If you are wondering what the heck “shut up Bruno!” meant within the headline, it’s just a line from the Disney movie Luca. If you haven’t seen it with your kids, you really should. And to not spoil the movie, I will keep my explanation of that line to a minimum. See, Luca meets a boy on land named Alberto. Alberto teaches Luca to be brave and to not listen to the negative voice in his head which he names “Bruno”. So you will see Luca telling his “Bruno” voice to be quiet (Silenzio Bruno!) as he prepares to do things he wasn’t used to doing. Of course, I loved every scene within this movie that included telling “Bruno” to shut up!
See we all have a “Bruno” inside our heads telling us that we can’t or that we could fail at our fitness goals. In our case, this voice can come up when we are at the gym or when we are training at home. Things such as “I don’t have time”,” I don’t know how to do this”, “People are going to stare at me”, “I already missed so many training sessions, what’s the point?” and “I feel too depressed today” are a few examples that can come up. And that’s okay! We all go through it. BUT today I will show you a couple of ways to override those thoughts to give you more peace and confidence. Keep in mind that confidence is built over time and I will write about that later!
So how do we stop negative thinking about ourselves and our training? Let’s see!
1.Focus on the fact that you are getting better every day
Every time you make the choice to get up and head to the gym or to meet your trainer for a session, know that you are getting better and stronger. You need to remind yourself of this as much as you can through self-talk. You can say things (out loud or in your head) such as “I am getting better and stronger every day.” You want to personalize it and beef it up but it’s important to be kind with yourself, to be your own best friend! We all start somewhere, even the individuals you might look up to at this moment for inspiration. Make sure you FOCUS on your daily wins, no matter how small they are. They matter and they add up. So IGNITE YOUR POSITIVE VOICE!
2.Remember your WHY and visualize your future self
Sometimes, people walk around wondering why it “never works for them” or “why they failed” at another fitness program or nutrition plan. The truth is that sometimes we aren’t precise with our WHY. Why are you exercising? Why do you want to eat healthier? Why do you want to live longer? Why is this important to you to lose weight? Asking yourself this and writing out a detailed answer will help you build a solid goal and will help you visualize your future self! Can you visualize your future self right now? If the answer is no, then you have to ask WHY and start to have a clear vision of what you want for yourself.
3. Do it anyway! Go get it done!
So you had a long day? I get it! I have those too. And honestly, sometimes we do need a rest day or a day for ourselves BUT when that turns out to be more than a few days, it’s time to switch on your badass and do it anyway. What do I mean by that? Well, are you going to keep making excuses or do you want to make real changes in your life? See if we want to see changes take place in ourselves and our bodies, we gotta put the work in. Our consistency is our results. This means, if you aren’t seeing results, that is the amount of consistency you are having. Show me! Show me! Show me! What are your results telling me? What are your results telling you? If you aren’t where you wanna be fust do it anyways! Get it done! No matter what your mind might tell you, head to the gym and spend those 30-45 minutes to get shit done. I know I sound like the Nike slogan right now but seriously you just need to put the work in.
These 3 simple and effective strategies could work for you if you try them out. Remember, Bruno doesn’t rule you, you are in control of everything that has to do with YOU. Stay focused on your breakthroughs no matter how small. Ask why, set a realistic and descriptive goal, and visualize your future self! And finally, do it anyway. No matter how much you feel like you can’t. You won’t believe how awesome you will feel when you get it done! And the more you do it, the better results you will get and the more confidence you will build.