Are you habit forming or habit fooling?

Have you ever joined a gym at the beginning of the year promising yourself that this time you are going to get ripped - or if not ripped at least fit and healthy? Are you still going?

Gyms, fitness clubs and the weight loss industry love people who sign up for their programs, they like them even better knowing that most of them will fail. They want the new membership fees, they want people to forget they are paying a monthly fee, and they are not likely to give you a call and say - hey dude, haven't seen you for a while - what's going on, want to cancel your membership? 

Yeah right.

Gyms and fitness studios are expensive to run, the equipment takes up a huge amount of space, add in pools, saunas and spa's - not to mention multiple shower stalls and wow, the business model needs people to sign up and not show up. Well let's face it, if everyone who paid for a membership turned up - there wouldn't be a spare piece of machinery in sight... Queue to get on a rowing machine? Not likely.

So you are paying for something you're not using - why? Is it so you can fool yourself into thinking that - when you get your routine sorted out you'll find time to get to the gym?Or that having the gym membership and not doing the work is going to miraculously give you the body you said you wanted?

I have been a member of a gym on and off now most of my adult life. Yes I'm human. But there are a couple of things I need to clarify with that statement. A couple of years ago - money was tight - REALLY tight, so the membership had to go. My bank balance benefited even though my waistline did not. But - as soon as my finances sorted themselves out, I headed back to the gym and re-signed - I just waited for their no joining fee period (stupid I am not), and I am back to 3 times a week.

But I can be guilty of going through the motions - especially when my routine is interrupted. There was a guy this morning who sat on one machine, completed a set then played with his phone for 2 minutes before repeating. Then there was a husband and wife team who spent the entire time yammering to each other, another guy talking to someone on a telephone and someone else who did every single exercise wrong... some days even I can't tune it out - so I count down the reps. 

So why do we have so much trouble sticking with things like exercise and weight loss programs?

To my mind they rely a lot on internal motivation to do - so when we can't be bothered to go, we can make all sorts of excuses and end up not doing something we know we should. They're easy to do, they're also really easy not to do...

• Drink 8 glasses of water a day
• Eat 5 veg and 2 fruit
• Walk 10,000 steps daily
• Go to the gym and complete my workout

So what does this tell you?

Most of the time, our reasons are simply not good enough - especially when it comes down to things like health and fitness. Or the other classic - I want to earn more money.

What does more mean? More can be as little as a penny. It's more than you've got. I want to lose weight, great - does that mean a gram, a kilo or 30 kilos? 

• Why do you want more money?
• Why do you want to lose weight?
• Why do you want to run a marathon or climb Mt Everest

It is the clear answer to the why that will determine whether you keep doing what you need to do or not.

So what is my why?

Well I am not training for anything - that usually helps, but I'm not at the moment - my Achilles is still playing up, and Everest is not on my goal list at the moment. So for me it comes down to ensuring that my overall health is OK and as I get older this is going to be vital. I also stacked some weight on when my mum was over a few years ago on holiday and have never been able to shift it. This means I don't feel good in my skin and I can't wear what I would like to wear - this sounds superficial, but it is an important why for me at the moment. 

Remember - your why is important as it is personal - never let someone else's desires mask your own. And yes these can change - just don't get into the habit of fooling yourself - be honest, be candid and be clear and you will achieve great things.