’re ready to get serious about your goals, I can help you.
If you're a driven entrepreneur or creator and looking to:
- Manage stress in an efficient manner for better health and productivity
- Drop up to 20lbs in 90 days, without the diet-hamster wheel
- Reach your dream physique in just 2 hours per week
Click HERE for a free 30-minute strategy call where I'll show you exactly how it works.