“Im an overthinker because im an under-doer “. When I read that quote the other day it smacked me in the face. Such a simple philisophy: if you spend more time actually taking action, you dont have time to over think and sweat the small stuff. Such simplified wisdom, yet so easy not to follow. 

Exercise and My Life

Looking back on my life I try to analyze the lowest points and see where I went wrong. See what things I was doing on a daily basis that lead me to get to those depths. The common denominator in my mentally lowest points in life was the absence of consistent exercise. Was I engaging in other destructive behavior at the time? Absolutely, but I also know that those other behaviors wouldnt have been so attractive to me if I was taking care of myself physically. Whenever Ive felt the worst about myself I was always not exercising and not paying attention to what I shoved down my neck. And if you know me, I dont do anything a litte bit haha I have two modes: All or Absolutely nothing. So learning from my own self sabotage throughout the years Ive realized that if I want to be happy and be the best I can be, exercise needs to be at the center of it all. 

How to stay motivated…

You want to know how to stay motivated? I wish there was a magic answer for this, but there isnt. You want the good news or the bad news? Bad news, good choice. Bad news is motivation is temporary. Positive motivational thoughts can be a useful tool but you dont want to rely upon them. Motivation is an emotion and emotions come and go. Having motivation isnt a bad thing at all, but I think most people get discouraged because their motivation fades. If that happens to you I can tell you, youre not alone. Everyones motivation fades. Is it good to find other sources of motivation? It wont hurt, unless you begin to rely on those external sources of motivation to do what you need to do. So if its impossible to stay motivated all the time, whats the good news? The good news is theres another choice…and that choice is discipline. 

Its what you do now…

When youre motivation fades and its time to workout you need to have something to keep you going. That something is discipline. Now Im not going to sit here and act like Im the most disciplined person ever because im not. Im starting to realize that in order to be great, I need to be disciplined in ALL aspects of life. If Im disciplined in working out but I eat garbage all day, then eventually that little bit of undiscipline will bleed into other areas of my life. My nutrition will make me feel shitty which will make me lazy and next thing I know I havent been to the gym in a few months. Its happened time and time again. 

I had to change the way I thought about working out. I had to make the decision that exercising is something I do now, just like brushing my teeth or washing my ass. If an ant is marching back to his colony and you put an obstacle in front of him, what does the ant do? He keeps moving and finds a way around to get back to the colony because thats what ants do. The ant doesnt sit there ant ponder why the obstacle is there, or how the obstacle makes them feel, they just get around it somehow because thats what ants do….

Start Small!

The best thing about taking action of some kind is it doesnt have to be drastic. Little actions over a consistent daily basis can make HUGE changes in the future. You dont need to go to the gym 7 days a week for 3 hours if youre starting out. If you can, great! But I think setting smaller more realistic goals would be better. Take a walk around your neighborhood daily to start. It doesnt matter WHERE you start, just that you get moving. The changes will come as long as you stay consistent, and seeing yourself change is one of the best ways to stay motivated a little longer. 

Outwork your demons

I believe that we all have angels, but we also have demons. When I was younger I used to try to out think my demons but that didnt bear any fruit. Trying to out think my demons led me to many trials and tribulations. The only way that I keep those demons at bay is to out work them. Depressed? Go exercise. Anxious? Go exercise. Feel overwhelmed? Go exercise. Its the only place to truly start fixing yourself. 

“If you dont know how to change your mind, change your body and your mind will follow”