Thanks in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, exercise equipment for the home has been flying off the shelves. Some of the more popular items (if you can afford it) are the Peloton bike or treadmill, the Mirror home exercise system and the Tonal smart home gym.
Two things that separate the aforementioned from their competitors are the virtual personal coaching/encouragement that comes with them as well as an additional monthly fee. They’re often marketed as a way to save money on gym memberships, but do they?
A high percentage of people who join gyms stop going after a few months and I would expect use of these products to have a similar arc. So, if you’re like the majority of people, these machines will cost you more because most gym memberships don’t require the same upfront costs that all of these machines do.
People are always looking for ways to buy things that will solve their problems – in this case the need to exercise. I have a friend who saw the dismay on my face when he told me he had two separate gym memberships. Before I could ask why he had two gym memberships, he was quick to say “And I’m going to take up a third if I don’t start seeing results soon!”
Buying solutions rarely work out as planned, because the problem (in this case) isn’t a lack of proper equipment or gyms. The problem is the common methods that most people use in their attempts to solve this type of problem.
This is why I recommend investing in better habits over all of the above options. You see, investing in others may serve you well at first/superficially, but they will also subtly eat away at your self-esteem. You begin to rely on outside forces to move you in the right direction.
Why not invest in yourself and develop better habits? Most people fail to create better habits in the past, which is why they often look outside of themselves for help with their problems.
The problem wasn’t you, but the way you tried to build better habits. Most people try to do too much too soon and end up failing. It’s the feeling of failure that stays with you instead of the habits you were trying to build.
Instead, start small and you’ll likely feel good about yourself and want to do more. In fact, the smaller the better when it comes to building better habits.
The two biggest factors in successfully forming better habits are tying the activity to something you do regularly and making the action small enough to overcome the inertia that is preventing you from getting started.
If you want to get in better physical shape, start doing 1 push-up immediately after getting out of bed in the morning. Once you’ve been successful with it for a few days, add something like a walk across the street after dinner. If you are like most people, the feeling of success will motivate you to do more and before you know it, you will have developed some better habits that help you almost achieve your goals.
The success you have in creating these better habits makes any future attempts to create better habits easier than before. Plus, you can save thousands of dollars by not buying any fancy workout systems and using that money to go on a trip or adventure instead.
Best of all, when you take this journey, Better Habits will automatically come with you, unlike any of these workout regimens. Since your good habits are with you, chances are you won’t be left behind and will have to catch up when you come back, as if you were missing your gear and the artificial inspiration you were counting on.
There is no better time than the present to start creating a better version of yourself, so why not give it a try today?
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
Posted in Mind Side Blog
