Six Steps to Health With Pherform Gym Founder Stephanie Poelman

To help kickstart 2024, founder of the women’s gym Pherform and Prestige 40 Under 40 honouree Stephanie Poelman tells us how to form sustainable habits, and why holding ourselves accountable is critical.

The start of the year is always a good time to rethink what it means to have personal accountability. Admittedly, taking responsibility over something we want to achieve can often be difficult, because there’s nothing else holding us accountable. How long have you held off from doing something because you didn’t feel ready? How often did we say, “I’ll start on Monday, or next week, or in the New Year?” And chances are, we say this knowing that when that day comes, we’ll probably push it back again.

When starting something new, we often talk to ourselves a lot. We rationalise our decisions – or more importantly, our excuses – and find ways to justify why we didn’t follow through in what we set out to do. Sometimes, it’s just the easier option, despite recognising the fact that if we want a good outcome, then we have to work hard for it.

Deep down we all know setting aside time to train for our health, both physically and mentally, is good for us, yet we also remember the times we tried something new, gave up soon after and didn’t achieve the outcome we’d hoped for. The question now is: when we’re ready to start a new training programme again, how do we ensure we stick with it long enough to achieve the goals we’ve set ourselves? How can we take extreme ownership for our health?

Here are six ways accountability can play in your favour:

• Step one: Find a friend to join you. Knowing someone who’ll be there with you will help with the nerves and provide additional motivation.
• Step two: Schedule it in your calendar
  as a non-negotiable. If it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist and you’re more likely to cancel.
• Step three: Share your “why” with those around you. Why is this important to you? Why do you want to get started? This allows them to support you and ensure you stay committed.
• Step four: Find some form of attachment. Often monetary attachment can help. Having a membership or paying for a programme will significantly increase your chances of showing up to a lesson or session.
• Step five: Follow a regimen. Leave this up to an expert, so it’s one less thing you need to think about.
• Step six: Find a time that suits your existing schedule. If you aren’t a morning person but you try to exercise in the morning, sticking to the routine will be a lot harder.

While I can’t guarantee your success, these six steps will point you in the right direction. Focus on one thing at a time at the beginning – the last thing you want to do is to overwhelm yourself with too many additions to your routine. And most importantly, find the courage to stop delaying and take on that one thing you’ve been telling yourself you’ll start someday. I promise you it’ll be worth it.

Courage, after all, is the root of change.