How do you get a gym life?

December 24, 2023

Burn The Boats

Sail to that foreign land, then burn the boats. You do that by going to any national gym like 24 Hour Fitness, then take a leap of faith by going all-in. That means you get their most expensive gym membership, and you pay it in full for a whole year—and that’s your bare minimum.

If you can arrange the finances, then go for extra credit and book a month with a personal trainer. If that’s not in the cards, then aim at Planet Fitness or anything small and local—save up if you have to—but you must make yourself pay dearly.

Justify Your Actions

The reason you do all this is to sacrifice something, that your thoughts and actions must then justify.

One thing that's clear about human nature, is that even if you’re Millionaire McMoneybags, human psychology demands that all your actions MUST make sense to you. This is why you don’t got to the 99 Cent Store and buy $100 worth of their 99 Cent Store cloth bags, and also why Oprah doesn’t spend $100M to start coal mining business (that we know of!)

When you spend $500+ just to get in the door on this new thing you’re unsure about, that’s still a non-zero amount of time and money you wouldn’t naturally spend this way. Your mind will force you to show up at least for day one, and since you’ve already screwed yourself over with a year’s membership, you might as well show up tomorrow too.

Make Friends

This is where the magic happens, because when you connect with like-minded people at your level and working on the same goals, you become part of a team. As the new person, human nature will make you avoid disappointing them—so what the hell, you’ll show up the second and third day.

But wait, there’s more! Your new friends want to hit up the new salad bar after the gym session this Friday, and there you are. Can you really turn down a new run with your new friends this Monday? One day you look up, you and your friends are one of those athletic gods spiking a volleyball at the beach. You sit there and remember reading this, your non-gym self a distant memory, and privately wonder:

How the hell did I end up here?