“I know what I should be doing when it comes to exercise and food, but I just don’t seem to follow through consistently. I start with good intentions and then just lose it. How do I actually stick to it?”
If you have ever asked yourself this question, I need you to know something right now: this is completely normal and you are absolutely not alone in feeling this way! We are human beings, not robots. We simply cannot rely on motivation to keep us going, because motivation comes and goes. If you wake up feeling highly motivated, that’s amazing, ride that wave! But the truth is, nobody is motivated all the time; I know I’m certainly not.
So, how do we keep showing up when we don’t feel motivated in the slightest?
In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear says that we don’t rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our systems. If you want to stay consistent with exercise, you have to stop relying on motivation and start building foolproof systems.
Here are the four systems I use to make showing up for myself as easy as possible.
1. The Sunday Planning System
If you want to keep your good intentions going all week, you need to plan ahead. Every single Sunday, set an alarm or a note in your diary to plan your classes for the week ahead.
I am an organisational freak (I have about 4 diaries), so I love using a physical workout diary. There is something incredibly satisfying about physically writing your workouts down and ticking them off once they are done. It genuinely keeps you accountable.
If you have the luxury of doing your workouts on the same days and at the same times, lock that in! I personally prefer working out first thing in the morning (before my brain even knows what’s happening, haha) because it sets my energy up for the rest of the day. But if life gets in the way, like if I don’t have childcare for Autumn, I have to be flexible and adjust. The time might change, but the plan is still written down, which means it still gets done.
2. Make it Stupidly Easy to Show Up
The harder it is to start your workout, the less likely you are to do it. Make it incredibly easy for yourself.
Have your equipment laid out the night before. Choose your classes in the app ahead of time so all you have to do is hit play. Get your kit out and ready.
If you really can’t be bothered getting dressed, just turn up in the clothes you’re currently wearing. I quite often do a weekend workout in my pyjamas just because it’s easier! It doesn’t matter what you are wearing; it just matters that you move. Remove the friction and just get started.
3. Set “Range Targets”
This is a game-changer for consistency. We all have our “ideal” week, the perfectly planned journal entries we strive for. But life happens.
That is why you need to set Range Targets. Decide on a non-negotiable minimum – an amount of movement you can realistically and definitely stick to, no matter how crazy your week gets.
Your ideal week is the ceiling, and your non-negotiable minimum is your safety net. If you have a week that completely goes bottoms up, but you still hit that safety net, or anything in between? That is still a win. .
4. The Rule of Three
This is my absolute favourite system for keeping promises to myself.
If my planned workout doesn’t happen on the first day, that’s okay. Life happens, or sometimes we just really, really don’t want to.
If it doesn’t happen on the second day, that’s not ideal but it’s okay…
BUT, the third day is absolutely non-negotiable. Unless you are genuinely ill, it has to happen on day three. If we let it slide beyond that, that is when we start to slip. We start breaking the promises we made to ourselves, and eventually, we stop trusting ourselves to follow through we the things we tell ourselves we’re going to do. Never break that trust with yourself!
Keep the Promise to Yourself
At the end of the day, building consistency is about the relationship you have with yourself. It’s about making a promise to prioritise your health, and then putting the systems in place to ensure you actually keep it.
Start small, plan your week, and remember: you don’t need to be motivated. You just need a system.
Ready to build a consistent routine with a community that actually supports you?
Flexible workout plans you can do in your pyjamas and endless support to make sure you get results, come and join us!
👉 Find out more and join the Squad here.
Don’t forget: You can listen to our weekly podcast episode on Spotify/Apple or watch it on YouTube here! It’s usually around 5 minutes of GOLDEN info (a little clip from our squad Q&A).
