Start Before You Quit.

The best thing you can do if you’re looking to succeed in any fitness goal, whether it’s losing weight or lifting 225 over your head, is to be consistent. But what do you do on those days where you’re hungover, haven’t slept a wink, and had your boss, partner, and household pet all chew you up and spit you out – and the last thing you want to do is work out?

Easy: Go work out anyway - literally.

In other words, go to the gym (or your preferred sanctuary of physical betterment) and start your workout as planned, with one caveat: Allow yourself the option of quitting after the first exercise, if you really don’t feel up to it.

9 times out of 10, just getting yourself up and moving will rid you of all your day’s baggage, and you’ll end up finishing up the workout (and feeling better as a result).

You may find that the days where you’ve least wanted to exercise resulted in your best performances (it’s certainly happened to me on numerous occasions).

Consistency (and instilling beneficial habits) is particularly important if you’re just starting out on an exercise program; in fact, I’d say it’s critical for your success. So next time you find yourself “talking yourself out of it”, bite the bullet and show up anyway. You might just have an awesome workout.

Thanks to Stephan Kesting for the genesis for this idea – I hope to be as good a grappler as you when I grow up.