Don't hold yourself back

Dan Donohue, of Fitness Formation, writes about being patient with your fitness progress.
Dan DonohueDan Donohue
Dan Donohue

As we are approaching the fourth week in January, things, by now, should have returned to normality.

The kids have gone back to school, you are back at work, the delicious festive food is gone, the alcohol is a blurred memory and our

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

attention turns to the months ahead as we try to figure out what day it is, never mind what we need to get done in the next 12 months.

Whilst you try to focus on that, we’ll clear a couple of things up for you to draw a little bit of clarity as we

hurtle into the first month of another busy year in our always hectic lives.

Over the last few weeks, we have written our column to serve as a guidebook to get you started and get you on the offensive from the start line and, hopefully, many of you already are.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

That said, many will still be stood on that imaginary start line, having not yet moved.

In this week’s column, we’ll look at what may be holding you back and why you need to get moving.

When the new year chimes in and another year begins, that crippling anxiety may well kick in for some of you.

You tell yourself you’re not good enough, you’ve lost your fitness over the holiday season so what’s the point and you struggle to get your gym clothes on, not because of your shape, but because of your mind.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Remember that when you start something, you shouldn’t be focused on the destination, rather the journey.

Getting from the start line to the finish line is going to take time.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint, as they say.

Enjoy the process as you go.

Whether you are intrinsically motivated (engaging in a behaviour because it is personally rewarding) or extrinsically motivated (motivated to perform a behaviour or engage in an activity to earn a reward or avoid punishment), tap into what makes you tick.

Society will tell us we need to act like this, that or the other.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

You do what makes you tick and perform in a manner that is consistent with who you are.

Do you have the perfect plan and everything laid out in front of you for the next twelve months?

No, then so what.

Just get going.

You can easily refine and tweak things as you go along your merry way.

Remove as much of that anxiety that drives your pursuit of perfection (which doesn’t exist, by the way).

Get moving, today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The landscape is going to shift, so just get started and go with it.

Remember, enjoy the journey.

At some point this year, things will go awry.

Don’t apply extra pressure committing yourself to unrealistic targets.

Take a deep breath, jump in and go.

Where will you end up in 12 months?

Who knows, but it’ll be a great ride along the way.