I’m guessing that I’m not the only one out there who fights a little battle in my mind when it comes to getting off my butt and working out (I guess a lot because I don’t like making assumptions about other people based on myself). It usually goes a little something like this:
Me: I should really workout.
Evil fitness self: Nah, you’re tired.
Good fitness self (who knows swimsuit season is upon us): C’mon – you really should. It will feel good.
EFS: Nah, I’m too busy/tired/lazy.
GFS: Please! Just do it! You won’t regret it!
EFS: I’m parked. I dare you to move me.
It’s not always clear who wins, but the battles are always the same. I’ve also found that I have to fight significantly more battles if I try to workout at the end of the day rather than at the start. Here’s a quick comparison:
End-of-Day Battles: Tired, Busy, Work to Do, Dinner with Friends, Tempted by TV, Hungry, Other social events
Start-of-Day Battles: Waking up.
As you can see, there is only ONE battle I fight when I schedule my workouts in the morning. My alarm buzzes at 5:30 a.m. It’s painful, but isn’t waking up on work days always painful? I also found that I’m twice as likely to get up if I set-out my gym and work clothes the night before. This is referred to as a vital behavior from the book Influencer. “The key insight is that big problems can be solved by changing just a few behaviors. If you put all your effort on those two or three vital behaviors, you’ll be rewarded with dramatic improvements.”
With that, I’ll leave you with three questions:
1) What are the workout battles that you fight?
2) What are the vital behaviors that can help you fight those battles?
3) How will you reward yourself when you win? As I always like to say, celebrate early and often!
No related posts.
I fight similar battles…too tired, it’s too late in the day, supper is beckoning, don’t wanna. ‘Don’t Wanna’ is the biggest one.
The best way I’ve found to combat it is to keep fighting…as long as I am arguing with myself, I keep moving towards the gym/pool. I don’t stop moving until the dark side has won and I decide not to. Sometimes I argue my way through the entire workout.
If I stick to my workout schedule for a week, I indulge a little on Friday. If I stick to it for a month, I get a pedicure!
Thanks for the great comment Stephanie! I TOTALLY had a “don’t wanna” moment (slash HOUR) this morning. It was all I could do to get out of bed this morning! And I love your rewards too
I can definitely relate. I fight these battles day in and day out. The battles are always tougher and greater in number later on in the day, and I know that psychological studies have shown that self-control diminishes as the day wears on and as you become more mentally drained. Luckily, studies show that self-control becomes stronger the more you practice using it. So as you win more and more battles over time, future battles should get easier and easier to win!
By the way, I clicked on your link for “Influencer” and it looks like a fascinating book! I’m going to see if I can get it from the mobile library.
Thanks for the great post, Jenny!