Do you want to get fitter? Do you want to get stronger? Follow these 3 golden rules and improve your chances of success…

Get in the right frame of mind.
Get in the right environment.
Get in the right social group.

Get in the right frame of mind.

Do things with purpose and don’t kid yourself. In other words:

Wearing your Game Face – focusing on the task in hand while others around are distracted.

Put your “Game Face” on, or focus on what you want to achieve and don’t get distracted.
Learn and accept that apart from injuries, our fitness and strength are mostly the result of our behaviours and habits.
We control our behaviours and habits, so to a very large extent, we control the health, fitness, strength and size of our bodies.
We are not slaves to external forces outside our control. We are not the result of big bones, hormones, water retention or the wrong kind of shoe/clothes/equipment. We are the result of what we eat, drink and do. These things are in our control.
Decide we want to change our behaviours and habits. It’s not a chore, or something we are forced into, or something we try to wrangle our way out of.
Realise we don’t have to do everything all at once. But we have to do something.
Realise it won’t be perfect and there will be bumps on the way. But we won’t let these bumps derail us.
Have a sense of perspective – realise what the big problems that we need to concentrate on are…and what the little details that can be left until later are.

Get in the right environment.

Healthy environment

The bulk of our lives are spent in only a few places. The most common of these are the home, the workplace or the journey between the two. Like the rest of the animal kingdom, we adapt to our surroundings.

If our surroundings are full of sweets, chocolate, pizza and beer/coke, it is little wonder if we succumb to the temptation.
We have the most control over our home surroundings, so make sure that there are no foods/drinks you want to avoid in the house.
Empty the cupboards and fridges of all things that can throw you off your healthy eating routine.
Surround yourself with the foods that you want to embrace in your life.
Move to the front of the fridge/cupboard the foods you should eat more of.
Try to do the same thing in your workplace if practical.
Remove distractions and temptations from where you exercise/train.
Don’t exercise/train in the rooms you eat, relax and generally “chill out” in.

Get in the right social group.

Greek god Heracles – http://aworldofmyths.com/

We are very heavily influenced by the people around us. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
If we are surrounded by overweight/unfit people who sneer and jeer at our attempts to improve ourselves, we are much more likely to fail.
If we are surrounded by people who are trying to be healthy, fit and strong, then we can help eachother through tough patches and help keep eachother on the wagon.
Have dinner with people who share your goals of controlling your weight. It is much easier to say no to a chocolate bar if everyone else is also saying no.
Exercise with people who are passionate about maintaining or improving their fitness and strength. It is very difficult to work hard if everyone around you is bitching, complaining and whimping out after 2 minutes.
Ask the people around you to help you say no to second helpings of pudding, while saying yes to the next training session. If those people like and respect you, they will want to help. If they don’t like or respect you, they will enjoy pointing out any time you fail.

But remember, you don’t have to be surrounded by people who are built like Greek gods wearing nothing but a silver posing pouch. You just need to be around people who share the same goals as you. I often train with people who are injured/disabled who can’t keep up with me physically…but their passion for progress puts mine to shame! By following these 3 golden rules, you will make it much easier to achieve your weight/fitness/strength goals. Importantly, these things will help boost your willpower, which is notoriously rubbish in most of us. And if you need more help, you can hire me by contacting me here.