A few weeks ago a family member called asking for tips on how to get the best health club membership deal. He wanted to make sure he would not be taken advantage of by the aggressive sales people and needed some reassurance that he was doing the right thing. He sounded worried and stressed about joining so I asked him about his fitness goals.

He explained that he wasn't joining the gym to lose weight, build muscle, or get fit. All he wanted was a place to de-stress after work so that he could have more patience for his family in the evenings but if he could lose weight that would be good too. I gave him some great tips about how to get a health club membership and he joined for much less than they had quoted during his first visit.

What Really Motivates People To Exercise
Many people join health clubs to "feel healthy or de-stress" and many hire a personal trainer to "lose weight and get fit" but those are not the real reasons that motivate people to exercise. The family member I just talked about needed exercise to relieve stress but his real reason has to do with improving his relationships at home.

I've had clients hire me to improve their self esteem so they could start dating again. I've worked with people who needed to workout so they could make a career change, get past writers block, sell more cars, get more women, or get promoted at work but that's not what they told me when we first met.

Every now and then a client who says they need to hire me to learn how to exercise actually wants to learn how to exercise but that's pretty rare. The real reason people exercise is what smart fitness pros call underlying motivation. It's what motivates you to move and to stick with exercise for life.

Underlying Motivation Is What Fuels Your Fitness Goals
Most people are unaware of their underlying motivations so they often go through the motions and then quit. This happens to most people within weeks of starting an exercise plan. It's the people who are truly aware of why they are starting a workout plan that stick with exercise long enough to lose weight, get fit, and get healthy.

Do you know you're underlying motivation? If you don't then you need to sit down and look past the whole look good and feel good mindset and find out. It will probably make you uncomfortable or emotional or even sad but once you know the true reason why you want to exercise, doing it consistently will become super easy.

Watch the video to see how this works then get started with Are You Ready!: Take Charge, Lose Weight, Get in Shape, and Change Your Life Forever