Throughout my life I have mastered 2 skills. 

Those two skills are also the total opposite of each other.

Namely coding and fitness.

Although both skills are the total opposite, both skills require one major component in order to become a master in that field.

And that one component applies to any skill or field you want to master.

Do you know what that one component is?

The number one component for mastering any skill is consistency

Shocker right?

Lots of people will tell you that it is all about passion.

You often hear that in order to become a master or to be successful in a skill you need to be passionate about it.

Although that is 101.1% true. Passion is not the reason why masters are successful with their craft. It is the consistency that comes from the passion that they are able to be successful at their craft.

You can have all the passion of the world for something, but if it ends there and you are not taking action consistently. 

Then there is no chance that you will be successful with it.

Passion is the key to being consistent.

Consistency leads to success.

Be consistent.

It is not that complicated, 

just be consistent.

And of course consistency is also a critical role in building the body that you want.

But what is the biggest enemy of consistency?

Being unmotivated.

Everybody gets unmotivated sometimes with their fitness journey.

This is completely normal. 

Unless you have a dying passion for fitness, it is hard to stay motivated at all times.

But being unmotivated is the worst excuse for not doing your workouts. 

You are not physically constrained; you are primarily mentally constrained.

The good part of this is that it is easy to fix this mental constraint. 

It is a bit harder when you are literally chained up.

To help you unchain this mental constraint I have some frameworks that will help you out.

Help you with dealing with the unmotivated times.

Of course, you can use these frameworks to help you get motivated in any skill you want to master, not just within the fitness realm.

Overarching Principle

Before we get into the frameworks, I want you to have this principle in mind. This principle is what all the frameworks are based upon.

The principle is: Don’t let your emotions dictate your actions or lack of action.

If you think about it, being unmotivated is just an emotion. 

• You don’t feel like doing the workout. 
• You feel like eating that hamburger

So in a sense you are letting your emotions dictate your future.

From my personal experience and observations from my surroundings, listening to your emotions and acting on them will almost always lead to undesired outcomes or future.

• Eating the donut
• Skipping the gym
• Drinking the 10th beer
• Being aggressive because someone hurt your feelings

Having this principle in mind during unmotivated moments will solve almost all your motivation problems.

But to help you more in this area, I have some frameworks that will assist you.

Vision

Having a vision of where you want to go will help bring clarity. 

Do you want to look a certain way?

Do you have a physique that you want to aim for?

It is totally fine to want to work out for vanity reasons. There is nothing wrong with that.

Have an outcome that you want to achieve; have a picture of a physique you want to achieve on your phone. 

Is it weird to have such a picture on your phone? Maybe, but who cares.

I wanted to look like Goku from Dragon Ball Z since I was a young, dumb teenager. 

I still somewhat have that goal right now, but now I am an old, dumb adult.

By having a vision, you will filter all your actions through this vision.

Does skipping the gym lead to the vision? No.

Does eating that donut lead to the vision? No.

Your emotions may sway you to skip the gym or eat that donut, but your vision where you want to go is stronger.

Having a vision will carry you through the hard times.

And remember, you only got one freaking life. 

It is your duty to become what you truly want.

Anti-Vision

The opposite also works very well for unmotivated times.

Instead of vision

an anti-vision:

Where do you not want to end up?

Who do you not want to become?

This also helps you to become very aware of your actions. 

If you have an image of a person that you absolutely do not want to become, you will filter all your actions through that imagery.

Will eating this donut lead to the person I don’t want to be?
Yes, so I will not eat this donut.

Will watching Netflix instead of going to the gym lead to the person I don’t want to be?
Yes, okay, I will go to the gym.

If you look around, most people are totally unaware of their actions. They hate the person they have become because they did not have a vision of how they did not want to end up. (anti-vision)

Therefore, they just go with the flow, i.e., not deciding their own actions but letting their emotions or outside circumstances dictate their actions.

The vision and anti-vision are quite similar, but one has a positive spin and the other a somewhat negative spin.

Choose whichever framework aligns with your personality, but be careful with the anti-vision. You do not want to become a pessimist.

The Two Voices

Everybody has two voices.

The mature voice and the whiny voice. 

The grown-ass-man voice and the bitch voice.

The devil voice and the angel voice.

The more you listen to a certain voice, the stronger it gets. 

The more you listen to your whiney voice, the stronger it gets.

You have probably experienced it before.

Mature voice says: I really should go to the gym today.

Whiny voice says: Nah, you already went four days ago; let’s treat yourself.

The more you listen to the whiny voice, the more it will become your default.

If you go to the gym despite not feeling like it, you will develop this mature voice more.

Maybe your workout sucked, but you have trained the mature voice to become stronger.

You have trained your discipline level.

Zoom Out

The fitness journey is a long journey, and because it is a long journey, you have to zoom out during unmotivated moments.

Do you really want a small moment of feeling unmotivated to hinder your outcome? 

The feeling of lack of motivation lasts maybe five minutes. If you zoom out, five minutes is nothing on a trajectory of one year.

But that one five-minute moment can trigger a domino effect of bad habits and more slacking off on your workouts.

Zoom out and see the insignificance of the five-minute feeling of not doing the work.

Conclusion

As I mentioned before, everything is based on emotion. All the frameworks help you to become more rational and not let your emotions sway you from slacking off or making bad decisions.

Having control over your emotional and mental state is the greatest power you can have.

And the body is the reflection of your mental and emotional control.