I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about all the reasons why people don’t work out. I know I covered the Napoleon complex in another post, but that’s just one of many reasons. While there are many people out there who suffer from the issues of the Napoleon complex, there are even more who didn’t even get that far…they don’t try to start working out in the first place (hence why I didn’t even call this “why workouts fail”…we didn’t get to the workout yet!). But WHY?
The short answer is – It requires work, involves change, and people just don’t feel like it. Why do we need to when everything is more or less handed to us and made easy? The average American eats what they feel like when they feel like it (and if cooking is required, it can usually be microwaved). They watch a lot of tv, relax on the couch, and don’t do a whole lot of physical activity (unless required at their job). Yeah, there’s yard work or some light home / car maintenance to do, but once in a while, or in short bursts of a couple days – nothing regular and routine. They go out for drinks when they feel like it or come up with reasons to have a drink or two (or three) almost every night at home “because it was a rough day”. Maybe they’re carrying a little extra weight. So what? All in all, life is good. Nothing stellar, but it’s not awful.We have achieved mediocrity. Mediocrity is easy.
So…why change that?
Because, honestly…getting fit, eating right and making a change requires work. And this isn’t just any kind of work – we’re talking a complete lifestyle change. That kind of work is hard. People would have to give up or severely limit some of their favorite things – use free time they’d otherwise spend watching the 100+ hours of DVR’d T.V. shows they have to, instead, work out and sweat balls.
All manner of excuses come up at this point – on the surface they’re all invalid and complete BS as far as I’m concerned. I won’t bother listing them all, but suffice it to say – “I don’t have time” is not nearly the most creative one. People will come up with any reason to get people off their case about working out, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll either use humor or get hostile until you leave them alone. I was like that for a long time. There are just so many things that can demotivate a person, and they got me.
So how do you change that? How do you convince that person to start working out or get healthy?
Generally…you can’t.
I know…not the revelation you were hoping for. Problem is, these people can’t just be forced to do it. It’s a big change, and they have to want it. There’s way too much effort, change and plain ol’ work involved in something like this for it to work without SOME level of personal stake being in it. You can try to drag them into a workout with you, and they might go with it reluctantly…for a while. In the end, it just won’t maintain. They’ll complain and find reasons why not…and the first time you don’t work out with them, they just won’t do it. Why? Too many people are perfectly satisfied – or at the very least, able to accept – mediocrity.
This is the part where something has to happen within them.
I talk about what happened for me in My Story – and boy was it bad – but it’s going to be different for everyone. In the end, something has to happen – some kind of personal revelation or big change – to make them want it. The best you can do is keep making it appear as appealing as you can, lead by example. When they’re ready, it’ll make the whole thing much less intimidating. Many times these people will be hesitant to recant and join you since they’ve been so adamantly, sometimes vocally opposed to this whole process – they can’t just admit they were wrong and join you (what a blow to the ego!). So be there and be available. When the time is right, they’ll come to you. It takes something different for each individual person, but when the right motivation hits, they’ll finally want it.
On that note – I’m gonna go for a run before I work all day. What are YOU gonna do?
