There are really two different ways of beginning a bodybuilding regime; the easy way and the hard way.Which one of the two you choose for yourself will determine the extent to which you will stick to the regime and thereby prove a success. Since you have a choice obviously you will have to prepare a proper well etched out plan for yourself in order to select the right option. If you are like me (and like thousands of other smart people all over the world) you will no doubt choose to pursue the easy way, in which case you will have to start with a solid workout plan and get it all written down on paper.Preparing a workout plan is in many ways comparable to the sort of New Year resolution planning we all tend to do. Of course most of us tend to give up the resolutions within a day or two, but here there is really no giving up.Promises are hard to keep, simply because most of tend to make difficult promises. Most of us do not stick by the resolutions we make at the beginning of the year because our goals are not realistic. When we promise to quit smoking in the new year we ignore the fact that giving up smoking is a gradual process and needs time.So the smart way to give up smoking would be to smoke about 4 cigarettes a day, then bring it down to 2 and so on. There is no point expecting to give up smoking just like that simply because we have promised to.Similarly, when you plan your bodybuilding regime keep in mind that it needs a set of achievable goals to really work out. You wont turn into a Stallone in a month so don't intend to, give yourself a relaxed time limit of say 6 months for that. Also, remember when you are just beginning you will not have the kind of stamina a professional athlete or an experience bodybuilder will have so don't get disheartened if you can't keep up with Arnie (who has been practicing for 2 years now) on your first workout session itself. Don't make your gym session an ego tussle, you have nothing to prove anything to here. Take time relax and judge your progress astutely.