So, the biggest problem a lot of people have is this lack of responsibility. That, and a lack of conviction. Many people who claim to want to lose weight or build a toned, muscular body, will only really be interested if they can do so without actually putting in a huge amount of work. The irony is that they don’t even realize that this is how they feel!

The first sign that this is the case, is if you find yourself procrastinating.

How do you procrastinate when it comes to working out and getting into shape? Simple: you read. You spend ages reading about all the best workout programs, you read about all the different diets, you develop a fantastic plan, you join a gym and then you wait until the perfect opportunity when work is quiet and when you don’t have any other commitments and that is when you decide to begin your training.

But here’s the thing: there is never a perfect opportunity. Life doesn’t do perfect. Life much prefers to be awkward and difficult and if you try to wait until everything is calm and nothing is in the way, well then, you’re going to be waiting a very long time indeed! The whole reason that we do this, is so that we can feel like we’re making progress. Simply by determining that we are going to work out, we feel as though we’ve done something worthwhile.

And in fact, this even removes some of the pressure so that we no longer feel we have to make the effort! There are actually studies that demonstrate this. These studies specifically looked at whether or not we should tell people our goals when we set out do something worthwhile. Often, the advice you receive is that you should tell people goals: that doing so will make them concrete and real and will force you to stick with them.

How has that been working out for you so far? The reality  according to the research  is that telling people your goals actually release some psychic tension. Telling people your goals make you feel that ‘fitness’ is already a part of your personality. And as such, you actually don’t have to put in the real work! Ironically, telling people goals makes you less likely to accomplish them. If you want to tell someone your goals so that you will have a little bit of morale support and encouragement, then tell just one person your goal. But otherwise, keep it to yourself.

Think about that day when you take off your shirt at the beach and everyone sees your incredible six pack for the first time. Let that motivate you! And to prevent the possibility of you looking for outside excuses as to why you aren’t in shape, it pays to hunt down the most effective and simple strategies to get into shape. That’s what we’re going to look at in the next section.