Most of the time that we hear the phrase “Practice Makes Perfect”, we immediately think of how beneficial consistently practicing any skill will be to our overall ability to perform it. Many of us have at some time in our lives have had to practice for some sport or leisure activity in hopes to get better or even be the best. We practiced so much that every intricate detail of our skill became second nature or habit if you will.
The same can be said for making exercise a consistent part of your lifestyle but in a slightly different way. Each workout or training session can and should be looked at as a practice. Each practice is then completed over and over with the intention of creating a habit that will be ingrained into your lifestyle for years to come…PERMANENT. Hopefully you noticed that I never mentioned MOTIVATION!
For some people this whole process is much easier than it is for others who have to work much harder at making a positive exercise change stick. Even when they think that they are on the right track then life happens and they find themselves becoming derailed. Once the momentum begins to slow, practice will still occur but it will be of the negative variety. It may be back to old ways of making excuses as to why you can’t or shouldn’t workout consistently. No matter how it is practiced, the negative habit is being built and this practice truly is becoming perfect…the perfect recipe for disaster!
The key to staying away from this pitfall is to have a backup plan or plans for how to deal with momentary setbacks in your training or health and fitness overall. You can start this by understanding that reality says that it will NOT be a perfect journey. Your journey will not always be fun and exciting. Just like so many other life long endeavors we undertake, there will be ups and downs and everything else that you can imagine that will test you. How you view those tests as well as how you react to them will ultimately determine how successful you are.
Know that most things are just things and can be handled and moved on from. There are so many positives in every situation but ONLY if you choose to see them.
