Ten Mental Gremlins That Sabotage Your Progress—And How to Combat Them. Part 1
Improving healthspan means making some changes. Change is hard. Here are some science-backed tips to help keep you on the straight and narrow.
You’d think getting fitter was mostly about following a plan. Move your muscles. Get your heart rate up. Buy increasingly optimistic activewear. Repeat until transformed.
Sadly, that’s not how it usually goes.
Plenty of people have already travelled that road and ended up stranded among abandoned gym memberships, drawers full of gadgets that were supposedly “the answer”, dusty dumbbells in the garage and an exercise bike in the spare room doubling up as an expensive clothes horse.
Most people don’t fail because they lack information.
We already know what to do. Move more. Sleep properly. Eat reasonably well. Try not to treat biscuits as an emotional support system.
A quick online search reveals thousands of ‘experts’ promising to unlock your best self just beyond their paywall. Been there. Done that.
A surprising amount of the battle doesn’t happen in your muscles at all. It happens a little higher up — in the space between your ears, to be precise.
The real problem is what happens inside the brain once life gets busy, novelty wears off or progress stalls.
That’s when the little mental gremlins arrive.
Psychologists call them cognitive distortions, but that makes them sound far more sophisticated than they are. In reality, they’re the little thinking traps and dodgy bits of mental accounting that aim to nudge us off course while sounding perfectly reasonable at the time.
The annoying thing is they often feel true. Your brain is remarkably good at telling you exactly what you want to hear, especially when the alternative involves squats.
I’ve put together ten of the biggest mental gremlins that sabotage our attempts to build better healthspan — along with a few practical ways to fight back.
There’s little point disappearing into the weeds of hypertrophy, HIIT training and protein timing until we understand where we’re actually likely to fall down, and what to do about it
And trust me, at some point, we all do.
1. All-or-nothing thinking
You miss one session and your brain decides the entire week is ruined.
You eat a pastry and somehow end up mentally writing off the next four days.
It becomes a purity test: perfect or pointless.
What this sounds like
“I’ve blown it now.”
“I’ll restart Monday.”
“There’s no point doing half a session.”
How to disrupt it
Lower the threshold.
A ten-minute walk still counts. Five press-ups still count. Stretching while waiting for the kettle still counts.
The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is consistent progress.
One missed session is normal. But, make missing two in a row non-negotiable.
If you can stick to 80% of your plan, the other 20% is simply the price of progress. Let it go and move forward.
2. Catastrophising
The brain takes a small setback and cranks it up into an apocalyptic event.
A sore knee becomes: “I’m injured.”
A poor week becomes: “I’ve lost all my progress.”
The mind loves a bit of drama.
What this sounds like
“I’m back to square one.”
“Everything is falling apart.”
“I’ve undone months of work.”
How to disrupt it
In these situations, it pays to remove yourself as the ‘lead actor’ in the drama. Ask: “What would I say to a friend in this situation?”
You’d probably tell them:
one bad week changes very little in the big picture
setbacks are normal
progress is rarely a straight line
Try applying the same kindness to yourself instead of behaving like your own private drill sergeant.
3. Present bias
We humans are wired to prefer immediate comfort over future benefit.
Exactly why:
the sofa wins
snacks win
“starting tomorrow” wins
Meanwhile the rewards of exercise are delayed to some time in the distant future. ‘Later’ isn’t a date, or a time.
What this sounds like
“I’m too tired.”
“I deserve a night off.”
“I’ve had a busy day and need to unwind.”
How to disrupt it
Bring the reward closer.
Instead of focusing on: “working on improving longevity”
focus on:
better mood afterwards
more energy tomorrow
sleeping better tonight
feeling mentally clearer after movement
The brain responds better to immediate wins than distant statistics.
Try ‘stacking’ things together. For example, watching a favourite programme on the stationary bike or listening to an audiobook out on a walk helps to make it more bearable. A bit of what you want goes well with a bit of what you need.
The one that works for me when the sofa beckons is I imagine how I’ll feel later when I didn’t do what I was supposed to—not a good feeling. This soon gets me up and out.
Next time…
In the next part we’ll take a look at 3 more little gremlins and how we can beat them with a mental stick when they happen to you.
Cheers 👋
Stuart
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice. The needs of every reader are unique; please consult your GP or a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, exercise routine, or medication. Never ignore professional medical advice because of something you read online.