Have you set some fitness goals but feel overwhelmed about achieving them? Start with self-accountability. Working hard certainly moves you closer to your desired position, but accountability fuels your dedication to realizing these goals. Here are seven ways to take responsibility for your actions and stay consistent with your exercise routine.
1. Shift Your Mindset
Your mindset is where you first initiate a change in your habit or life. It’s a powerful element of self-accountability, as it provides a strong foundation of commitment to making your goals a reality.
Without the right frame of mind, a minor setback — like a lack of motivation — can instantly derail the process and drift you back to where you started. A positive and growth-oriented mindset can reinforce your liability for your goals.
2. Schedule Your Exercise
Some people make excuses about being too busy or not having enough time for physical activities. Time management and scheduling are all it takes to resolve this.
By blocking out half an hour or more in your morning schedule, you make your day predictable and simultaneously reduce the resistance to doing exercise. Creating a structure for your fitness goals makes it easier to integrate them into your lifestyle.
3. Prepare Your Workout Outfit
Some people visit the gym only whenever they feel like it. If you’re in the same boat, a minor change in your routine that can tremendously affect your fitness goals’ success is preparing your training outfit. Waking up the next day and seeing your shoes and activewear clothes near the bed reinforces your willpower to do the task. It’ll remind you why you started exercising and how you’ll benefit from it.
4. Build Your Training Time
Many stop midway through their fitness journey because they feel overwhelmed. You can avoid this by building your training time wisely. Start small, like five to 10 minutes of cardio exercise every day.
Remember — the goal at first is to create the habit and overcome the resistance to a change you introduce in your lifestyle. Once you establish this, increase the duration and length of the workout until the routine becomes a part of your lifestyle.
5. Incentivize Your Workout
Compounding an activity that elicits a positive reaction from yourself with one that might make you groan, exercising for instance, is a powerful technique used to build healthy habits. When you hold yourself accountable, you gain the skills to measure progress.
Give yourself a small reward for every action you take toward your goal. For instance, you can buy your favorite latte if you finish all the sets and reps for the day. Pairing the habit of exercise with a reward tricks the brain into exercising more to receive the benefits.
6. Get A Trainer
Sometimes, you’ll achieve your goals faster with external help. A personal trainer can fill the role of an accountability partner. They don’t have to do the routine with you, but they can give you a pep talk and encouragement whenever you’re down. Additionally, they can devise and customize a workout routine to spice up your daily gym sessions so you don’t get bored quickly.
7. Observe Your Personal Responses
The most important indication you’re on track with your goals is you feel optimistic about the whole thing. Exercise is challenging initially, but it gives you several benefits once it becomes a habit you do on autopilot. You get a dose of endorphins — one of the happy hormones — an hour after you exercise. These chemicals reduce stress and pain, and boost your mood and sense of well-being.
Every week or month, check in with yourself and your feelings. Does the training routine provide enough challenges for you to grow? Is it starting to get boring? Will running at a park be better for a change of scenery? Be aware of your responses and determine what modifications are necessary to inch you closer to the end goal.
Self-Accountability Is Crucial For Achieving Your Fitness Goals
Being accountable is a personal feature you must develop to hit your goals. When you own your mistakes, you can continue to move forward without guilt and amend your process as you go. Self-accountability empowers you to trust yourself and your abilities so that even if you make a wrong decision, you can confidently deal with the consequences.
