My amazing friend and I pow-wowed on the phone this past Monday about our goals for the week (you know, it was Motivational Monday and all). "I really need to focus," I immediately said. "I have so many deadlines coming up at work. What about you?"
"I think my goal is to do what makes me happy," she replied.
I was a bit taken aback. In our Motivational Monday talks, we've spent so much time talking about how many minutes a day we'll write, or how many pages we'll get done. This goal for me seemed to come out of left field. "I think just doing what makes me happy will make everything else fall into place," she explained. I realized after a moment that she was exactly right.
Fortuitously, I had just read about taking small steps at a time towards what you want in one of my favorite blogs; Custom Made Life. You should absolutely check it out if you haven't already. This woman speaks the truth! The main point of the blog is that if you keep thinking things need to change 100%, you'll get discouraged - but if you make a 10% change, little by little it'll add up.
I tried to use both theories - the do what makes you happy theory and the 10% theory in terms of exercise today. Here's my normal exercise routine. I'll work out hard-core for maybe 2 weeks, scheduling myself for every class possible. Then, predictably, after those 2 weeks, I'll skip one day, decide that I've failed, and stop going.
I started thinking today about how good I feel when I actually work out, and how just working out one day would really make a difference. So I went to spinning class and it was awesome. The instructor turned off all the lights and turned on the disco ball. The last song was, "Shake your groove thing." Exercise really can't get better than that!
My initial instinct after the class was over was to schedule myself in for the next week to attend gym classes, but I decided to pause. Tomorrow, I'll figure out what will make me the happiest AND allow me to progress maybe 10%...all while shaking my groove thing.
"I think my goal is to do what makes me happy," she replied.
I was a bit taken aback. In our Motivational Monday talks, we've spent so much time talking about how many minutes a day we'll write, or how many pages we'll get done. This goal for me seemed to come out of left field. "I think just doing what makes me happy will make everything else fall into place," she explained. I realized after a moment that she was exactly right.
Fortuitously, I had just read about taking small steps at a time towards what you want in one of my favorite blogs; Custom Made Life. You should absolutely check it out if you haven't already. This woman speaks the truth! The main point of the blog is that if you keep thinking things need to change 100%, you'll get discouraged - but if you make a 10% change, little by little it'll add up.
I tried to use both theories - the do what makes you happy theory and the 10% theory in terms of exercise today. Here's my normal exercise routine. I'll work out hard-core for maybe 2 weeks, scheduling myself for every class possible. Then, predictably, after those 2 weeks, I'll skip one day, decide that I've failed, and stop going.
I started thinking today about how good I feel when I actually work out, and how just working out one day would really make a difference. So I went to spinning class and it was awesome. The instructor turned off all the lights and turned on the disco ball. The last song was, "Shake your groove thing." Exercise really can't get better than that!
My initial instinct after the class was over was to schedule myself in for the next week to attend gym classes, but I decided to pause. Tomorrow, I'll figure out what will make me the happiest AND allow me to progress maybe 10%...all while shaking my groove thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment