5 Useful Tools to Keep You Progressing After Your First Month Of Working Out

When we start something, most of us give up within a month. We tell ourselves that our motivation just isn’t there anymore. However, feelings are fickle. They change like a breeze, and excuses come by the dozen. So, how can we get ourselves to continue past the 1st month? 

Write down these 5 tools and put them to good use.

1: Write a Letter to your Future Self.

• This one may sound a bit corny, but it seriously has the potential to be very helpful. By taking time to write a letter of encouragement to your future self, you are utilizing a time of clarity to battle a time of potential discouragement. Like I stated before, feelings are fickle, always changing. If at the end of your month you are battling doubts and about to give up on all your hard work, you can turn to your letter. Maybe your journey was tougher than you expected. Maybe you are not yet seeing the rewards of your efforts (which is completely normal). You know yourself and what pumps you up best! This gives you an opportunity to say, “my past self-believed in me, I can’t let myself down.”

2: Choose an easily obtainable 1st Goal.

• Deciding on a realistic, easily obtainable first goal will already set you ahead. This goal should be something that is “small” progress. Meaning that it is still difficult and will take work, but you will be able to hit the goal in a reasonable short time frame. That way you can actually achieve it by the end of your first month. The more positive your approach, the more you will be willing to continue when you feel like throwing in the towel. It isn’t about jumping head first into the deep end, when you don’t even know how to swim. It is about first putting your toe in, and realizing that it is safe and beneficial to continue further. Make sure that every small achievement is celebrated in some way.

3: Take a week prior to Set the Stage for Success.

• If you start a new program the next day or two after deciding you want to do it (when you are high on endorphins), you are more likely to stop early when the going gets rough. By taking at least a week to prepare yourself emotionally and physically the benefits will be endless, and you will have a much better chance at achieving your goals. You would never want to give a presentation without doing some prep work first, right? If all of your effort goes in right from the start, you will be increasing your potential for success! 

4: Find a Support System. 

• Everyone in your household needs to be either on-board, or rooting for you in any way possible. That means they understand that they SHOULD NOT be eating buckets of fried chicken and pizza around you, or adding to your excuses to not make it to the gym by inviting you out when they know you have made a slot in your daily schedule to do so. If you don’t have anyone at home, then look to old or new friends that have a similar goal(s) as you. New friends can be relatively easily made in a group fitness class or sport activities. Those classes are also a great way to start working out, especially if you are not comfortable at the gym. With old friends, you may be the motivator that they need to start. You both will continue to fuel each other back and forth, by keeping each other accountable. It is easier to push past the difficult times when someone else is there helping pull you forward. 

5: Keep Track of your Progress.

• By logging your progress along the way, you can see where you’ve been to understand how far you’ve come. Hindsight is an amazing life tool. Waiting until a month after you started to reflect back without anything hard to review creates an easy out. Visually seeing your changes, whether physically, emotionally, or other, will have a much greater impact. Using tape measurements, weekly photos, daily journalling, a workout tracking log book, and a food journal are all good options. Find what is simple, low stress, and works with your personality.

These are just five tools that have the potential to really help and encourage you on your way to self-improvement. There are so many other gadgets in the toolbox of life. Every person is different and needs to find what works for them long-term. , and just as everyone one of them is different so is every person.

Remember: Don’t give up! Your future self will thank you!

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