Unlock the power of mimetic theory to elevate your fitness and health by adopting proven gym habits instead of chasing surface‑level results. Gym Force’s community of expert coaches and instructors provides the roadmap you need to build real strength and lasting well‑being.
Last week we pointed out that the best way to find a great gym isn’t to search Google or scroll through Yelp reviews. It’s to ask someone who actually loves working out where they go and then try that. There’s something powerful about imitation when it comes from the right place. René Girard called it mimetic theory, the idea that we want things because we see other people wanting them. Sounds obvious, but it runs deeper than most people admit. We don't just want what other people have, but we also want what other people desire.
That’s not always a bad thing. Everyone desires fitness and health, don't they? There's nothing wrong with that!
It’s okay to lean into our mimetic tendency. You just have to be careful where you’re aiming it. Find the signal through the noise. If someone at work always seems to be first in and last to leave, don’t just mimic their hours. Ask what makes them want to be there. Do they truly love what they do? What are they trying to achieve? If you don't feel the same passion as they do, simply working extra hours may not be the correct course of action.
Be careful about copying what you don’t really know. Don’t aspire to keep up with the Joneses based on the size of their house or price of their car unless you can also see their bank accounts. Same goes for the guy with abs. Maybe don’t switch to his diet until you know whether he’s healthy and happy or just shredded and miserable.
Our mimetic instinct isn’t necessarily the problem. The problem arises when we do it for the wrong reason or without enough information.
We all know somebody who found their love of fitness through CrossFit or martial arts. And there are also plenty of examples of people that left the rat race to start a business or chase a dream. For many of these folks these changes became a part of who they are. They changed their life and identity by doing something difficult that most people talk themselves out of.
And so could you. But is it worth the risk?
When it comes to our health, the biggest risk is not taking one. In business, one may need to look at things a bit differently.
Jim Collins, the business author behind Good to Great, once pointed out that the real risk isn’t doing something bold and failing. It’s dragging yourself through a mediocre career for 30 years only to get laid off when you’re 55.
So maybe the smarter move is to copy the people you admire, not in a "keeping up with the Joneses" way, but in a way that helps point you in the right direction. Ask yourself what they’re doing that you aren’t. Not what they have that everybody can see, but what they're doing behind the scenes that goes unnoticed. Are they reading every night? Meal prepping? Are they getting up early to work out...or work a side hustle?
You don't have to copy exactly what somebody else is doing. In fact, you can even chart your own path in search of your own unique desires, whatever they may be.
If you're going to follow someone’s lead in health and fitness, make sure it’s someone who’s been where you are and knows how to get you where you want to go. That’s what Gym Force coaches do every day.