"If you and I want to change our behavior, there is only one effective way to do it: we must link unbearable and immediate sensations of pain to our old behavior, and incredible and immediate sensations of pleasure to a new one." - Anthony Robbins, Awaken
Giant WithinWhy isn't every person who wants to be fit and healthy exercising on a consistent basis? If we know what we should be doing, then why aren't we doing it consistently? Fitness Motivation Coach Lisa Nordquist calls this "The Fitness Gap" and many of us suffer from it.
Knowing that we SHOULD be exercising rarely makes any of us do it on a consistent basis. So, how can we motivate ourselves to practice optimal self care - which includes exercising and eating right CONSISTENTLY? For those people who weren't born loving exercise, it takes more than JUST DOING IT (at least at first).
We start to practice optimal, and CONSISTENT, self care (even if we find aspects of it painful at beginning) through a process I call Pain to Pleasure Conversion (PPC). So, as Robbins quote above suggests, we must find pleasure in what we change our behavior to. But I think he misses a step in getting there. Before we find pleasure in something, we must (even if subconsciously) find MEANING in it.
So, conversion begins with assigning MEANING to very concept of exercising. For some, examples of meaning can be stress release, longevity, optimal health, strength development, or even pursuit of spirituality. Or it could be simply being in a social setting or knowing that you're doing 'the right thing'. The meaning that we assign to exercise gets us into gym and helps us TO BEGIN exercising (after all, how do we know if it will give us pleasure if we don't try it first ... and, in order to be motivated to try it in first place, we must assign meaning to it). But, finding exercise meaningful alone won't lead you to do it consistently forever. Now, this is where Robbins comes back into equation.
The 'doing CONSISTENTLY' conversion is complete once ACT of exercising itself becomes pleasurable. For some, examples of pleasure can be 'pump' from lifting weights, 'runners high' from running really long distances, or simply sweating.
Well, what about those of us, you ask, who have never experienced that kind of pleasure from exercise? Most people who don't find process of exercising to be pleasurable, will exercise occasionally, but not consistently enough to maximize its benefits. If you can't stand to sweat or get frustrated by your lack of strength or lack of endurance, how can you start enjoying each and every workout? Who'd blame you?
