Everyone who starts their fitness or bodybuilding journey has some idea about the effects of training, but seems to know little about the very process of working on their physique. As a result, they become fixated on the distant goal and see the path leading to it as an unpleasant necessity that they would prefer to skip. Well, let me tell you something. If you want to be successful at the gym, don’t focus too much on the results and instead start loving the process!
Long-term training goals are crucial, and everyone should set their own. At the same time, you need to realize that the path leading to them is long and you can either hate it or enjoy what it brings.
Paradoxically, the desire to achieve results will significantly reduce your chances of success because it will affect the necessary process.
At the same time, the process that you love and that gives you pleasure will generate better results without the need for excessive fixation on them.
Training goals, while necessary and valuable, have their drawbacks, and the process, while tedious, has its advantages. Let’s talk about the details of both of these statements.
What’s wrong with focusing on results?
Results are a fairly vague concept. At first, it may be difficult for you to even define them, and over time, when you have gained some experience in fitness, it may be difficult for you to say, “Yes, these are the results I wanted to achieve indeed, my job is done.” Therefore, your satisfaction may not be what you expect.
Furthermore, results lie in a distant, unspecified future. Instead of waiting solely for the return on the investment, enjoy what you learn along the way. The unknown (distant results) can be discouraging and undermine your efforts.
Another paradoxical negative aspect of focusing on results is that achieving them can be disappointing. At the end of the day, it’s not all that. 🤷🏻♂️ Even if you have a solid, well-defined goal, its achievement in a sense sets you back to the starting point. You start wondering what’s next. How can I give meaning to my workouts again?
To wrap up this section, something I briefly mentioned before – it is very likely that by focusing solely on the effects, you will never be fully satisfied. Someone will always be better, you will always be able to improve something.
So, what’s the point of focusing on them so much at the expense of the process?
Why it is better to enjoy the process than to focus on results
One of the great advantages of the process is that it is here and now. It allows you to enjoy what you have and what you can do, rather than what you might have someday.
The process is about learning. Acquiring knowledge about nutrition and training, as well as about yourself. It allows you to establish a better connection with yourself, overcome weaknesses and fears, revalue yourself, and learn patience.
I often bring up the idea of a goal in my posts, but in reality, the process is the goal itself – very short-term, achieved daily, which gives quick and repeatable satisfaction and drives action, but also long-term, because it takes a lot of time or is perhaps even endless.
It is worth drawing from the process. It may contain a series of pleasant mini-rituals – drinking coffee before training, visiting various gyms, choosing and wearing clothes in which you feel and look good, taking pictures. All of this can and should give you satisfaction, helping you continue your efforts.
The process is also an efficient use of time. You can’t expect your fitness level to improve overnight. The time you spend training is one way to pay for it. Time is a currency with an expiration date. You either invest it well or lose it. Training is one of the things you can use to utilize your time in a meaningful way.
Summary
When it comes to training or improving your physique, results are the consequence of the process. In other words, a properly executed process is the foundation for achieving results. Personally, I have not met anyone who has achieved anything in fitness without immersing themselves in the process or who hated it.
At the same time, it is not about NOT setting goals and striving to achieve them, but if the pursuit does not have value in itself, it will make it harder for you to reach the destination.
When you achieve results, which I certainly wish for you, whatever they may be, you will find that you need something more. I wonder if you won’t actually need another process then?
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