“The hardest battle you will ever have to fight is between who you are now and who you want to be.” —Anonymous

Anytime we’re approaching a new season, we often reflect on where we are in life and where we want to be.

We might spend a little time thinking about how to bridge the gap between our present and future self, but fear quickly creeps in to make excuses.

Our physical health is no exception.

It’s easy for us to come up with excuses. Here’s a handful we hear all the time:

• I don’t have time

• I can’t get motivated

• I don’t know what to do

• It’s too expensive

You get the idea. 🙂

These are common problems we’ve all felt at some point, which is why we love jumping rope and the JRD Nation community.

Here’s how you can face your fears, overcome your excuses, and claim your future physique.

I don’t have time

The simple truth is we all have the same number of hours each day. Now, those hours aren’t the same for everyone. We’ve all got different demands on our time.

• Work

• School

• Family

• Friends

• Sports

• Eating

• Sleeping

But you are the one who decides how your time is spent. Maybe you decided to enroll in school or work a job where you’ve given them authority over certain hours, but you still own your time.

No one can take your time away from you without permission.

Your day is yours to spend how you like.

Here are 3 tips to help you regain control:

Time Tracking

Do you know where all your time goes each day? How often are you on your phone scrolling through Instagram? How many episodes did you binge on Netflix?

If you don’t know where your time is spent, you don’t know where to rescue it from.

Action item: Track one day of your life (use a notebook or an app)

Big Rocks

First thing in the morning (or the night before) write down the 3 top tasks for the day. They don’t have to be important to everyone, just to you.

Starting your day with intentionality will help you focus and every time you check off a “big rock”, you’ll feel good about accomplishing a goal.

Action item: Make a list of 3 “big rocks” per day

Schedule It

If you want to get something done, a simple hack is to put on your calendar. What gets scheduled gets done. That includes working out, preparing a healthy meal, and getting enough sleep.

You probably set an alarm to wake up in the morning, but do you have an alert for when to go to bed?

Action item: Put it on your calendar

Jumping rope is an effective way to workout on a time crunch. All of our workouts are between 5-30 minutes long. You can get them all inside the DOTHETHING Membership Group.

I can’t get motivated

Motivation is tricky because it’s a feeling, not a state of being. When people will say something like “I’m not motivated”, they are identifying who they are with how they feel.

This is dangerous because it’s hard to argue with ourselves (or anyone else) about a sense of identity.

If someone said, “I’m cold”, you’re not going to argue with them about their body temperature. And you might get them a jacket or a blanket.

Overcome laziness with these 3 tips:

1. Change your perspective

Words are powerful tools. By switching from claiming “I’m not motivated” to admitting “I don’t feel motivated”, you give yourself the opportunity to ask a candid question: Now what?

Action item: Admit motivation is a feeling

2. Reclaim your identity

Rather than owning your feeling as who you are, redefine yourself with affirmations like, “I am active” or “I am fit” or “I am an athlete”. It might feel silly at first, but try saying positive affirmations out loud to yourself for 3-5 days and see if your mindset doesn’t start to shift.

Action item: Practice positive affirmations

3. Decide in advance

Don’t wait to decide whether or not you’re going to workout each day, decide in advance and schedule it. If you’re constantly asking yourself “Am I gonna workout today?”, you’re creating a repeated temptation to reply, “Nope!”.

When you decide ahead of time, it doesn’t matter if you feel like working out, the decision is already made.

Action item: Decide you’re going to workout before you’re tempted not to

You can get mindset tips and daily motivation direct from Jump Rope Dudes in the DOTHETHING Coaching Group.

I don’t know what to do

The great thing about the Internet is you can search for anything you can think of and usually find an answer. And with the innovation of smartphones, this expanding library of information is at your fingertips.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, you can’t be sure whatever you just Googled is true or not This makes trying to discover what you should do for fitness really difficult. And all the fad diets and workouts don’t help.

• What are you supposed to eat?

• What kind of exercise is most effective?

• What if you’re trying to lose weight?

• What if you’re trying to bulk up?

• What if you hate cardio?

• What if you’ve never worked out before?

• Are carbs good or bad?

This is why plenty of people hire a personal trainer or nutritionist. These professionals are trained (and often certified) to guide you on your fitness journey to achieve your health goals.

While one-on-one attention with an expert is likely to accelerate your results (provided you follow their advice), the cost is often prohibitive. Not everyone can afford to pay $100+ per session with a health coach.

Here’s 3 tips you can use to sift through the noise and find some useful answers:

1. Narrow your goals

If you aim at too many targets, you’ll miss them all. Pick one fitness-related goal and start there. Don’t try to burn fat, run a 5K, deadlift 300lbs, and cut out sugar all at once. Pick one. Do it for 30 days (or until you reach the goal). Then add another layer.

Action item: Pick 1 goal

2. Pick one source

Don’t  try to subscribe to every health magazine, read every workout blog, and follow every fitness “guru” on Instagram. Find one that resonates with your interest and style, follow their advice for 30 days, and ignore the other for awhile.

If it works for you, keep going. If not, try someone else (we obviously recommend following us on Instagram, haha!).

Action item: Follow 1 guru

3. Do some research.

You don’t have the time or money to do extensive research or background checks on everyone giving you advice. But you can ask a few questions to validate an expert before following their program.

• Do they follow their own advice?

• Do other people get results?

• Are they an established authority on their subject?

Action item: Ask questions

Here at Jump Rope Dudes, we keep things easy and effective on purpose. We’re not here to waste your time. We believe weight loss should be fun and simple. You can get nutrition and fitness advice on-demand in our DOTHETHING Coaching Group.

It’s too expensive

Do you remember being a kid and thinking adults were rich? Living costs a lot more than we thought.

• Housing

• Food

• Electricity

• Health insurance

• Cell phone

• Internet

• Food

• Clothes

• Coffee (yes, coffee gets its own line)

Life is expensive!

Whenever someone wants to start working out, they logically turn to the simple option of joining a gym.

It makes sense, right? You want to workout so you go to a building designed for that specific purpose.

But signing up for a gym membership includes an invitation fee, processing fee, first and last month payment, and your right arm.

And if you want to join a CrossFit “box”, you’re looking at $150-200 a month!

Did you know the global health club industry is worth over $80 billion a year?

Here are two ways to keep your workout costs low:

1. Join a cheap gym

Especially around holidays and summertime, many gym “chains” like Anytime Fitness, 24-Hour Fitness, and Planet Fitness will offer steep discounts to new members. You’ll still have a monthly fee, but that can be motivating to get your money’s worth.

2. Workout at home

There are TONS of low cost apps and free YouTube videos (just like us!) with programs you can do at home. There’s bodyweight, kettlebells, barbell, dumbbell, yoga, mobility, treadmill, bicycle, running, etc. Anything you do at a gym, you can do at home.

You can get access to our complete library of workouts that burn fat and build lean muscle in the DOTHETHING Coaching Group. Whether you workout at a gym, at home, or while traveling, we have a program for you and your goals.

The secret key to weight loss

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African Proverb

The real secret to becoming your future self (the one who is fit, active, motivated, & bold) is you can’t do it alone.

Success happens in the context of community.

No one is entirely self-made. Not even The Rock. Especially not us. That’s why we’re the Jump Rope Dudes. We can achieve more together than we ever could by ourselves.

Which is why we created the DOTHETHING Coaching Group. This community is dedicated to making fitness fun and easy, and encouraging each other along the journey.

Here’s what you get when you join the DOTHETHING Coaching Group:

• 12-Week Jump Rope Workout Programs

• Complete Nutrition System to Burn Fat

• Growing Library of Jump Rope Routines

• Coaching & Motivation from The JRD

• Group Forum for Accountability & Support

• Nutrition Coaching from a Certified Expert

• Exclusive Members-only Discounts

• Community Challenges & Monthly Giveaways

If you’re tired of being too busy…

If you’re frustrated by not feeling motivated…

If you’re confused by trying to Google the answers…

If you’re fed up with wasting money on methods that don’t work…

Grab your free trial of the DOTHETHING Coaching Group and say hello to a new you this year.