Gym Motivation

ANLP Member, Zoe Carroll, writes:

"I recently worked with a client who had a small problem. The great thing about coaching is that it works just as well with the small things as with the big ones. This lady had a gym membership and every intention to go regularly. She had all the gear and packed her bag and kept it in the car so that she could go to the gym whenever she chose. The problem was, that she wasn't going. At all.

Sound familiar? Often we have good intentions but don't get things done. And much of the time we don't even really know why we don't get them done. It may be going to the gym, or yoga class, or painting a wall or finishing a project. Why is it that we can't keep the promises that we make to ourselves?

I started by asking her about when she did go to the gym and when she didn't and we looked at what was different. We explored why it was that she wanted to go to the gym and what she was unconsciously trying to achieve when she didn't go. We then worked together to create some inspirational images of herself once she had been to the gym, examined her options for making this a reality and then came up with a plan of action, which included her checking in with me once she had been. We used some powerful NLP processes to make some changes and empower her to confidently make the changes that she needed to in order to bring about change.

A few days later, I received a message from her to let me know that she had been to the gym, using one of the strategies that we had discussed to get herself there. The checking in with me was just a failsafe to provide her with an external check that she wanted to hold her accountable to someone other than herself. Once going to the gym becomes a habit and she has practiced the strategies to go regularly, she won't need to check in with me any more.

It's not really about the gym. It's about understanding our behaviour and our motivation and getting what we want out of life. Whatever our issues are, sometimes all we need is another way of looking at them and someone to help us look at alternatives. That's what coaching is; someone who is on your side, cheering you on to see the possibilities in your own life and helping you plot a route to get there."