Internal Locus of Control and Fitness, Part 2

I have defined an internal locus of control and how it positively impacts your fitness and the rest of your life. The question now is, can you boost your internal locus of control? Can you make changes in your current situation or frame of mind to help you feel like you are in control of what happens in your life?

I try to incorporate these five principles when I train a client. I believe they will help them feel more in control and ultimately stay motivated:

1. Prioritization: There is only so many things that you can do in your day, your week, or your life. With this limited amount of time, you have to choose what is most important to you. These days, we have so many things to draw our attention: television, internet, texting, video games, work, family, friends, etc. If you want to be in control of something, then you need to move it up in the list or prioritize it or it won't get done. Sometimes we need to simplify our lives. We need to understand that regular exercise training, when consistent will provide to best results, but will also enhance all other parts of our lives.
   
2. Organization: If you have limited amount of time in the day, don't waste your time. It is amazing how much less stressful your day is and how much more time you have to train and eat healthfully when you are organized.
   
3. Positive Learning Environment: A good teacher knows that motivation is the key to success, but achievement drives motivation. Master a simpler task first, then progress to more challenging tasks.
   
4. Measure: How do you know if you improve if you don't measure? This is at the heart of performance-based training. If your goal is to perform a body-weight deadlift (which should be everyone's goal), then we will start with an assessment and progress to that goal.
   
5. Association: Whom do you associate with? Are you training with other people who haven't made much progress or don't train at all? Or, are you training or associating yourself with positive, driven people who have and continue to make tremendous progress? This association with successful people who achieve is so vital to success. This is one reason I started this blog. I wanted all of my clients to feel like they are part of a larger, successful training group.