[0:00]To everyone who hits the gym after a full day of work, when you're mentally drained and the couch is calling, what's the number one thing that gets you to show up anyway?
[0:07]In my case, it was never willpower or some external source of motivation.
[0:12]I can't tell you how many times I showed up at the gym just before it was closing, covered in sawdust, to squeeze out a lift often without even having time to change out of my work clothes.
[0:21]What made me do it was a shift in my identity that occurred over time, to the point where this is just what I did.
[0:27]And so now it's easy for me, this is what I do.
[0:30]I am this thing, and I became this thing specifically by not relying on willpower ever.
[0:35]For me, when I quit drinking, my daily hike wasn't about an hour of intense cardio to trim the fat.
[0:41]That's just what happened. It was about an hour of peace in which no one would bother me, and I could just think about whatever I wanted to think about.
[0:49]Maybe listen to my favorite podcast or some good music. For me, when I started lifting, it wasn't about physically transforming myself.
[0:55]That's just what happened. It was about the high I felt, with the rush of endorphins and serotonin, which made me feel good about myself.
[1:02]If fitness is a means to an end for you, you will always struggle.
[1:05]Your reason for fitness needs to be fitness itself, how a workout makes you feel, not what a workout is going to do for you long term.
[1:12]That is why if you don't focus on those long-term results, those goals, and you just invest in a good process.
[1:18]One in which you emphasize the aspects of fitness you actually enjoy and find most rewarding.
[1:24]In the end, no matter how perfect this process is according to the textbook, you will get all the results and more.
[1:31]It's funny when it comes to your fitness, you will achieve your goals if you aren't driven by them.
