Sleep usually isn't the first thing you think about when you decide you want to get healthier, lose body fat, build muscle, or improve your fitness. My guess is, you...
5 Ways to Sabotage Your Success
Here’s a question for you: do you sabotage yourself?
Here’s maybe a better question: do you know if you’re sabotaging yourself?
Most people aren’t consciously sabotaging their weight loss or fitness goals. It shows up quietly – in habits, in excuses, and in patterns of behavior that feel reasonable in the moment.
Let’s walk through 5 of the more common ways you might be self-sabotaging your success [and what to do instead].
1 – “I’ll Just Wait”
I bet you’ve said this or something like it.
- “I’ll start next week”
- “It’s just too busy right now”
- “I don’t feel like it today”
- “Once [Insert perfect scenario here] happens, then I’ll start”
The common theme? You’re waiting for the perfect set of circumstances to do something for yourself.
Maybe they show up; maybe they don’t.
The Solution?
It doesn’t need to be perfect.
It’s never going to be perfect.
Just get up and go.
Action creates momentum. Momentum creates consistency. Consistency creates results.
Waiting creates… well, nothing.
2 – “All or Nothing”
This one can sneak up on you and you might not even see it coming.
If you’ve got a big event coming up (a wedding, a vacation, etc), maybe it makes sense to go all-in on this thing.
For everything else? Let’s use math!
All or nothing quickly turns into nothing if you’re not careful.
The Solution?
Leverage the 80/20 rule. Let’s say you plan to workout three times per week (or an average of 13 times per month).
80% of this is 10 workouts.
This means that if you hit 10 out of 13 of your workouts, you won! Everything beyond that is gravy!
This is not built in excuses to skip. Rather, this is built in room for emergencies, life happening, or being sick.
This is not lowering the bar for yourself. This is playing the long game and helping your relationship with nutrition and exercise stay a positive one!
3 – “I Just Need More Motivation”
Motivation is great but it’s not the only thing. In fact, it’s not the most important thing in getting to your goals.
Please don’t be the person who believes that motivation is going to carry you the whole way [because it won’t].
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask):
Not every training day will be a good training day.
Not every meal will feel easy to make and eat.
And the longer you do this stuff, the more true it becomes.
Relying solely on motivation is like pushing the gas pedal in your car for 60 seconds, letting off the gas, and then hoping you can coast all the way to work.
…this is a terribly analogy but let’s look past that into the meaning.
The Solution?
Motivation is a good way to get yourself started but that is it.
Action creates motivation. It’s not the other way around.
That’s great news because that means motivation is entirely in your control!
It also turns out that accountability helps so if you can find yourself an accountability buddy, a set of group classes to attend, or a personal trainer, you can really make good forward steps for yourself!
It’s easy to walk away from yourself. It’s much harder to explain to someone else why you’re quitting something you started.
(We’ve got some great accountability options at Iron Hero if you need them.)
4 – “More is Better”
More is not better. Better is better.
Unless you’re training for an ultra-endurance event (or something similar), you do not need to workout more than 60 minutes per day most days of the week.
If results aren’t happening, the answer usually is not more volume.
The Solution?
Looking for ways to get more out of your time in the gym?
- Increase intensity
- Shorten rest periods
- Slow down your movements
- Add intervals instead of steady-state cardio
- Add weight (sometimes – not always)
- Prioritize your sleep
- Make reasonably good choices when it comes to nutrition
And yes – a good personal trainer can help you dramatically (looking for some great ones? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll point you in the right direction).
Pick one thing and go.
5 – “I’m Making Progress… I Think”
Your clothes fit better? That’s fantastic!
You’re less tired when you play with your kids? Huge win!
Stairs don’t leave you breathless anymore? Love it!
While those things are great (and I applaud celebrating all your wins), objective progress checks are wildly important. If you don’t measure it, how do you know what is doing what?
The Solution?
Pick one or two specific metrics that make sense for your goals:
- Body fat measurements (pinches or an InBody test though there are others)
- A repeatable fitness test (ex: a one mile run)
- Total inches lost (neck, arms, chest, waist, hip, thighs, etc)
- Blood markers (like fasting blood glucose or triglycerides)
Guessing can work – but it’s not a great way of optimizing your progress.
A Simple Challenge For You
- Identify how you’re sabotaging yourself
- Choose one solution
- Take action on that one solution today
Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.
If you want help breaking through any of this – minset, structure, accountability – let us know ([email protected]).
You don’t have to do this alone.
