Depending on the sport, often athletes are not only admired for their abilities but also for being in great physical shape. In order to be skilled and play at their very best, it is required to spend many hours practicing their sport but also plenty of hours of physical training. This would explain why the majority of athletes have an attractive and often highly desired physique. Despite all this, keep in mind that you do NOT need to be an athlete to be in the best shape of your life. Anyone can put the time to physically train their bodies and implement the proper diet to maximize their results. People often complain that genetically they are too thin or too heavy to begin with so it is impossible to get in the shape that they want. On top of this, many people are just straight up unmotivated paired with a lack of willpower to commit the time and work needed to get the results. The good news is, these are all excuses and far from the reality. The bad news (for some) is that as I mentioned, hard work and discipline will be required to get in exceptional shape.

So where do you start? You cannot “kind of want” to be healthy and have a nice body. Your mind first determines the outcome by having the burning desire to achieve something. If your mind is set and firm that this is the goal, then from there, all you need to do is take action. By action, it does not need to be extreme but can be small daily actions that gradually increase over time. If you are completely new to adding fitness into your lifestyle in general, then I definitely recommend starting slow rather than adding too much which could burn you out to the point where you want to quit right away.

In this specific scenario, I cannot push enough the importance of tracking your progress with whatever system that works best for you. This can be done either digitally on your phone (or digital device of choice) or handwritten in a notebook. Tracking always holds you more accountable and keeps the mind focused on the target. Once you have your tracker, you are going to track down your action which includes recording the exercises you perform each day and I recommend keeping track of what you eat on a daily basis as well. Personally, I do both.

In terms of what types of exercise, always strive towards the activities you naturally enjoy. In addition, teach yourself new exercises by hiring a professional or looking up fitness resources online. As I recently mentioned, I actually have learned so much in the past few months just by watching short clips on Instagram by fitness professionals and enthusiasts. At the end of the day, you need to want to make the change and then actually take the action needed to make it happen. You will be amazed that as soon as you really put your mind to it, the rest of the work that is involved will actually happen quite naturally because of your mental focus. So what are you waiting for? 😉