Quit Quitting!

Many people set New Year’s resolutions to keep active, but fail within the first few months. That’s why this is a good time to discover how the psychology of motivation can help you quit quitting and protect you from the forces determined to derail your dreams. 

Here, Andrea Bowden, MS, leader and teacher in the fitness industry since 1984 and the “Quit Quitting Expert,” shares three top challenges you may face when getting started (or re-started) with exercise—and some research-based strategies for staying on track.

Challenge: Identifying Motives for Change

Self-determination theory says if you’re going to stay motivated, your decisions need to be self-endorsed and not coerced (Ryan et al. 2010). That means you need to identify a motive for change and design a strategy to stay motivated.

For example, let’s say you want to lose weight because you feel ashamed of the way you look. To keep yourself motivated, you’ll want to steer away from feelings externally controlled by shame and toward higher-level goals. Identify higher-level goals, such as decreasing the need for medications or having more energy to go out with friends or perform your work.

Creating a plan that helps you connect personal values like “getting off medication” or “having more energy” with your goal of losing weight helps you feel less controlled and more autonomous. Working with a life coach and/or personal trainer to brainstorm goals can also be helpful.  

See also: Growth Mindset and Exercise Adherence

Challenge: Conflicting Priorities

The theory of planned behavior says that to follow through with what you say you’ll do, you have to believe what you’re doing is going to get you where you want to go (Ajzen 1991). But what if “where you want to go” (for example, a regular exercise routine) conflicts with other priorities of life?

According to self-determination theory, you need to feel like you’re in control of the circumstances (Ajzen 1991). Perhaps you feel that your family controls your world and, because you choose to put them first, you end up quitting exercise. To be successful in your workout program, you’ll need to figure out how to take control and meet your various goals simultaneously.

A health coach or personal trainer can help you take control and create a Plan B for when Plan A can’t be put into action.

For example, when soccer season is in full swing, your number-one goal is to be on the sidelines cheering on your kids, which means 5 days a week at the gym (Plan A) is not likely to happen. Plan B? Do 50 squats and 30 pushups after brushing your teeth. When you no longer have a conflict, return to your trips to the gym.

Challenge: Low Perceived Competence

Competence is a need that must be met before someone is motivated (Ryan et al. 2010). If you have quit exercising many times in the past, you may think you are not competent to succeed now.

Help develop competence by recalling your many successes in the past (within fitness and otherwise). Remember that you have done hard things before and succeeded. Use those strategies to do the same here. Also, brainstorm potential obstacles and create that Plan B.

Competence can also be honed with small, daily, process-oriented goals like “walk 15 minutes every day.” Developing a process-oriented plan can help develop your feelings of self-efficacy, which will build competence and help you quit quitting.

See also: Use the Psychology of Motivation to Stop Quitting