ate is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come clo

Ever get those less-than peak performance days when you just can't seem to get switched on to your exercise program? You did manage to drag yourself off the couch and even get started, but you feel like you're just going through the motions.

Achieving your peak performance, your body goals, or any goal for that matter, is determined by the behaviours that you engage in, and I don't just mean exercise.

Your behaviour is determined by the emotional state you are in. In this case the behaviour is dragging your feet over getting into your exercise workout, but it applies to any behaviour - how you feel directly affects what you do and how well you do things.

If you want to behave differently, you have to feel differently. The problem is we might want to behave in a certain way but we sometimes seem unable to. It's almost like we have no control over how we feel and therefore no choice over how we behave. Consequently we succumb to urges, lack discipline and react to stimuli that trigger undesired behaviours and are then at the mercy of our habits.

Now most people try to change this state directly, through sheer effort of will. Unfortunately willpower is a very difficult way of changing behaviour. It involves increasing struggle within oneself and has little likelihood of success. Willing yourself into a peak performance state is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come clos

by the behaviours that you engage in, and I don't just mean exercise.

Your behaviour is determined by the emotional state you are in. In this case the behaviour is dragging your feet over getting into your exercise workout, but it applies to any behaviour - how you feel directly affects what you do and how well you do things.

If you want to behave differently, you have to feel differently. The problem is we might want to behave in a certain way but we sometimes seem unable to. It's almost like we have no control over how we feel and therefore no choice over how we behave. Consequently we succumb to urges, lack discipline and react to stimuli that trigger undesired behaviours and are then at the mercy of our habits.

Now most people try to change this state directly, through sheer effort of will. Unfortunately willpower is a very difficult way of changing behaviour. It involves increasing struggle within oneself and has little likelihood of success. Willing yourself into a peak performance state is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come clo

If you want to behave differently, you have to feel differently. The problem is we might want to behave in a certain way but we sometimes seem unable to. It's almost like we have no control over how we feel and therefore no choice over how we behave. Consequently we succumb to urges, lack discipline and react to stimuli that trigger undesired behaviours and are then at the mercy of our habits.

Now most people try to change this state directly, through sheer effort of will. Unfortunately willpower is a very difficult way of changing behaviour. It involves increasing struggle within oneself and has little likelihood of success. Willing yourself into a peak performance state is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come clo

ed behaviours and are then at the mercy of our habits.

Now most people try to change this state directly, through sheer effort of will. Unfortunately willpower is a very difficult way of changing behaviour. It involves increasing struggle within oneself and has little likelihood of success. Willing yourself into a peak performance state is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come clo

ate is impossible. Willing yourself to exercise results in a poor effort and sets you up for injury. So if discipline and willpower don't work, what does?

Well if you really want to change your behaviour you have to change your emotions. Any top athlete will tell you that if their emotional state is not right they won't even come close to peak performance. Once you have different feelings you will automatically engage in different behaviours.

With these 3 steps you can take charge of your mind to direct your power to make a peak performance exercise workout.

Step 1:

Once in your workout gear and ready to start find a quiet place where you won't be distracted. Take three deep slow breaths.

Clench your fist as you recall (with eyes closed) previous occasions when you felt strong and motivated. It can help a lot to set up this trigger mechanism beforehand by creating the mental association between the clenched fist and the feeling of enthusiasm, motivation and power. You mentally anchor these feelings to the action of clenching your fist so that when you clench your fist it triggers off the feelings like a conditioned response.

Feeling the feelings is most important.

Step 2:

Once you feel the sensations, mentally see yourself performing your exercise routine. See it in specific detail and feel what your body would feel exactly as you know it would be if you were actually working out.

Step 3:

Now think of a word that encapsulates your peak performance at the degree of workout intensity you desire. This power word could be anything but you might choose a word like "powe