7 NLP Tips for Gym Motivation

NLP is a useful psychological tool used by many elite athletes to enhance their training performance. Use these 7 tricks to help you perform better in any area of life...

1: Discover an anchor that fires you up

Memory anchors transfer useful resources from the past to the present

Think of a time in the past when you were fully committed to and fired up for something

Try to bring back that state where your beliefs and actions were congruent (matched) e.g. Belief: I will score a goal today. Action: I scored a goal today.

Think of how you feel and what you see when you picture it, how you are acting and what you are doing?

Stay there for a few minutes.

Then come out of that state.

Try for 3 examples.

What trait was present for all of those experiences? It could be a feeling in your body or the way you spoke, breathed or the way you carried something out like lifting something or running a certain time.

Practice accessing that characteristic more frequently until it becomes your mental state again in the present without needing to go back to the past.

Possibly attach a word like “FOCUS” or “LET’S GO” that will immediately bring you to the fired up state you want to be in.

State changes are highly effective, remember how watching a film like Rocky makes you want to work out? It has changed your state!

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2: Doubt or Belief?

Create two mental pictures: one of doubt, one of belief. What is in the pictures? How are those pictures different? How is the content different?

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3: Do your actions reflect your beliefs?

Some beliefs give us choice, possibilities, opportunities and freedom. Other beliefs give us restrictions and doubt. Our beliefs and our behaviour (actions) must be congruent. Our actions reflect what we truly believe deep down. You can choose both. Make sure your beliefs and actions both have positive intentions. Choose the beliefs that will bring you the results you want so that actions and results will follow. If you fail to believe deep down, you will fail to take the necessary action.

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4: Don’t make unrealistic comparisons of where you are to where you want to be...

This relates mostly to setting achievable targets. Don't try to kid yourself that you can do something "quick" or "fast" . Maybe you can but remember the faster you lose weight, the faster you will put it back on again and the constant fluctuations will play havoc on your long term metabolism.

Focus more on where you are now to where you started from and the progress made; then focus on a realistic goal based on that progress and be patient.

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5: Be aware of negative anchors...

Anchors are not always good. Discover the anchors that put you in a negative or less than productive state and avoid them – an example might be going to eat something because you are bored or watching TV. Before you react to the anchors – enter the moment of choice before reacting – enter it more often.

There is always a choice – make the right one. If watching TV makes you want to eat crap all night, you know what to do; go for a walk, do some yoga anything that takes your mind away. If you really need to eat after that then have something healthy and filling to see you through.

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6: What positive things make you feel good?

Make a list of all the things that make you feel good each day. Going to the gym? Walking? Eating a meal made from scratch? Try to increase the number of good things until you are happy with your daily habits.

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7: Don't be in a fired up state 24/7

If you are like this, the chances are people may find you a bit weird. Use the states for the activities your are doing but always find a way out of intensely focussed states; for example, you wouldn’t want to be in your fired up state on your way to Starbucks.