I’m not inclined to walk into a comic book shop because it makes me uncomfortable. I never spent much time with comics, and I know a lot of people take their comic books very seriously. I just don’t feel like I belong. Unlike going to comic book stores, going to the gym is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle… and that’s downright unfair. Working out itself is stressful on your physical and mental stamina. And like going to the comic store is uncomfortable for me because I never felt the need to go, maybe you don’t feel like you belong at the gym because of the same reason. There’s no easy way to feel like you belong at the gym. But if you follow me, I’ll make it sound easy.
Like a coffee shop, gas station, or grocery store, the gym welcomes all clientele as long as they pay to purchase the product. If you look at your gym as a coffee shop, and the moment you walk through those doors as the moment you’ve purchased your cup of coffee, things may seem less intimidating. Look at that fit guy on the treadmill, dripping in sweat… He’s the guy in the corner of the coffee shop with headphones on, vigorously typing away at his computer. The woman on the yoga mat, with the crop top showing off her flat stomach, is the woman taking pictures of her triple venti half sweet non-fat caramel macchiato. No, we’re not shaming or making fun of our fellow in-shape gym members, we are making it easier for us to feel like we belong at the gym, because we do.
Growing up, I wanted to become a Major League Baseball player. So since the age of 13, I was working out with a passion not to wear cut-offs at the gym and look like a D-bag, but to achieve my boyhood dream of playing professional baseball.
If your passions in life did not coincide with working out, you are no less of a person in the gym than the people like me that find solace in it. What are your passions? What makes your brain tick? What do you know so much about? Your passions can help you get through the intimidation factor at the gym.
How to use this tip in the moment: Remind yourself what you love. It’s unfortunate that you can’t show these people at the gym how much better you are than them at cooking.
In the grand scheme of things, the reasons why you go to the gym have much more value to you than the uncomfortable feeling of not belonging to the group of meatheads at the gym. You’re at the gym to live a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your loved ones. Maybe you’re training for a triathlon soon, or you are reaching a personal fitness goal. When you remind yourself of the reasons you go to the gym, it helps lower the intensity of the feeling of not belonging.
As we’ve gone over, the gym is a public venue, just like a coffee shop, where you can see everyone else. Working out is also an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and gyms are made for exclusively working out. Thus, unlike comic book stores, you are encouraged to visit the gym regularly if you want to live a long life for your loved ones. It boils down to the fact that if you are a human being, you belong at the gym.
How to use this tip in the moment: Remind yourself that you are a human.
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