If you’re lacking the motivation to exercise sometimes you have to feel the resistance and JUST DO IT!
I was telling a client the other day how sometimes we have to just act on new habits rather than waiting for the motivation, the right time, or the stars to align. In effect – Just do it!
I was increasing my exercise routine this year and as with most people the first few days I was motivated and all fired up. I had thoughts of: “This is great. I am going to do this every day. I love it. Nothing can stop me!”
By day 4 the motivation had waned. Was it because I had less sleep the night before or what I had eaten or because the stars weren’t aligned? I don’t know, but the previous enthusiasm wasn’t there. I reminded myself of the long term benefits of health and that didn’t motivate me. I thought of the worse possible outcome for me, growing old and being incapacitated due to poor health that could have been prevented, if only I had exercised. That didn’t even work!
This was a time to feel the resistance and JUST DO IT!
I turned off my internal chatter and reminded myself to be in the present moment. I felt the resistance, lack of motivation and unwillingness to move my body. Then with all my power I willed myself to walk over to the bike, being focused only on the steps I was taking. I focused on sitting on the seat, slowly I put a foot on each peddle and started. Within a few moments I was enjoying the exercise. I felt really happy and relieved that I had persevered and forced myself to act. As usual, after the exercise I got that ‘feel good’ sensation, which was a great reward in itself.
As a coach I try to utilise a client’s personal motivation styles to enable effortless action. They can then easily create positive daily habits that have long term benefits. Sometimes, however the motivation just isn’t there. These are the times to feel the resistance and JUST DO IT!
