Habits and Hustle - Episode 382: Andrew Coates: Tips for Breaking The Procrastination Cycle in Fitness

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

Have you ever found yourself waiting for the perfect burst of motivation to start your fitness journey? You're not alone. In this Fitness Friday episode, Andrew Coates and I tackle the age-old question: motivation vs. discipline. We discuss the common pitfall of procrastination and the importance of starting small, such as simply showing up at the gym. We also discuss the idea of "casting votes for your future self," as James Clear says in his book "Atomic Habits," and how consistency in action, even when you don't feel like it, fosters discipline and confidence.  Andrew Coates is a dedicated fitness professional with over 23,000 hours of on-the-floor coaching experience. After graduating from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Commerce, he began his career as a certified personal trainer in 2010 and founded Andrew Coates Fitness in 2017. Andrew is a prolific fitness writer, contributing to renowned publications such as T-Nation, Muscle and Fitness, and Men's Health, and has been featured in Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter. He is the host of The Lift Free and Diet Hard Podcast and a frequent public speaker at industry events. What we discuss:  Procrastination as a common pitfall Taking action is crucial, rather than waiting for motivation Starting small to build familiarity and reduce intimidation "Casting votes for your future self" concept from "Atomic Habits" Consistency in action fostering discipline and confidence Impact of breaking self-promises Overcoming shame and setbacks Role of coaches and mentors in creating supportive environments Thank you to our sponsor: Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off  TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. BiOptimizers: Want to try Magnesium Breakthrough? Go to https://bioptimizers.com/jennifercohenand use promo code JC10 at checkout to save 10% off your purchase. Timeline Nutrition: Get 10% off your first order at timeline.com/cohen Air Doctor: Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code HUSTLE for up to $300 off and a 3-year warranty on air purifiers.  To learn more about Andrew Coates: Website: https://andrewcoatesfitness.com/  Instagram:  @andrewcoatesfitness Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. Hey, friends, you're listening to Fitness Friday on the Habits and Hustle podcast, where myself and my friends share quick and very actionable advice for you becoming your healthiest self. So, stay tuned and let me know how you leveled up. Before we dive into today's episode, I first want to thank our sponsor, Therisage.

Their tri-light panel has become my favorite biohacking thing for healing my body. It's a portable red light panel that I simply cannot live without. I literally bring it with me everywhere I go and I personally use their red light therapy to help reduce inflammations and places in my body where honestly I have pain. You can use it on a sore back, stomach cramps, shoulder, ankle. Red light therapy is my go-to. Plus it also has amazing anti-aging benefits, including reducing signs of fine lines and wrinkles on your face, which I also use it for. I personally use Therisage Trilite everywhere and all the time. It's small, it's affordable, it's portable, and it's really effective. Head over to Therasage.com right now

and use code BEBOLD for 15% off. This code will work site-wide. Again, head over to Therasage, T-H-E-R-A-S-A-G-E.com and use code BEBOLD for 15% off any of their products. So what we do on this show, although I've had like five of these today, so I probably not have. They told me I shouldn't have more than two.

Is there any caffeine in this? No caffeine. It's all adaptogens and it's super high quality, all organic, it's by a company called Magic Mind and it's really good for your brain, cognitive, you know, cognition, being alert, focus, productivity, all the things. So we shake it on the show and then we just take it, we just like swig it back. Done. Okay. So I'm going to do this with you and then we're going to start the podcast.

Ready? So cheers. And then we open it and then we go. I'm not going to take it because you should do it. Sure. Because I've already had, I'm sorry, Magic Wine. I've had like five of them, literally today. I know, I love the taste of them too. So go ahead, take it and tell me what you think. And then we can kind of-

Let's find out, bottoms up. Bottoms up. And all this stuff is on the bottom. So you may have like not gotten all the like good stuff, but it's, tell me how you feel afterwards. It's like really well, it's like really tasty. So you're right. It is tasty.

And now I wonder what the expectation effect is going to be of going and doing this. I wonder. And then we'll see if I feel like clear. Well, I'm not a big believer and I don't, I mean, this is actually a good place to start for this is I'm not a big pre-workout person. Like I don't take pre-workout stuff. I don't, I mean, this is actually a good place to start for this is I'm not a big pre-workout person. Like I don't take pre-workout stuff. I don't believe in it. I just think it's a lot of it's garbage.

So I like I usually take this which is the this magic mindset shot before I work out and I feel like it just gives me Like a little added like kick to my workout I mean, that's what I feel but I feel like also if I have to like focus on a podcast for like two hours or if I have to do like three podcasts in a row, it's really good. You have to be on. Yeah, we have to be listening and like being like listening, I think listening for a long period of time, it could be kind of, it could be difficult, right? Like to pay attention. If you don't have the ability to pay attention on a good day and then having to be like very on point and pay attention for like five hours at a time is very difficult.

You have this great question in your mind and you have to hold on to it and pay attention. And you can forget it. And the question is gone and you're like shoot. Exactly. So anyway, that's how I feel about pre-workout. So tell me like, so since you do this day in day out, let's talk about motivation versus discipline. I think this is a big one, right? People are always asking me like, how do I stay motivated or how do I get motivated to work out, right?

And I always say, you don't focus on, you don't rely on motivation, you rely on discipline. Do you have anything to say about that? There's tons there. I mean, I think it's a bit of a false dichotomy in truth. And I think that if you're really good at finding people, let's say like someone goes and reads your book and they find that

inspirational, I promise you as they're reading it, it's going to have more of a motivating now impact than six months later when it's sort of like, maybe some of the prints were sitting in their brain, but if they act and they're motivated based upon having heard the stories or the principles that you talk about through the book, I'm just trying to get your book, obviously.

Yeah, bigger, better, bolder, woo hoo. Then, right, I did an audio out of refresh just before I gave it to you. You did? Oh, totally, right? God, that's why I like you Canadians. Some of the stories that I know, like the whole thing about you having the tenaciousness to go and talk to Keanu Reeves.

It was a really cool story, right? Of course people are going to have to go read the book in order to find out the full detail or watch my Ted talk. Number one. That's right. So, but I think if people find people accounts, media really inspiring, then they can plug into these things. I mean, if you've got a rock motivational quote or an Arnold motivational quote

on your like fridge and that lights you up. Great. Amazing. a rock motivational quote or an Arnold motivational quote on your like fridge and that lights you up. Great. Amazing. Uh, I think where people go wrong is when they procrastinate from taking action by looking for motivation or waiting for motivation. And then it's easy to say, well, you have to have the discipline, but saying to someone who's

not motivated or disciplined, you must have this discipline. I mean, Oh, now I'm disciplined. It doesn't work that way. So I think it starts with action. It always starts with act and people get caught up in this emotionally soothing procrastination of seeking knowledge, seeking information, consuming. When what they really need to do is boots on the ground, go do the thing.

And maybe the start, and it's a bit cliche, but okay, you don't know what to do in the gym. All right. First of all, you go and you show up at the gym and maybe the start and it's a bit cliche but okay you don't know what to do in the gym. All right first of all you go and you show up at the gym and you maybe it's you literally park outside or maybe you walk in five ten minutes you go on a treadmill and you break down that intimidation factor or that discomfort of being in a place you don't feel safe in and it becomes more familiar you see more of the familiar faces and you ease in. I mean I always think it's a great idea to hire a coach not everybody has those means but I'll say now there's more media on the internet than ever of free or low cost stuff that can help someone, videos, you name it.

So that shouldn't be a barrier. So I do think people need to choose deliberate action. And then what tends to happen is, well, the discipline will form, but you just become motivated because it also becomes part of who you are. I think a lot of people at this point who consume this type of media

probably read Atomic Habits, right, James Cleaver? And James probably does the best job of who you are. I think a lot of people at this point who consume this type of media probably read atomic habits. James Clayton. Yeah. And James probably does the best job of talking about this. It's casting votes for your future self. Well, sometimes that action, that singular thing in front of you showing up, doing the thing, even if you don't feel confident, even if you don't feel

like you know what you're doing, OK, you score some points for yourself, cast a vote for the future self you want to be, and just look at it across enough of a time scale, you're going to get better and better and better. And I also know I was going to say something that I always have a say that I always say to people and to myself is that do it anyway, you are tired or anxious or mad or glad, you do it anyway. Because you get into the habit of A, keeping a promise to yourself and following through, which I think in itself builds and breeds tons of confidence. And when you do it anyway when you don't want to, that's how you build the real discipline.

That's the only way to build discipline. I mean, people can say all day, like, you know, you build the real discipline. That's the only way to build discipline. I mean people can say all day like, you know, you have to have discipline, but the next question is well How do you find discipline? It's like the whole chicken or the egg and the only way I've ever noticed I've ever had that discipline is not not relying on my Mental state or my mood to dictate what my action is and so when I don't let my mood and mental state dictate what my next thing is, and I do it anyway, that just kind of like says something,

or like it kind of triggers something in my brain differently and remembers it for the next time. I think you have to train yourself to make these things non-negotiable. You said the promise thing, I like that. A lot of people promise, but then they continuously break promises to themselves. So they've trained themselves to not actually trust themselves. And then they feel a great deal of shame about continuously breaking those promises. And if you can't trust yourself

to do this thing, you're coming from a bad place. Well, a lot of it is like shame, right? Like, I mean, that's when people stop doing something like they even feel shame. I think when you are doing the right thing and then you go on a scale and then you don't see the number change and you have shame that you didn't make enough of an impact on what's happening so then you quit, give up and you know, you stop. But I think the real trick is if you like I said, back to my doing it anyway, you do it anyway, even if you don't feel you had the result, that is like a major building block into, I guess, having basically getting to that goal later down the road. I think a lot of people try to live one foot in change, but one foot firmly in place.

And that's complicated. I think a lot of people are actually served on some level. It's safer to stay the way they are. And that could be inactive, quote, overweight, or metabolically unhealthy for a variety of very complicated reasons beyond the scope of what I probably can do justice to. I think people got to get clear on, it's hard for them to even know what

it feels like to be on the other side of this because they don't know that experience. I believe if we can build trust with them, create a relationship, get them to feel safe in that space, and I think that's where a good coach comes into play, or some type of mentor, or somebody who's created media that helps that person. I think once someone fully embraces and gets to feel what healthy feels like, they realize like, wow, I didn't realize how awful I felt. I just had nothing to compare it to. And I think, I think most people would never want to go back. What I also think happens a lot of is people set themselves up to fail.

And I think the new year's resolution behavior classically functions this way. I think a lot of people can be very successful. It's just as good a time as any other time of the year to change. Well, what do a lot of people do? They don't have enough knowledge and they don't necessarily know how to go and get that knowledge, which is, is tricky. There's a lot of information out there, but there's like, there's almost too much.

What's hard to like know what's accurate, what's valid, what's misinformation. It gets overwhelming, right? So it's easier to not act. And so I think then people do the classic thing. Well, okay, I'm never going to have sugar again. I'm going to eat clean forever and I'm going to work out six days a week.

Meanwhile, they don't have the skills to do that sort of thing. And then they going to work out six days a week. Meanwhile, they don't have the skills to do that sort of thing. And then they turn around and they might white knuckle for six, eight weeks of this stuff. But they've set up something completely unsustainable, which we know doesn't work. But I think here's the game, whether consciously or subconsciously,

I think a lot of people do exactly this. They have created something that they fundamentally know can't be sustained. So then when they falter invariably, they can go back and say, it's identity protected to say, see, there's proof that I am not the kind of person who can do this. So it alleviates this low grade discomfort that they're constantly feeling about their self-esteem, their body image, their long-term metabolic health, or whatever else is buzzing in their brain that made them go, I need to change.

So for a little while, the discomfort is sued to say, see, I'm not that person. I can't do this. I now have proof. It alleviates that shame and discomfort for a little while. But what happens? It gradually builds up again. It gradually builds up again. Someone in the family has a health scare. They walk up a set of stairs and they feel terrible. I got to change. And then the cycle

repeats itself. So I mean, one of the jobs of anybody who's in my space, certainly in the fitness industry, is how can we bridge the gap, make these people feel safe, give them resources, tight-trade and drip resources out to them that lets them feel like they can go into a gym environment, do some stuff, not be all or nothing, not be crazy extreme and feel enough of, hey, this feels good, but still preserve some of their identity. Or actually one of the most fundamental things, and this again, James Clear stuff is if we can get someone to either have identity shift or at least focus on an aspirational identity, look at when was the time in your past where you were more fit, more active, were you an athlete when you were younger? Or look at somebody

that you aspire to be. Craft this image of a future self, this aspirational identity of the person you want to become and then actively take step-by-step action towards that. And I like this, the time is gonna pass anyway so I think you might as well do it.