The Fastest Way to Reach Burnout
Going down in a blaze of glory!
It’s happened to me. It’s probably happened to you (or, at the very least, you got a little inkling of it). It sabotages you’re progress, it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and you can regress further back than where you started.
Well, here are some sure it’s ways to ensure you hit a state of burnout:
Put The Most Base Levels of Effort In and Expect Monumental Results
It IS true:
Doing something is better than doing nothing but the difference between spinning your wheels and really getting something done is consistency and intensity.
As in most things, good rarely comes from barely doing anything.
This sounds almost like “if you’re not ready to work hard then you shouldn’t do it” but it’s not. What you should take it as is develop consistency and then ramp up in intensity.
Notice I put consistency first.
Ask anyone who has jumped into intensity without any history of doing it and you’ll most likely find someone who is moving backward.
Nobody wants that…
Have No Concrete Goals
This one is pretty straight forward:
If you don’t have something specific to work on, you’ll lose sight of…
Well…
Who knows.
Not to mention I don’t know where your hard work is going!
Make your aim as clear as you can make it and create steps to get there. Some people do enjoy hard work for the sake of doing hard work but for the rest of us having an aim just makes things easier.
Hate Every Second of the Process All the Way Through
It goes without saying that the best in the world [at whatever they’re the best at] really enjoy what they’re doing on some level. This doesn’t mean you need to be the best in the world at losing weight, getting strong, etc., but you do need to enjoy some part of it.
Even if that “some part” is the result.
For me? The feeling of accomplishment after a good training session. And note this is just on a micro level as I’m not even talking the long-term benefits of being physically active and healthy.
Do Not Meet, or Enjoy the Company of, Anybody You Train With
You will get stuck without a support system. Period.
A gym full of like-minded people can be a great support system because you’re all [basically] heading in the same direction. For those of you who have played team sports, or anything else team-related, you know exactly how powerful this is.
There are days where you’re not motivated and they’ll pick you up; there are days where they’re not motivated and you’ll pick them up.
The point is to pick each other up!
Achieve Your Goals
This one is counterintuitive…
There was a pain which brought you to the point of wanting to make a change in your life. As you reach your desired change, the pain begins to disappear.
What happens next is all of a sudden your initial reason for being there is gone and thus your motivation for wanting to do what got you to your goal in the first place.
The key to moving past this is to sit down and figure out what the “next thing” is. What is going to be the next thing you are reaching for to keep the fires burning?
Go At It 100% and Sacrifice Everything Else in Your Life
Have you ever taken on a New Year’s Resolution saying something to the effect of:
- I’m not going to drink soda ever again
- I’m going to stop smoking
- I’m going to lose 30lbs
- I’m going to write in my journal every night for 10 minutes
- I’ll read everyday for 30 minutes
- Or anything of this nature?
I’d be willing to bet that once you missed just once you were off the wagon? Or at the very least you were a whole hell of a lot less motivated to continue on?
That’s not to say you shouldn’t put 100% effort into something but what you shouldn’t do is hold yourself to the 100% standard because if you miss, it becomes all or nothing.
In fact, if you miss, it becomes nothing…
I abide by the 80/20 rule (it could also be the 90/10 rule as well if you want). This way you can still enjoy yourself on occasion and you don’t lose in the game of all or nothing.
Do Them All!
More than likely you have reached two or more of these, at some point, and you can see the fire starting to smolder. Might I suggest meeting with a health and fitness professional to get ahead of your fire going out?
Sometimes it just takes the eyes and ears of someone on the outside to put together a plan to keep you going!
CLICK HERE to let us help you keep your fire burning!
