An added bonus of using this kind of motivation is that you can then try and see what worked for that bodybuilder/movie star and try and mimic their routines. There’ll almost certainly be information on the internet if it’s a body that impresses a lot of people and that should help give you some guidelines for how to train. Also look into their diet and general lifestyle and if you’ve picked someone who’s a similar height then you should be able to make the most of adopting these.

Importantly, try to remember why you go to the gym in the first place – what it is that started you on this journey. Was it for general health? Was it for larger arms? Why was it that you wanted to be stronger? To attract the opposite sex? To do better in sports? Try and remember the reasons you’re doing this and the cost of not being motivated anymore – are you really willing to throw all that away? You might think that it won’t hurt to have one day off, to put your legs up just for an hour after a hard days work – but the truth of the matter is that it’s the start of a slippery slope. It’s this mindset that will eventually lead to your downfall as time and again you ‘let yourself off’. If you truly want to be successful then you need to go every day you intended to when you wrote your programme. Unless you sick, on holiday, or there’s some kind of family emergency, you mustn’t let yourself fall into the trap of taking days off. Apart from anything else it will mess up your routine and put it out of sync and particularly to begin with it’s crucial that you get your body into a steady and predictable pattern. Now ask yourself, did you not set out with a set of clear goals and a well outlined plan of what you were going to do? Are you really going to let all that slide just because you’ve have a rough day? Are you a man or a mouse? Try to see your tiredness as just part of the challenge and as something you have to overcome. A bit of work related stress shouldn’t be enough to take you out of the game and you know that. If you quit now you’ll be letting yourself down. Do you think Batman stops training when he’s had a hard day at Wayne Enterprises? Bruce Lee? If you want to get the body of one of your heroes then you need to start acting like one!

So self talk and the prospect of failure are one method your can use, but if you’re lazy inner voice has always been your loudest one, then perhaps it would help to also tell your goals to friends and family. Tell them precisely what you’re going to do and then you’ll have the added peer pressure of knowing that they’ll all see you as a failure if you give in.

Mack LeMouse

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