One of the most prominent traits of the average ectomorph is oversensitivity. This means that when you judge a situation to be negative it’ll seem more devastating than other body/personality types may interpret it.
Sacrificing realism isn’t the way to go – if you’re doing something wrong then that’s a negative point that you should correct – but in most cases, maintaining a positive outlook and grasping onto hope will be purely beneficial. Easier said than done of course, so let’s get into some practical tips.
Write, and rewrite your intentions. Every day or so get out a piece of paper, or create a new document in Notepad or TextMate and answer the question: what is it you want to achieve?
Whenever you answer this question your wording will change slightly and you’ll see your intentions evolve into very specific goals. This process imprints the belief that you can succeed, and injects a ray of hope at each instance.
See the core. The core of muscle building is simple: lift heavy things, eat more food, and get plenty of rest. It’s not hard! It just takes time, and you have time. No matter how little time you think you have, you have enough.
Focus on the essentials, and don’t give into the fuzz like supplements or convoluted training methods.
Set your plan. Any plan is better than no plan. Define what you want to do – what you want to eat, how you want to train, when you’re going to rest – and commit to it.
Make the decision, and even say to yourself: “Now is the time to start my journey towards strength, and I will not give up. I will not give up.” Yeah, I know it’s cheesy, but when you vigorously resolve to do something it often gets done.
Surround yourself with positive people. You need people to encourage you to build muscle. If you’re only friends are fellow ectomorphs who are either too lazy to train or just like their current lifestyle (which is, of course, fair enough) then don’t reject them, but make them aware that this is important to you.
If you’re too embarrassed to share your intentions with your friends, then setup an account at any of the popular fitness forums and share your progress anonymously. Well-wishers will flock and offer encouragement.
Eliminate background resistance. Annoyances unrelated to muscle building can weigh down your positivity and make it difficult to focus on what you care about. This is what I like to call “background resistance” and you can overcome it in three simple steps:
- Write a list of everything that’s annoying you in your life. Is your house too cluttered? Have you been meaning to cancel a subscription?
- Define a plan to overcome these annoyances. Once resistance is clarified you’ll be able to brainstorm approaches to overcome it. Ask yourself the question: how can I release this resistance with the least effort possible?
- Choose to surpass this annoyance on a specific day. Be very definite in what day, in the near future that you plan to finally overcome this annoyance and stop letting it bug you. Tell your friends your intentions to main accountable if need be.
…and remember, never make decisions when you’re feeling emotional. When you’re feeling blue either sit down and clarify why you’re upset, or if you’re not sure why (it happens – emotions are tricky things) then just distract yourself with an activity that you love.
