THIS IS NOT AN OVERNIGHT PROCESS

This won’t take a week, a month, or depending on your goals, even a year. Patience in relentless pursuit truly will serve you. This is not an overnight process. Half the reason people quit is because they don’t see results as fast as they want to see them. Look, you cannot expect things to happen on your timeline, when you want them to happen. They will happen when you deserve them. And by that what I mean is, when you meet the threshold for change, you will see change aka, when you do the necessary things correctly and consistently. Because consistency is the construct on which everything is built. No matter how you feel, no matter the circumstances, you have to follow the plan. You see consistency is one of, if not the most important factor, but that’s why it’s one of the hardest elements for most people. The voice or part of you that tells you to take a day off, just one of something won’t hurt, is the exact part of you that will hold you back if you listen to it more than once in a blue moon.

A trick I use to get over this impatience is to double or triple my desired timeline. Do the work like you need the results tomorrow, but be prepared for it to take longer than you want. When I first started to lose weight, it’s easy to become so impatient that you actually get fed up. But I wanted this done in a year, but I was mentally prepared for it to take 2 or 3 years to look how I wanted to/to lose the weight I wanted to. I ended up getting down to the weight I wanted in about 7 months in the end, but I think if I wasn’t living like I’d wake up tomorrow looking how I wanted I wouldn’t have been consistent or disciplined enough for it to happen, not to mention actually having the mental patience for it to take much longer.

The other side of this is to realise this ‘journey’ does not have an end date or end location, whether in your head you think it does or not.

Once you set a goal and achieve it, you’ll realise something. You’re not completely satisfied and the real reward was the progress in the process. That’s not to say don’t set goals however, because it’s the work towards a goal which feels the most rewarding. But you’ll miss the journey at the end of it and you will want the next thing. And I’m here to say that’s how it should be. A perpetual pursuit in becoming better.

Once you get on this train, you’ll only get off if you want to sink back down to a former self.

Just remember you’re playing the long game.

ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOU LABOUR, HUMBLY

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying enjoy the fruits of your labour. However, this is usually enjoyed once the work is done, and in this case, the work necessarily never ends.

This doesn’t mean however you shouldn’t be proud of what you’ve built or worked for, or enjoying the end of a goal. BUT, there’s a time and a place, don’t boast about small wins then get complacent and lose sight of why you started. Complacency is bred by too much comfort.

Social media has managed to inspire alot of young people to get into the gym which is great, but what isn’t, is certain individuals boasting about small wins. This always results in them not progressing because they are indulging in those ‘fruits’. If you take TOO much pride in your achievements your growth will stop.

Take progress photos and look back on how far you’ve come when you feel deflated. I’ve found myself many a time being overcritical which in a sense was a blessing in disguise as I wanted it more than anyone and made more progress because of it.

But, if you are overcritical at all times you never allow yourself the freedom to be happy.

SO, be grateful for how far you’ve come, not satisfied.

MANAGING YOUR EGO

When you first start, especially when you’re younger, the gym becomes a contest. An ego contest.

Everyone’s egos are sky high just trying to look stronger than the person next to them in an attempt to impress someone. On the one hand, introducing yourself to heavy weights is a good way to stimulate new growth and potential. HOWEVER, you leave yourself prone to serious injury but overall far less progress, or no gains at all.

I’ll be honest here, I was probably the worst for this. I started a little late in comparison to people in my year, so I was keen to catch up, I made every set I did far too heavy so it just turned into a complete momentum set with no muscles really under any stress. I thought at the time this was good because I was putting up some decent numbers, but then I started to realise I wasn’t getting any stronger or any bigger. For a good 5 months when I first started I saw no progress. After some research I sort of came to the conclusion that oh you actually have to use the muscle for it to grow, yes. Yes you do.

Ego does not build you muscle unfortunately, controlling the weight properly does, but no one wants to take that step, dropping the weight and using proper form is humbling, but the moment I really had a 1-1 conversation with myself is when I dropped the weight, yes it felt absolutely sh*t. But do you know what didn’t, actually getting stronger and bigger, within a month of dropping the weight to where I could actually control it, I had already passed my ego lifting numbers, and I was finally putting on muscle.

I’m sure you’ve heard body builders say they really exploded their physique when they did the boring things that nobody wants to do, drop the weight, slow down the eccentric, sit in the stretch and squeeze. Dropping the weight by 5 to 10kg just because you corrected your form is humbling, but, you will start putting on size at a rapid rate. Soon you’ll be back to the weight you once jerked around, controlling it and getting one set closer to your dream physique.

It’s humbling, it feels horrible, but if you want it, you’ll do it.