Are setbacks and challenges getting in the way of your fitness goals? Do you struggle with self-sabotage and negative self-talk? The truth is, success comes down to one thing: mindset. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting on your fitness journey, this article will provide you with practical tools and techniques to elevate the way you think about your fitness journey that you may not have considered before.
Setbacks & Obstacles in Fitness
When it comes to success, in fitness or anything else for that matter, setbacks and challenges are inevitable. You may get injured, get sick, or hit those ever so common plateaus in your progress. But what really sets successful fitness enthusiasts apart from those who give up when these challenges show up: Is your mindset.
As we touched on in this article about The Role of Mindset in Fitness Success, in fitness, as in life, there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth. Folks with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are set in stone and can’t really be improved, it just is what it is. While those with a growth mindset truly believe they can develop their skill sets through hard work and dedication. Research even shows that those with a growth mindset, tend to have more grit, be more resilient, and in the long run more successful.
And I get it. It’s hard to continue to be positive when faced with setbacks. And we’re going to cover a lot of ways to help you develop that kind of mindset over the long term but here are a 3 quick techniques that you can start implementing right now:
- Consider Setbacks As Opportunities For Growth
Instead of viewing setbacks as failures or reasons to give up, try to see them as opportunities for personal growth. Every challenge you face is an opportunity to help you learn something new about yourself. Perhaps you find that you need to adjust your training routine to a different time of day to be more consistent? But by examining each shortcoming through the lens of “what can I learn from this”, you not only maintain a positive attitude but you’re much more likely to continue to make progress.
- Embrace The Power Of “Yet”
This is one of my personal favorites. If you find yourself saying “I can’t…” or “I’m not good at X” try adding the word “yet” to the end of your statement. For example, “I can’t do pull-ups” becomes “I can’t do pull-ups yet.” This is a simple shift in language but it can dramatically improve the way your brain thinks about the obstacle. You’re now viewing your current abilities as a work in progress. With time (and practice), you can achieve your goals. You just haven’t gotten there YET!
- Seek Out Both Support And Feedback
Surrounding yourself with a supportive community can make a huge difference on your journey to success. Seek out those who will uplift and encourage you every step of the way, whether it be friends, family, or even a motivational trainer. Make sure your biggest supporters know your goals. You’ll be surprised who is genuinely happy to be a part of your journey towards a healthier, better version of yourself. You don’t have to go it alone, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to. If you struggle and just need a place to start, find an online community that encourages one another.
Additionally, it’s important to seek feedback from people you trust on either your progress and or your technique. While it can be difficult to embrace constructive criticism, with the right growth mindset it can help you take two steps forward without the usual one step back cha-cha we tend to do on our own. Thus helping you to reach your goals sooner.
Overcoming Self-Sabotage In Fitness
Have you ever felt like you were your own worst enemy when it comes to reaching your goals? Do you often find yourself getting in your own way, even when you know in your gut what you need to do to succeed? You’re not alone. Many people struggle with this but most don’t realize what it really is: self-sabotage.
What is Self-Sabotage?
At its root, self-sabotage is any personal behavior or action you do that gets in the way of your goals. It usually runs on negative thoughts or worse, beliefs about yourself, such as “I’m not good enough” or “I’ll never be able to do X.” Self-sabotage can take many forms, from continuous procrastination and self-doubt to unreachable perfectionism and negative self-talk. Ultimately, it’s you putting up roadblocks on your own road to success, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Common Forms of Self-Sabotage in Fitness
Self-sabotage can be a BIG enemy for your fitness journey. Mainly because it can take so many forms and it’s not always easy to tell when we’re doing it. So let’s break down some of the most common ways we self sabotage. After all, in order to win the battle, you must first recognize who your opponent is – even if it happens to be yourself.
- Procrastination: It feels wrong but oddly satisfying to start with this one but putting off workouts or healthy eating habits until “tomorrow” or “I’ll start on Monday” is a classic form of self-sabotage. It can be easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and put your fitness goals on the backburner, but this only leads to a delay in progress. In YOUR progress. If this is you,first of all, there is no tomorrow. Start NOW. Period. Just commit to it, it’s time.
- Perfectionism: Striving for perfection in your fitness journey can actually be incredibly counterproductive. I am saying this to you just as much as I am to myself. Holding yourself to impossibly high standards can cause you to become discouraged and give up when you inevitably fall short (and you are going to fall short from time to time because you’re human). It’s vital if you fall victim to perfectionism thinking that you adopt the mantra: “progress & effort, not perfection” is the true marker of success.
- Negative Self-Talk: As we have discussed, the way we talk to ourselves has a huge impact on our ability to succeed. If you are constantly telling yourself that you’re not good enough or that you’ll never be able to reach your goals, you will start to believe it in your soul which can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. If this is you, it has to stop, friend. Your future self depends on it. +
- Comparison: Commonly known as the “thief of joy”. Comparing your progress to someone else’s or fixating on someone else’s personal physique or fitness level can lead to intense feelings of inadequacy. It’s not hard to see how constantly comparing yourself to others could discourage you with your own journey. If this is you, remember that everyone’s journey is just as unique as their genes and experiences (because it is just that : THEIR genes and experiences). The fact of the matter is, if everyone reading this all did the same workout routine and ate the same things for the rest of our lives, we would all still look different. No more comparing. It’s just you vs you now.
- Excuses: Making excuses for why you can’t stick to your fitness routine or why you can’t achieve your goals is another all too common form of self-sabotage. Whether it’s blaming a lack of time or limited resources, or even justifying unhealthy habits, making excuses just prevents you from making the changes necessary to reach your goals. If this is you, it’s time to start taking responsibility for your actions. You are in control of your body, your mind, and your choices. Own it.
While all of these forms of self-sabotage can play a part in preventing you from achieving your fitness goals, the good news is that with the right strategies, you can overcome self-sabotage and quickly get back on track towards the best version of yourself.
Strategies for Overcoming Self-Sabotage
- Identify Your Triggers: The first step in overcoming self-sabotage is self awareness. Did any of the above common forms of self-sabotage seem a little too familiar? Think about what situations or emotions tend to lead you down a path of self-defeat. Really spend some time on this because once you know your triggers, you can start to develop strategies for avoiding them or at the very least, managing them in more healthy ways.
- Practice Self-Compassion: PopQuiz: who is your favorite person on the planet? Whoever that first person was that came to your mind: It’s important to be just as kind and compassionate with yourself, as you would be to them. And that’s especially true when you’re struggling. Instead of beating yourself up for a missed workout or an unplanned cheat meal (or day), try to approach yourself with the same level of understanding and forgiveness that you would show towards the person you love the most. Wouldn’t you gently reassure them that setbacks are a natural part of the journey and remind them of the progress they’ve made? You may even tell them how proud you’ve been of all the efforts you’ve seen them making lately. It’s time to be that person for yourself now too.
- Get Support: Your circle matters. Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people can make a massive difference in overcoming self-sabotage and negative stinkin’ thinkin’. Seek out friends or family who will not only encourage you but also help hold you accountable to your goals. This doesn’t have to look like calling you out when you skip the gym but maybe it’s offering to go to the gym with you. Or going out knowing you’re limiting your alcohol so they don’t order drinks around you to help support you and not make things harder on you. Support could also look like hiring a personal trainer or joining a fitness community for extra support and motivation among like-minded peers
- Visualize Success: I will be the first to admit that for YEARS I thought this was a complete and total waste of time. And honestly what I got out of that mindset was years of wasted time NOT doing positive visualization exercises and I know that it cost me dearly. Visualization can be an incredibly powerful tool in many ways. When you have your goals and what your life looks like once you’ve accomplished them in the forefront of your mind on a regular basis you are much more likely to do what it takes to achieve them. Start taking a little time every day to imagine yourself succeeding. Succeeding in your fitness goals, in your career, in your diet, in your relationships… Picture yourself feeling strong, healthy, and confident in all of these situations. When done consistently, positive visualization can help reprogram your mind and boost your motivation. This is so important to the level of success that you can achieve that we’re spending the rest of the article diving deeper into its practices. Buckle up!
The Power Visualization and Positive Affirmations
Setting goals and visualizing your success can be powerful tools to have handy when building the next best version of yourself. By setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, you can create a true roadmap for your fitness journey. And since visualization is the process of imagining yourself achieving your goals, making your goals specific in this manner helps create a more streamlined vision to hone in on. Focusing on what it would look like to achieve those goals can help you stay motivated to continue on the upward path towards your desired outcomes.
Visualization and Positive Affirmations:
Visualization and positive affirmations are not the hippy dippy concepts that unfortunately too many of us chalk them up to be. They are in fact techniques that involve using your imagination and/or thoughts to create a positive outcome. And I know that I just lost some of you there, so hear me out and keep an open mind if you would.
Positive affirmations are statements that are repeated to oneself to boost confidence and motivation. This repetitive technique can be used to turn a singular positive thought into a general positive mindset, which can ultimately help you achieve your fitness goals.
Visualization, on the other hand, involves creating a mental image of yourself succeeding and achieving whatever your desired outcomes may be. The reason this technique is so widely adopted is because it is based on the idea that the mind and body are connected and that mental imagery can have a powerful impact on actual physical performance. By visualizing yourself reaching your fitness goals, you can increase your confidence and motivation, as well as improve your performance during workouts because while your body may not have completed that workout yet, your mind has. And your mind crushed it by the way so the body moves in kind.
This isn’t my theory or even just something that I believe in. There have been several studies on the effectiveness of both of these mental techniques when it comes to achieving fitness success and I challenge you to do your own homework on it.
But until then, by incorporating both of these techniques into your daily routine, you can not only create a positive mindset but also have a clear vision of what you want in the front of your mind more often. This, in turn, can help you stay dedicated to the end goal even when faced with setbacks.
Techniques for Incorporating Visualization and Positive Affirmations:
Just like anything else, to get the most bang for your buck it’s important to practice both visualization and positive affirmations regularly and consistently. Consider incorporating them into your daily routine. My husband and I personally take part in guided meditations and visualizations exercises on Youtube every night before we go to bed. This could also be simply taking a few minutes each day to visualize your success and repeat positive affirmations to yourself. I usually have a sticky note (or 4) stuck in places that I will see throughout the day with different affirmations. Some I change out every month, and some stick around longer. However long I need to go over that particular thought until I believe it, is how long it stays. I even assign every year its own affirmation. For example, my 2022 affirmation was “be the energy you want to attract”. See them. Say them. And just see what starts to happen.
Other ways to incorporate visualization and positive affirmations into your fitness routine is to try visualizing yourself achieving your fitness goals during your workouts. You can also use positive affirmations by repeating them to yourself daily. If you get stuck, simply try some positive “I am” sayings. And if you’re having a particularly negative day, make it the opposite of the intrusive negative thought. For example, instead of saying “I’m so tired, I can’t do this workout,” repeat to yourself “I am strong and capable, I can push through and finish strong.” And I get it, it may seem silly, but do not underestimate the power of your brain/body connection. By consistently talking to yourself like this, you can actually train your brain to believe in you by default. And if you believe in yourself, well, wouldn’t that make it so much easier to reach your goals?
Creating an effective visualization and affirmation practice involves consistency and repetition. Set aside time each day to visualize yourself achieving your fitness goals and repeat your positive affirmations to yourself. Additionally, try to use vivid imagery and emotions when visualizing your success to make it more real and motivating.
Just like creating a highly effective fitness routine, creating a visualization and positive affirmations, mental practice requires consistency and repetition. Just like you can’t expect to see results in your physical fitness without regular exercise, you can’t expect to see results in your mental fitness without regular practice. Start adding these mental exercises into your daily routine and remember, the more you practice, the easier and more natural it will become.
In summary, your fitness journey’s success hinges on your mindset. So it is vital that you recognize your own limiting beliefs, develop a growth mindset, and overcome self-sabotage in order to unleash your full potential. Incorporating visualization and positive affirmations can help cultivate a positive outlook which in turn boosts motivation. Consistency and repetition in mental exercises, just like in physical training, lead to a positive outlook and success in all areas of life. Let’s create a positive mindset and crush those goals together!
According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, (which I think is a super fun name, for the record) individuals who imagined themselves achieving a specific goal were more likely to take steps to achieve that goal than those who did not visualize themselves succeeding. Another research project shared in the journal Cerebral Cortex found that just visualizing yourself performing a physical task can activate the same parts of your brain that are activated as when you actually perform the task.
To discover more about the power of affirmations and visualizations, sign up for one-on-one coaching calls here.