I saved this one for last deliberately. I believe the fear of exercise failure is far more common then people tend to admit and it's a serious road block for so many people who want and need to exercise. When it comes to exercise the fear of failure can exist in so many different forms, these include: (1) fear of not achieving the fitness results you want, (2) fear of not being able to stick to your training program, (3) fear of not making it through your exercise session, (4) fear of not being able to do what your trainer has asked or what you have asked of yourself and (5) fear of not meeting your own, your trainer's, friend's and / or family's expectations. I'm going to jump straight into the 7 most effective strategies for overcoming the fear of exercise failure.
1. Set goals
Everyone knows it's important but it's rarely done properly. Without a goal it is impossible to effectively measure success or failure. Goals can be short term (ie 4 weeks) or long term (ie 6 months) and they can relate directly to fitness results (ie losing 5kg in 10 weeks) or they can relate to the training process (training 3 times a week for 10 weeks). Having a combination of goals not only makes it possible to measure success but it also motivates by giving you something to aim for.
2. Consider the worst case scenario
What's the worst that can happen? You fail to meet a weight loss goal - reset a more realistic one and try again, you don't make it to the end of your exercise session - rethink your training program and make it to the end of the next one, you don't stick to all your exercise sessions one week - get straight back into it the next day and try again. How long would it really take you to recover from an exercise failure and start again? There is no reason why you couldn't start again the following day! When you really think about the worst case scenario or failing to meet an exercise related goal, the consequences are not that bad.
3. Consider what you miss out on
Think about what you are missing out on by not exercising. As they say, "nothing risked, nothing gained". This is true for exercise. If you don't take the risk of failing to meet your exercise goals you don't give yourself a chance of achieving them. Exercise offers so many benefits and when you weigh up the risk vs reward it is clearly a risk worth taking. Can you really afford to miss out on the health benefits of exercise?
4. Focus on the feeling of success
Consider how you will feel when you succeed. How great will it feel to actually lose the weight you want to lose, fit into the pants you have always wanted to wear or run the distance in a personal best time? Consider how important success is to you. The feeling of achieving your goals is definitely worth risking failure.
5. Let the feeling of failure motivate you
Don't let the fear of failure frighten you, rather, use the fear of failure to motivate you to succeed. Consider how you will feel after not achieving your goal. How will you feel after missing your training session, after not losing the weight you wated to or after missing out on your personal best running time. Use the feeling of what it would be like to fail to motivate you to succeed. Since doing nothing is the same as failing, if you haven't started to exercise, let the feeling of doing nothing for another 6 months motivate you to start.
6. Accept that failure is necessary
Failure is an essential part of success. Assess and learn from failing and come back stronger and better prepared to succeed next time. Failures are challenges to overcome and learn from not excuses for quitting.
7. Just get started
Sometimes the fear of failure can only be overcome by just giving it a go. After you have been exercising for a while you will learn things, gain experience and discover what it feels like to fail (and realise it's a necessary process and not the end of the world). Sometimes the only way to confront and overcome your fear of exercise is by jumping in head first.
The fear of failure is powerful and it can't be overcome by reading words on a computer screen. Put thoughts into action and do something about it now. Don't let the fear of failure prevent you from reaching your health and fitness potential any longer. Not taking risks is a risk in itself. Are you willing to risk the health consequences of not exercising?
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