Editor’s Note: Every week, we receive hundreds of emails from all of you. Sometimes, you ask us to go a little deeper to help you understand topics. We save these longer emails on one topic for the weekend.

Arnold’s first rule is that you have to have a vision. Without a vision, he says, you’re like a pilot taking off without a flight plan. He attributes his success in life to his vision.

If you stopped reading here, though — and let’s be honest, in the era of social media and AI, people seem to stop reading as fast as possible — you might not’ve gotten to his third rule: 

Work your ass off, or as he reminds us over and over, Reps, reps, reps. 

(His second rule? Never, ever think small.) 

And action might be the most important part. 

Think about it: All the influencers and authors tell you to picture who you want to be. Their tactics can come across as cheesy: Say it in the mirror, believe it hard enough, and then the rest follows.

If you’ve tried that and felt like a liar by the second sentence, you weren’t doing it wrong. You just needed to get to the second step: putting in the work. 

Research has found that you don't think your way into a new identity. You do the thing, and your self-image catches up.

It is simple, not easy. And it’s where most people get stuck.

It’s why we changed the Pump Club’s pricing to reward people for taking action, rather than for starting.

We have heard about every hurdle imaginable that makes it hard for people to accomplish their fitness goals and make them last. And if you’re also someone who’s struggled in the fitness arena, then maybe one of these three themes will sound familiar:

1) You want to change, but you don’t identify as someone who is fit. 

2) You’ve tried to change before, had some success, but then found yourself back where you started or far short of the goals you set.

3) You used to be fit, but time, life, age, jobs, injuries, illness, a global pandemic — something — caused a change, and you can’t recapture your previous glory. 

We’ve helped tens of thousands of people in The Pump Club app of all ages, sizes, and situations achieve dramatic transformations by deconstructing these barriers. The situations are different, but we’ve found the solution almost always follows the same path. 

Once you understand what that path is, you can follow it, too — and see the kinds of transformations our members can’t believe they’ve achieved, like Ben losing 212 pounds or April deadlifting 330 pounds in her 60s or Bobby finally being able to keep up with his son. 

Whatever The Goal, Change Starts Here

Whatever your hurdle, the fix begins in the same spot: you stop trying to feel like a different person and start collecting proof that you already are one.

“What’s proof?”

Reps.

Action.

Back in the 1970s, psychologist Daryl Bem shared his thoughts on self-perception theory, which is quite simple and explains how you perceive yourself. 

When your feelings about yourself are faint or uncertain, you figure out who you are the way a stranger would: by watching what you actually do and drawing conclusions. 

You don't consult some fixed inner sense of self. You look at the evidence of your own behavior and reason backward.

We assume that self-belief comes first and the action follows. But Bem's work suggests the action comes first, and the belief forms to explain it. That is good news if you've been waiting to feel like a fit and healthy person before you act like one. 

Researchers have since put the fitness version to the test, and it holds up.

In one study, inactive women followed a supervised exercise program for 16 weeks. Over that stretch, their "exercise identity" — how much they saw themselves as the kind of person who trains — changed dramatically. 

But that’s not the part that we focused on. 

The shift in self-perception wasn't tied to how hard or how long they worked out. The women doing short, moderate sessions built the same sense of this is who I am as the ones grinding through long, vigorous ones. 

Showing up led to change. And the women whose identity changed the most tended to still be exercising six months later.

And that study isn’t a fluke. A broader review found that across dozens of studies, how strongly people identify as exercisers and how much they move tend to rise and fall together. 

The more you create consistency with exercise (or any behavior), the more it becomes who you are.

It works because, as the kids say, action creates “receipts.” You can talk yourself out of a slogan, a mantra, an affirmation. You can't talk yourself out of a thing you already did. 

So if you keep showing up, on the hard days, on the bad days, and when you’re still figuring things out, and the changes are happening fast enough, eventually your brain has to explain the pattern, and the easiest explanation it reaches for is a new identity: I am someone who trains. 

You built that conclusion out of evidence you generated yourself, which is exactly why it sticks.

How To Overcome The Negativity That Holds You Back

If you've never felt like a fit person or that your time has passed, or that you’ve tried and failed too often, you’ve created a psychological trap. 

You've been treating the feeling as the reason you aren’t acting, when the action is what can change the feeling.

You’ve told yourself that you have to believe you can succeed before you're allowed to begin. That’s why so many people create barriers or do research and read to try and find the thing that will change their mind, when what they’ve been looking for all along is permission to start and keep going, even when success doesn’t happen immediately. 

The feeling you desire is the prize, not the ticket. 

Nobody in that study walked in as "an exerciser." They became one by stacking up sessions, and the identity showed up afterward to explain the pile of evidence. 

If the self-talk in the mirror never felt like a fit, here’s some good news: You get to skip the fake confidence in the mirror. Instead, spend that time generating proof.

Depending on your situation, here are two ways to overcome what stands in your way.

If you've done this before and slid back: Most people tend to run on motivation and willpower. You white-knuckled a brutal program, and when the enthusiasm ran out, there was nothing underneath to catch you. 

Evidence that leads to identity fills the gap between "I'm trying to work out more" and "this is just what I do" — and only the second one survives a bad week, a busy month, or a broken streak. 

Remember, intensity was never the thing building that identity. If you burned out grinding last time, the sustainable, repeatable version would have built the same self-image and been far easier to keep. Missing a session doesn't wipe the board, either. You don't lose the receipts you already earned. You just add the next one.

If you used to be fit and lost it: This one has a specific trap. You're carrying an old identity — the version of you who trained, who was strong — and measuring every current day against that highlight reel. 

Comparing to your former self feels like falling short, so you don't start. But your brain doesn't run on your highlight reel. It reads current evidence. 

The old identity isn't gone; it's just not being fed. The moment you put sessions back on the board, you're not building from scratch; you're resupplying an identity that already knows the shape of your life with training. You've been this person before, and the proof reminds you fast.

The First Domino (To Life Transformation)

There's a long-standing idea in psychology that some habits punch above their weight. That a single change can knock over others you weren't even aiming at. 

Research suggests exercise is the first domino that can knock over all the other dominos in your life. 

And it matters most for the people who face the hurdles we mentioned above. Because for those individuals, when fitness slid, other things likely slid with it.

In one study, sedentary volunteers started a two-month exercise program. The researchers weren't only tracking fitness. They tracked a grab-bag of unrelated everyday behaviors: how much people smoked, drank, and ate junk; whether they procrastinated, lost their temper, overspent, or left the dishes in the sink. 

Across the board, every aspect of life — productivity, diet, and personality — improved once the exercise started. People smoked less, drank less, ate better, spent more carefully, snapped at people less, and put things off less. None of it was the goal. It came along for the ride.

In the same study, there was a comparison group waiting to start the same program, and while they waited — motivated, signed up, but not yet exercising — nothing changed for them. 

The wanting, motivation, and excitement of change wasn't enough to result in real, observable change. The doing moved the needle. 

We’ve seen this every day in the Pump Club app. “I came here to exercise, but everything changed.”

Now, this isn’t a promise that working out will help you fix your budget and get out of debt. But it is a reason to believe building the discipline to exercise and take care of yourself has transferable takeaways that can show up in other aspects of your life.  

Don’t Think About It. Do It. Do It Now.

None of this works as a thought experiment. It works like an equation, and this is the order of operations.

Step 1: Take an action that forces you to commit. Text a friend and ask them to hold you accountable. Hire a trainer.

 Or — and we’re biased about this — join the Pump Club app. We even pay you back when you complete your programs (more on this below, but through tomorrow, you can earn back $100 for doing four workout programs in a year and get the app for free).

Whatever it is, the first step is the hardest. Most of the time, you’ll wait to find the perfect answer. You’ll want to do more research. That just kicks the can down the road. Today is the day you take the first action, and that’s making a commitment. 

Step 2: Declare what you’re going to do as specifically as possible, and make the next session near-certain. You don’t need to PR. You don’t need to know how to do everything in the gym or feel comfortable. You need to show up. A 30-minute session you complete beats a 60-minute session you dread and skip. Remember, you're chasing evidence.

Step 3: Put it on the calendar as an appointment, not an aspiration. "I'll train this week" is a wish. "Monday, 6 am, 30 minutes" is a plan your future self can keep. Decide the when and where now, so the moment doesn't hinge on how you feel when it arrives

Step 4: Finish, and count it. The win isn't the perfect session. It's the completed one. Every finished workout is a fact your brain now has to account for. Don't wave it off because it was short or easy — short and done is the whole strategy. See it as a win, and you’ll feel motivated to keep going.

Step 5: Protect the streak, not the perfection. Missing one session doesn't erase who you're becoming, but stringing enough of them together is what tips your self-image over. If you miss, you don't start from zero. You add the next receipt. This is why our app streak calculator doesn’t ask you to hit all your workouts. You keep it going by doing at least one workout a week, not by being perfect.

When you complete your first 12-week program in The Pump Club app, we even pay you back $50. It doesn’t require perfection. If you skip days, we know it happens. The reward is in finishing. Because we know if you keep going, your body not only changes, but you change who you think you are. 

Step 5: Name it once it's earned. After a few weeks of showing up, the label starts to fit. Let yourself use it: I'm someone who trains. Not because you're faking it, but because you've finally got the evidence to back it.

So stop waiting to feel ready. Ready isn't a feeling you find. It's a conclusion you earn, one finished session at a time. 

Whichever hurdle brought you here, the way over it is the same: put the next session on the calendar and go do it. Those are the receipts that matter, and they tend to pay off in more places than you'd expect.

Need Help? We Have Your Back

If you need help starting and finishing, we want to help you get there so much that we’re willing to bet on your success.

If you join the Pump Club app in the next 24 hours, you will not only take the first step towards change, but you could also accomplish your goals for free. 

Tomorrow is the final day to take advantage of Arnold’s birthday sale. 

When you join the Pump Club app, you instantly receive $50 OFF.  And if you complete four workout programs in your first year, you pay nothing.

The Pump Club app is a one-stop shop for everything you need to get healthier: customized workouts, personalized nutrition, a habit-builder, a supportive community, and world-class coaches who hold you accountable every week and support your goals. There are weekly coaching calls, form checks, guidance, and everything you need to put your past behind you and reshape your future. 

All programs are adjusted to your needs, goals, equipment, and preferences. 

Here’s how it works:

Sign up for the app. You get a 7-day free trial so you can make sure it’s for you. But please USE THIS LINK to get $50 off immediately as part of Arnold’s birthday sale. The sale is not available through in app-subscription.

Then, once you complete your first 12-week program, you’ll get another $50 back. 

Finally, when you complete your fourth program, we’ll pay you back (yet again) another $50. 

That’s it. 

We are the only app that gives you discounts based on the actions you take to change your identity.

You are one decision away from changing who you are. Whether or not you join the app, make the choice that will benefit your health and change your mind. 

The answers you're looking for will be found with action. Take one today. 

FAQs: Questions You Might Have About The Birthday Sale

Is the app really free?

If you do the workouts, yes. The app costs $150 per year for an annual subscription. Until August 9th, you automatically receive $50 OFF as a gift from Arnold in honor of his 79th birthday. After you complete your first program (which takes 12 weeks), you’ll receive another $50. And if you complete 4 programs within 12 months, you’ll receive another $50 back, meaning you’ll pay nothing for the year. 

Can I sign up for a free trial if I’ve already done one in the past?
Yes! Everyone can start a new free trial, but only through our birthday sale page on our website.

What if I already have a Pump Club subscription and want to switch?
No problem. If you are subscribed directly with us, log in to your customer portal, select “Update Subscription,” select “Earn It Back (Annual),” click “Add promotion code,” enter the code EARNITBACK, and click “Apply.” You'll then only be charged for the $100 Earn It Back subscription minus whatever is left on your current term. Your membership will renew at $150/year, but with our Earn It Back system, you still get up to $100 a year for finishing programs — forever. If you are subscribed through Apple or Google, you won’t find yourself in our customer portal, and you’ll need to serve out your current subscription.

But don’t worry: Earn It Back is our new pricing. The only temporary thing here is the birthday sale. We believe in rewarding you for action.

What if I’m already on a trial and want to switch?
If you subscribed through Apple or Google, you’ll need to cancel your trial in your phone’s subscription management center, wait for it to expire, and start a new trial here. If you started a trial directly on our website, you can log in to your customer portal, cancel your trial, wait for it to expire, and then start a new trial with the birthday sale. (Our system prevents you from having duplicate active subscriptions.)

Is this available through Apple or Google?
No, unfortunately we can’t automate refunds there. You have to use this link.

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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger​

Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell