The people who train consistently for years are usually described as disciplined, which implies they are winning a daily internal argument that the rest of us lose. In my experience coaching several hundred of them, this is almost exactly backwards.
What they have done is remove the argument. The kit is packed the night before. The session is at the same time on the same days. The gym is on the route they already travel. The programme is decided, so there is no decision to make at the door. By the time willpower would be needed, there is nothing left for it to do.
This matters because it is actionable in a way that being told to be more disciplined is not. You cannot decide to want it more. You can decide to move the gym bag to the door.
The corollary is that consistency problems are usually design problems. If you keep missing Thursday sessions, the answer is rarely more resolve — it is that Thursday is badly placed and should move.
Audit the friction. Every decision you remove from the path between waking up and starting the session is a decision that cannot go the wrong way.
Written by
Dami Adeyemi
Part of the CHISSELED coaching and studio team. Everything published here is written by people who train, program or build the products they are writing about.