Despite knowing the different benefits that exercise can have for our general wellbeing, some of us still can't find the motivation to work our asses off. It’s definitely a huge struggle among lazy people living a sedentary lifestyle, and something that can hurt them in the long run if they don’t do something about it.
If you’re a couch potato who’s guilty of feeling uncomfortable just by the mere thought of working out, then keep reading this article to learn how to trick your brain into loving your workouts.
Fake it Until You Make It
“Fake it until you make it" is a phrase that you’ve probably heard countless times. It’s a popular line that you can tell yourself in order for you to feel a certain way or become whatever you think you are by thinking, portraying, and acting like the personality of a certain character or person that you’d like to embody.
If you tell yourself that you love working out and you act like you really mean it, then you’ll be able to rewire the neural pathways of your brain.
There’s also a saying that “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change,” and by applying this mindset, you can reprogram your mind to believe that working out is a fun activity worth looking forward to.
There’s going to be days where you’ll struggle to think, portray, and act like the part, and that’s okay. You won’t be able to modify your thoughts and behavior in a jiffy. The thing is, developing habits through repetition can take some time to get used to. You just have to try and try until you eventually get the hang of conditioning your mind that exercising isn’t torture or punishment.
Don’t Dwell on Negativity
Thinking positive thoughts and associating feelings of happiness and excitement with working out until it becomes a habit is a sure way to reinforce those feel-good workouts thought patterns.
If you look at working out as a reward or recreation rather than as a chore that you have to do just for the sake of it then it will be easier for you to get out of that couch and start working your butt off. Once you adjust your mindset and associate positivity with working out then you won’t have a hard time going to the gym.
Faking it until you make it seem cliche, but it actually works! Once you think about it until you believe it, then your actions will follow. It all starts in the mind and paying attention to your thoughts so that every time a negative perspective about exercise comes into mind, you can immediately replace and overwrite this negative outlook and change it to a positive one.
