Baby steps: Bringing the abstract of a distant goal into everyday reality.
Behaviour goals are the means to the end, an action, over which you have direct control every day - things you can choose to do. Or not. This step further imposes a degree of honesty likely missing from an ‘aim for the stars’ fantasy. If reality was absent from the goal-setting process, here is where it makes it's boringly necessary appearance.
Back to the why: On Missing the point
Given that we know the body responds to reality as we perceive it, we also know there are circumstances in which we do have a conscious choice. We can choose to see it in a manner that serves, or a manner that harms. This is a game-changer for physical fitness, not to mention a useful ledge to rest on when scaling the heights of any further cognitive or consciousness development.
Identity Theft: On acting your new way of being
Your present-self doesn't just get to call the shots, it also gets to put on a balaclava and make sure your future-self gets the message - anything from a gentle tickle to a psychological water-boarding.
The Old School: Lessons from Antiquity
Valued in education, politics, law, music; all the cornerstones of the societal bigger picture, but equally so all the way down to the minutiae of the individual life, well-lived. Patience, persistence, honesty, determination, grit, responsibility. Physical fitness is evidence of all these things if for no other reason than the fact that there are no shortcuts. Reward is matched by effort, awareness and intent.
Once Upon A Time. Just once.
Only when your habit of exercise is established will you start exercising for effect. In getting the habit onside first, almost anything will work. If you don't, nothing will. When most people begin a program of exercise or any other sort of change, they do this backwards. And they do it many times.
Game, Mindset, Match
The way we frame our experiences can either serve us, or defeat us at the outset. Our mindset is always the game-changer.