The Key To Achieving Results: Discipline, Consistency and Enjoying the Journey

There’s a basic recipe for achieving your fitness and health goals that, on the surface, sounds like a no brainer. We hear it all the time: “Spend 5 days in the gym each week, eat a healthy and well-rounded diet, work hard and you’ll see results in no time!” But it’s often not a linear path to this outcome. For anyone. 

So what about the motivation it takes to actually DO these things? Better yet, what about actually starting them? Or maintaining them over the long-term so they develop into habits? 

Motivation vs. Discipline

Here’s the thing: as enjoyable as certain parts of a healthy lifestyle may be for some, it suffices to say none of us will always have sufficient motivation to pursue one. Simply enough, there are moments we need more than just a pep talk to set ourselves in motion. That is when discipline comes in. Ultimately, discipline is more than just acting on a feeling, like motivation can be. Self-discipline, specifically, is what drives a person to succeed when faced with adversity. 

This means making the choice to workout even when you’d rather lay in bed, doing an extra ten lunges and pushing your limits during a workout, or choosing to prepare a healthy meal at home rather than dine out, knowing it’s in service of your goals. Despite your specific adversity and even your feelings surrounding it, you are still determined to achieve results. And while digging deep and holding yourself accountable to such levels of discipline is one of the more difficult things to do, you will almost always thank yourself later because you’ll still get things done. No matter what. 

The Secret Weapon: Consistency 

One of the highest truths in achieving results is that consistency is your friend. Having a plan or a routine that you know you will stick to consistently will help get you that much closer to your goals. Rather than having random spikes in exercise activity and intensity or occasionally eating a healthy meal, it’s beneficial to build a realistic routine for yourself and your schedule and lifestyle that you will actually stick to. You are far more likely to follow through and actually see results this way. Taking the guesswork out of the equation and simplifying your approach means your focus can entirely be on effort and consistency. You would be amazed at the progress you can achieve with even two weeks of this formula. 

Enjoying the Journey and Why It’s Important 

This might be an unpopular opinion, but it’s crucial that you enjoy what you do and what you eat. Now, that’s not to say it’s always going to be “fun” to eat broccoli or do pull-ups. But on the whole, actively seek out foods that bring you both joy and health benefits. In the same way, find forms of movement that speak to you and make you feel happy to be alive, whether that’s kayaking, dance, or circuit training. Health and wellness, especially when looking to achieve results, does not have to be a miserable experience. 

Ultimately, give yourself grace, acceptance, and solid dose of love. You should feel proud that you have goals to begin with. It’s also important to remember that even with hard work, you will not see results overnight, so patience is key. But you can rest in the comforting fact that you are a changemaker and are pursuing the very best life has to offer. With so much time and effort invested in this process, at the very least, we should be enjoying what we’re doing. 

What Sticks and Why 

Achieving results, and especially ones that last, takes hard work over the long haul. At the end of the day, the secret to achieving results comes down to YOU and your choice to find and cultivate purpose in your workout routine, with your eating, and ultimately how you care for yourself day in and day out. When invested in wisely, your results will come naturally. We invite you to see for yourself. 

This article was written by our very own Megan Carter.