the top conversation i have with my clients

In all my time working as a trainer, in-person PT, and now online PT/coach, there’s 1 conversation that I’ve had more than any other with clients.

What do you think it is?

Take a guess.

The conversation can take different forms, but it always boils down to 3 simple words and 1 timeless principle.

Mood follows action.

That’s it.

Underwhelmed? Surprised?

Or maybe it’s something you’ve realized yourself?

Sure, I’ve had this conversation most frequently with those clients who are struggling with motivation and consistency. But it’s something that everyone needs to be reminded of at one point or another. Even myself!

I’ve heard this principle stated in a number of ways from multiple people (Rich Roll and Brad Stulberg among them), but mood follows action best encapsulates the essence of the struggle, and the solution.

Everyone has off days. Everyone has days where motivation is nonexistent, where gravity feels higher than usual, where time gets away from you, where the friction to get yourself into the gym (or start on whatever it is you know you should do) feels like sandpaper. And usually on those days, just waiting for the spirit of motivation to descend upon you is not going to happen. It’s certainly not going to pave the road to creating long-term habits or change.

Our brain reverses the equation. “Once I feel good,” it reasons, “then I’ll act.”

Nope.

The reality is that once you act, THEN you’re going to be more likely to feel good. You can’t generate momentum if you’re standing still.

Across all versions of the “mood follows action” conversation I’ve had over the years, the problem usually distills down to 1 of 2 options: lack of time, or lack of motivation to get started. And the solution is essentially the same for both.

Just start.

One of the most effective ways that I’ve found to encourage this is telling my clients (specifically those struggling to get in their gym sessions), “Just do the warm-up for the session. It’ll take 2-3 minutes, and if you want to stop and go home for the day after that, you can. But you’ll at least have done something and you can use that to create some momentum for tomorrow.”

The majority of the time, that does the trick. Once you get moving, more often than not, you’re going to KEEP MOVING.

There’s a lot of nuanced rabbit holes I could go down here, but I’ll keep it simple for today.

Find a way to get yourself in the gym. To start whatever “the THING” is. Even if you have to tell yourself that it’s only for a few minutes.

And then just see what happens.