How to build an unstoppable mindset to get the fitness results you want

Break past barriers, constantly improve, and be in great shape all year round; while actually enjoying what you’re doing! No more Calorie obsessions, no more inconsistency, and no more stagnation.

Do you constantly stress about calorie counting? Do you struggle to stay consistent with fitness? Is there a huge fitness goal that you want to achieve, but you keep stagnating? Or are you just someone who has periods of going to the gym, then long periods where you aren’t training at all?

Here’s how I built an unbreakable mindset that helped me break past barriers, and achieve incredible results. And do you know what’s funny? I don’t even count my calories and I have a 6-pack year round.

When I was a kid

I was mentally weak. I wasn’t at all athletic. I had a belly; my diet was atrocious, and I didn’t exercise very often.

I was always immensely insecure about my weight; trying loads of different fad diets — crash dieting, fasting, and starving myself. I essentially obtained an eating disorder due to my obsession with losing weight.

All this changed after one life-changing session I had in the gym…

When I was 15, I bought a gym membership and I went to the gym with my friends. Like most young teens, we weren’t taking the gym seriously. I started lifting weights; Weights for most are like the gateway to the gym. They’re what most people initially use at the very beginning of their fitness journey.

However, there was one big problem for me….

I Didn’t enjoy lifting weights.

I just found it tedious. Looking back retrospectively, I think this is why I was so hot and cold with the gym for years. My friends always said, “Oh you need to get big; you have to lift weights.” So for a while, I followed that mantra.

However, on one fateful day, I decided to go to the gym myself. I curiously peered over at the treadmill and thought to myself ‘I think I’ll give that a go.’

Although I hated the treadmill, I came to a stark realisation; I loved running.

That day I ended up doing a physically exacting circuit. I was doing sprints on the treadmill, doing shoulder presses, and blitzing on the exercise bike like I was being chased by police; I was training my ass off.

Bearing in mind. I was drinking enough water to drown a small town. I was spamming the shoulder press like someone was controlling me with an Xbox controller when suddenly, I started feeling sick. To save myself from embarrassment, I quickly ran down to the toilet.

As soon as I entered the toilet, it was like my body knew, ‘Okay, now it’s time to unleash all these fluids.’ I was sick all over the toilet floor, the sick was just pure water, nothing else.

That was a profound day for me, as I realised something. Training hard is much easier if you enjoy what you’re doing.

That gets me to the first point of how to build an unstoppable mindset that will aid you In achieving your fitness goals and objectives.

Find something you enjoy

It could be weight-lifting, running, swimming, boxing, MMA, yoga, or Cycling. It could be doing calisthenics — body weight exercises. Whatever it is that you do, make sure you enjoy it.

If you’re enjoying something, time becomes obsolete. You’re no longer forcing yourself to partake in the activity because of the enjoyment you have for it. It’s one less thing you have to worry about on your fitness journey.

Once you’ve found something you enjoy, strive to get better at it

Don’t just have an average mindset. Set ample goals for yourself. Give yourself something that gets you up in the morning; something that makes you want to take the world by storm.

Strive to become the best version of yourself. Forget about others, focus on you and your capabilities.

Keep looking for improvements, and become immersed in what you enjoy.

Always go that extra mile

— If you’re lifting weights; do that extra rep or two

— If you’re running or cycling; go that extra mile or two.

— If you’re swimming; swim that extra length or two.

— If you’re doing core; do a few extra press-ups and sit-ups. Progressively up the difficulty of the routines you do.

Whatever you’re doing, always push yourself to do that little bit extra. What this does on a psychological level is it gets you used to doing more than you think you can.

And suddenly, making forward strides becomes habitual; it comes naturally to you.

Go to war

I mean literally go to war, sign up for the military right now!

Only kidding.

What I mean is, go to war with your mind. There should be training sessions you have where there are points where it isn’t enjoyable. If you feel like you’re chilling watching Netflix, then you aren’t going to build an unstoppable mindset.

Make pain and hardship enjoyable. Basque in the sweat, tears and pain. Earning your rest afterwards.

See where your limit is. Train to the point where you can’t train anymore. You should see what you’re capable of. After a training session you should be sweating, you should be feeling tired. You shouldn’t feel like you’ve had a little stroll in the park.

Don’t listen to the lazy person in your head

‘You’ve lifted enough weights this week, just chill today’

‘You’ve run enough why don’t you just take it easy.’

‘there’s no need to train today, I’ll go tomorrow.’

‘I’ve done enough, even though I’ve not done what I’ve aimed to do today, I’m close to the target, I’m going home to eat junk and relax.’

We’ve all had Mr or Mrs lazy pop into our heads. It’s normal, don’t think because your inner couch potato is calling you that you have to answer.

If you have any of these thoughts come into your head, you need to say one thing, and one thing only:

‘SHUT UP.’

If you get these thoughts, that should be more fuel to finish your workout and to do a little more. Just because someone says — hey, go and jump in front of that car, it’ll be hilarious.’ Does that mean you need to do it? No, it doesn’t. When your lazy self opens the door to your psyche and tries to walk in, front-kick it into space; slamming the door after doing so.

Always do what you’ve set out to do

Make this a habit. If you want to build a bulletproof mindset, you need to do what you’ve set out to do — even if it’s just in your head and you haven’t actually verbalised your aims to anyone.

If in your head you say — ‘I’m going to run 4 miles today,’ Make sure that you run 4 miles. If you don’t feel well, lower the criterion; run 1 mile, As long as you do what you set out to do that’s all that matters.

The less you quit the more you’ll gain

Trust me, this isn’t hyperbole.

Most people, when they feel like quitting, quit instantaneously. I was in this category. I would quit at the slightest whiff of adversity.

‘My leg hurts’ — I’m quitting

‘I can’t breathe well’ — I’m quitting

‘It’s raining outside’ — I’m quitting

Don’t let quitting become an instinctual thing for you to do. Push past the wall, and keep going.

Your mind is a magician; it fools you constantly.

The number of times I’ve been out a long run, or I’ve been sparring getting my head punched in, and my brain has wanted to quit. My mind is telling me ‘You’ve done enough today Joshua; walk back home — take a knee; stop sparring.’ I used to listen to my mind a lot more in the past, but now I rarely ever do.

And you know what’s funny?

That false sensation of ‘near death; the feeling of severe pain, totally vanishes. My mind starts adapting to the pain, and I go into this zen-like state of mind. It’s quite a spiritual experience. And after sessions like this, I feel amazing. I feel strong, capable, and confident — my self-esteem goes through the roof and into the clouds!

I feel alive.

Try it. The next time you feel like quitting, and your body is in pain, keep going. I promise you that you’ll eventually go numb and do much more than you ever thought you could!

Don’t react to your impulses (Utilise stoic principles)

Don’t just quit because you feel like quitting. Don’t just leave the gym because you feel a little under the weather. Don’t just give up fitness because you don’t look like some Greek Adonis or some supermodel. Don’t just eat a bunch of rubbish because it’s near you.

Learn to control your impulses. Then being fit and in shape will become a walk in the park.

That gets me on to another important point.

Focus on yourself and discover who you are

If you want to be in great shape all year round, and you want to be fit and feel confident, comparing yourself to others is implanting a huge roadblock in front of your face while you’re trying to drive forward on your fitness journey.

Figure out what metabolic body type you are. Understand your metabolism. Enjoy what you’re doing and set goals for yourself not for anyone else.

I’ve got an article on the 3 main metabolic body types that you should be aware of. Give it a read after reading this article.

Stop the silly lose weight quick schemes

As I said above, in the past I tried the easy way out. I attempted crash diets, calorie-counting, starving myself, and weight-loss programs.

Forget about weight and this obsession with food. Keep it simple. Don’t overeat. Train hard — full-effort workouts every time; always doing more than last time.

I have a 6-pack all year round; yes I have a very fast metabolism, but I still train extremely hard and I don’t count calories anymore. Don’t be a calorie addict; profusely sweating while you check the label of everything you eat. Focus on your mindset and your training.

Getting in shape is subjective. Get In the best shape YOU possibly can, forget this guy’s body, or that girl’s body. Focus on YOU! Get on that running track, in that gym, in that ring, in that swimming pool, on that yoga mat, or get doing whatever form of training you want to do. Set big goals. Keep striving to get better, and the results will come, trust me on that!

Stop watching these get-fit-quick schemes online. The Tai Lopez’s of the fitness community. TRY THIS EASY DIET AND GET a 93-pack in 6 days!!

Put the work In, and the work will pay you in return.

There’s a lot more to cover on this topic, so I’ll be doing a follow-up to this article in the future. Thank you for your time, and I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section. If you enjoyed reading this article, claps and follows would be immensely appreciated as it supports my work!