You're always chasing short-term promises. New trends, crash diets, quick fitness hacks - and yet you end up back where you started. Why? Because you don't build habits that really stick.
Maybe you set yourself a big goal: lose 10 kilos, run a marathon, finally reach that one number on the scales. But when you get there, what then? Without long-term habits, sooner or later you will slip back into old patterns.
Or an injury, an illness, a stressful phase. If you only see exercise as a short-term project, you will give up in frustration at such moments instead of adapting and sticking with it.
You lose half a kilo every week and think: "That's nothing!" But when you change your perspective, you see: 26 kilos in one year. Sustainable progress is often quiet, but extremely powerful - if you have the staying power.
There is no end point. Exercise and health are not a project that you complete, but a way of life. Think long term. See your big picture. Instead of clinging to the latest trends, build routines that you'll still be doing ten years from now.
I myself have never stopped exercising - even after heart surgery. If I had only thought about short-term goals, I would have stopped there. But exercise is part of my life. And that's exactly what I wish for you.
The fitness industry has trained you to look for the easiest, quickest way - like a turkey pecking for grit on the ground. But you can fly higher. Think bigger. See the whole picture. Instead of chasing trends, build a routine that really fits your life.
Sources:
Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin.
Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.