Your mind plays a huge role in whether or not you will lose the weight you want to lose, sculpt the lean body you desire, build the muscle you want to build, or achieve another other fitness goal you may have. Use this powerful exercise to blast through your mental barriers.

A Mental Exercise for Working Through the Psychological Blocks to Succeeding With Your Diet Plan, Exercise Program, or Fitness Routine

Fitness goals are reached first in your mind before you ever seem them manifest in your outer world. If you want to lose 20 pounds, bench press 315 pounds, run a 10k race, make the high school football team – no matter what your goal is, you have to first see yourself accomplishing that goal in your mind’s eye.

Think of all the things that you accomplished in your life. Odds are, you first saw yourself accomplishing them long before they ever showed up in your world. Our minds hold the vision of our future. Our imagination is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Create a positive, clear vision of your fitness goals. See yourself reaching them.

We recommend that you keep a fitness journal click here to read more about keeping a fitness journal. In your fitness journal, do the following exercise whenever you are having trouble getting motivated to stick to your diet plan, work out or train, or whenever you feel there is any kind of mental block to reaching your fitness or training goals.

But even if you decide not to keep a fitness journal, we highly recommend the following exercise. You can do it on loose leaf paper if you like.

Three Column Technique for Blasting Through Your Psychological Blocks for Exercise and Fitness:

1. Take a loose leaf sheet of paper (or a sheet from your fitness journal) and divide it into 3 vertical columns.

2. At the top of the left-hand side column, write down the negative thoughts you are thinking or feeling about your diet plan, your fitness routine, or your sports training.

Try to get at the exact thoughts that are causing your lack of motivation, your lack of enthusiasm for the goal, or your lack of discipline in reaching the goal.

Left-Hand Column I don't want to exercise today.

Middle Column

Right-Hand Column

In the middle column, write down what you are feeling. What are the feelings behind those thoughts? For example:

Left-Hand Column I don't want to exercise today.

Middle Column I’m tired of going to the gym. It’s embarrassing to be exercising in front of other people that aren’t so overweight like I am.

Right-Hand Column

In the right-hand column of the sheet, counteract these negative thoughts and feelings with more rational thoughts that help you to stay on track toward your goal. For example:

Left-Hand Column I don't want to exercise today.

Middle Column I’m tired of going to the gym. It’s embarrassing to be exercising in front of other people that aren’t so overweight like I am.

Right-Hand Column Other people aren't concerned about me and my weight. Most people are thinking of themselves. Plus, I’m doing this health and fitness program for myself. I’m not at the gym to try to impress anyone, and there are plenty of other people at the gym who are overweight.

After you have gone through these steps, then write down some action steps you will take for dealing with the demotivation or lack of discipline that you are experiencing. This is critical! If you don’t take action steps, you will not change your behavior. Those negative thoughts will have won out and defeated you. If you bust through those negative, self-defeating thoughts with positive action steps, then nothing can stop you.

For example:

Action Steps I’ll take for dealing with this:

--I will consider other places to exercise if I’m too intimidated by the gym. I might try an all-ladies fitness club, such as Curves Fitness. Or, I might find a smaller, independent fitness club.

--I will remind myself each time I don’t feel like exercising how important my weight loss goals are for me. I will visualize how good I will look and how proud I will feel of myself when I lose those 40 pounds I’ve been wanting to lose.

--I will remind myself each time I don’t feel like exercising how my doctor said I need to lose weight because of possible health problems down the road.

Note: It is helpful to create some motivational statements on 3 x 5” index cards that you can review whenever you feel you are having trouble getting motivated or are having trouble with staying disciplined. Click here to read more about creating these motivational cards. We highly recommend that you do this!

Here's another example of this exercise for someone struggling with their diet plan:

Negative Thought There's no point in laying off those pig out foods - I'll never lose those 40 pounds anyway.

Feeling Behind the Thought I feel helpless. I don't think I can lose 40 pounds - it seems overwhelming.

Rational Counterattacking Thought I can do it if I take baby steps and break down my goal into small, sub-goals. I can lose a couple pounds this week by just cutting out some of the bad foods and starting to exercise. Then, I can work the plan week by week. I don't have to lose 40 pounds overnight.

After the individual has gone through these steps, s/he would then write down some action steps they will take for dealing with the demotivation or lack of discipline that s/he is experiencing.

For example:

Action Steps I’ll take for dealing with this:

--I will work on losing just a few pounds per week. I will make progressive, small changes to my diet and lifestyle that I can handle.

--I will cut back on fast food this week.

--I will begin my walking program this week.

--I will talk with my dietician about developing a written plan of action for each week to help my stay on track with my weight loss goal.

Write down those negative thoughts! Don’t just let them fester in your mind. Get them down on paper and use this exercise to work through those issues. We all have problems getting motivated and staying disciplined at times. So, those thoughts are not unique to you. No one has to see what you have written down. You’re doing this exercise for your own benefit – to help you reach your diet and fitness goals.

Do this exercise on a regular basis – it will help you blast through the mental blocks that are keeping you from reaching your fitness goals.

Related Mind Fitness Articles:

How to reach your fitness goals by setting up this S.M.A.R.T.-F.I.T. FITNESS GOALS SYSTEM
Use our SMART-FIT goals system and you'll dramatically increase your chances of reaching your fitness goal - whether it's to lose weight, build lean muscle mass, improve your athletic performance, make your sports team, etc.

How to keep a fitness journal to help you reach your diet and exercise goals
Whatever your fitness goals are, whether it's to lose weight, exercise regularly, improve your sports performance, or to create a healthier lifestyle, we recommend that you keep a fitness journal. Read more about tips for doing so here.

Unique Tips for Getting and Staying Motivated
No matter what your fitness goal is - whether it's to lose 20 pounds (or more), build a lean, muscular body, or to just get in better shape, at some point you will find it hard to get motivated.

The Fitness Reward / Incentive System for Behavioral Modification
We've personally used this system to shorten the time it takes to reach fitness goals, drastically improve our personal lives, and to break some bad habits that stand in the way of reaching our goals.

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