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Every time I start going to the gym again for the first time in a while, I have to ignore the excuses my brain makes to put it off for one more day. I know that going to the gym is extremely beneficial for me physically, emotionally and spiritually. I know that a regular workout routine is one of my keys to stress management. So, why does my subconscious engage in self sabotage?

We often don’t want to do things that we know that will be beneficial for us.

We don’t want to start something because we think back to the last time we started and stopped something.

The fear of starting and failing stops us from even wanting to start again. Every time we decide we want to start, our subconscious kicks in and starts telling us that we will fail. It brings up all the times we started that task and failed for whatever reason and reminds us how terrible we felt when that happened. The fear of feeling the regret, guilt and remorse causes us to not get started at all.

But, what if we could think about it differently?

What if I succeed? 

If you ask yourself “what if I succeed?” your subconscious cannot bring up negative things to combat such a question. Instead, it must respond to your question directly with all of the positive things that will happen when you succeed.

If this sounds simple, that is because it is. We are always one simple mindset shift from extraordinary results. We just have to be mindful of how our minds work.

This applies to everything, whether it is a workout plan, a business venture or a commitment to quit smoking. We may have tried several times and we may have fallen off the wagon so to speak. In order to succeed we must ask ourselves what success looks like.

We get what we focus on and when we focus on success, that is what we will attract.