Today, I have five things that I want you to stop saying to yourself because they’re obstacles to you reaching your potential with your exercise routine.

Do you think your mindset to achieving your fitness goals is at its best?

Do you believe that your thoughts are your reality? Because I do. I’ve seen it happen.

The power of positive thinking is a thing. And because I know that positive thinking can help me get where I want to go, I know that my negative thoughts can be obstacles in my path.

So today I’m sharing five phrases that are barriers in you hitting your fitness goals. Chances are that at least one of these has affected you in some way in your life, either in your fitness journey or just in achieving some dream or a goal that you have.

And I want you to think about it. Be honest with yourself and understand that you can change it. You’re in the driver’s seat. These thoughts, these mindsets, aren’t permanent and sometimes we don’t even realize we’re having them, but they’re very powerful.

So bringing them to the surface and realizing that we’re doing them even on autopilot is the first step to changing them.

So let’s talk about those mindset games you’re playing with yourself and things you got to stop saying in your beautiful head so that you can reach your fitness potential. Here we go.

These phrases are in no specific order but as I said earlier, learning to self-correct when you use any of these phrases will help you in any goal you’re trying to achieve.

I’m not good at [fill in the blank]

I hear that all the time. People tell me, Mickie, I’m not good at cardio. I’m not good at lifting weights or doing strength training. It’s just…I’ve never been good at that. I’m not good at step aerobics. I’m not good at flexibility.

You’re not good at it because you’re telling yourself you’re not good at it.

So if you’re using that phrase to skip something out of your workout routine you’re hurting yourself. So quit telling yourself you’re not good at it. The reason that you’re not good at it is because you haven’t worked at it and you haven’t worked at getting better at it.

Whatever you find yourself saying you’re not good at is the very thing you need to focus more on and learn to be better at because that’s your weakness.

You’re leaning on that phrase to stay in your comfort zone.

At least once a week, challenge yourself to work on that thing you’re telling yourself you’re not good at in your workout program.

I’ve never been in shape

I want you to self correct and try not to use this ever again–I’ve never been in shape.

How many of us have told ourselves this and used it as an excuse, like it’s some genetic predisposition you were born with?

It really bothers me when I hear people use this phrase.

Why are you saying that?

I don’t care if you’ve never been an athlete. (That’s usually where it’s coming from. People think about their childhood and if they never played sports, then they use this phrase–I’ve never been in shape.)

Guess what? That that has no bearing on whether you can start exercising and getting in shape and taking care of your body. Whether you were ever an athlete or played any sports has absolutely no bearing on this and it’s a mindset that makes exercise seem like an obstacle that’s extra difficult for you.

It’s a mindset that’s not serving you.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve been before today. That mindset will stop you in your tracks.

I can’t do that workout

I’ve heard this one a million times–I can’t do that workout.

The word can’t means that you’re physically unable to do it.

I understand what you’re trying to say is that it’s difficult for you to do certain things.* And that it’s easier to do workouts you know instead of trying something new you’ll have to learn.

*I’m not talking about people who have physical limitations that will not allow them to do specific things because they have an injury or they have a preexisting condition that doesn’t allow them to do specific kinds of exercises.

I’m talking about people who say: I can’t do step aerobics. I can’t lift weights. I can’t do workouts with kickboxing or dance in them.

Yes, you can.

You can try anything.

You may have to modify it. In fact, I recommend that you do if it’s your first time trying a new workout style.

But you can do it and you should do it.

There’s nothing that you can’t do.

Don’t use this phrase as an excuse to stay stuck doing the same workouts over and over and never challenging yourself. We’ve all done it. But recognize that this mindset will keep you stuck, bored and more likely to quit.

Think of your workout routine as a new career. You have to learn new skills all the time to stay at the top of your game.

It’s selfish to workout instead of [fill in the blank]

You might not be saying the exact words to yourself, but you’re allowing yourself to feel guilty that you’re exercising instead of cooking dinner or organizing something or whatever it is.

Usually it’s something to do with the kids, right? You’re telling yourself that it’s selfish to make time for yourself and work out instead of doing that other thing.

We have to get this out of our head.

One way to remedy this self-talk is to plan your day better.

You might need to take a look at your time management but taking care of your body, making time for you and making exercise a top priority is never selfish.

In fact, you’re a better person, a better parent, a better wife, friend, sister, mother, all of those things when you’re the best and healthiest version of you. You can’t help everyone else if you’re not taking care of you.

So, it’s actually selfish not to take care of yourself.

As a medical professional I think it’s selfish to neglect your body. So, stop feeling guilty about taking the time to exercise. Plan your day so that exercise doesn’t take you away from other important things. Set yourself up for success.

Let’s move on to the last phrase that’s not serving you when it comes to exercise.

I don’t have time to exercise.

The painful truth is that you’re making a choice not to exercise.

Sometimes it is not about all that stuff you’re able to cram into your day, but about the things that you’re actually sacrificing and not making time for that matter and will come back to haunt you.

It’s not that you lack time. You lack motivation, you lack self discipline and/or you lack willpower.

I’m not here to scold you. You’re human. Welcome to the crowd. We’ve all used this phrase, but it’s time to stop.

If you really want to make physical fitness a part of your life, you absolutely can. So I want you to stop using that phrase and commit to a regular exercise routine and figure it out because you can and you do have time.

Think of the girl you know who’s able to exercise regularly somehow and you tell yourself, I don’t know how she does it. Guess what? She has the same 24 hours in the day that you have and she’s super busy too.

It’s all about willpower, motivation, self discipline, and you my friend, you are strong and you want this or you wouldn’t be here right now and you can do it.

So I want you to think about which one of those phrases are obstacles for you right now and try to self correct and see what a difference it makes in your workout motivation and results.

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