The Secret to Staying on the Workout Wagon
I wake up early. I love hot beverages and have an aversion to air conditioning. I’m obsessed with dogs and trees. In fact, as a child, I drew the same thing over and over again – a dog walking through a landscape of tall green trees!
I bring this up as a reminder for you to work with what you are. You have built-in preferences, inclinations and personality traits, many of which are non-negotiable. For me, going to a 5am workout is nice, but to someone else it may feel like going to prison. Hot yoga is heaven to one person, and sheer hell to someone else. When you were a kid you may have drawn ocean waves and kitty cats instead of dogs and trees. It’s all good. Work with what you are.
In order to work with what you are, you need to know yourself. What time of day do you feel most alive? What’s your favorite food? What type of workout does your body respond best to? Do you like lots of alone time, or do you need to be surrounded by people? Is music a motivator? Is Sunday your preferred rest day?
Empowered wellness is sustainable. It’s not on and off. It’s not seasonal. It’s not dabbling. When people say to me, “I fell off the workout wagon,” I immediately suspect they went as long as they could going against their preferences, inclinations and personality traits, instead of working with what they are. They tried to work with what they are NOT. That’s not fun and it does not work in the long term.
On the flip side, when you work with what you are, fitness becomes a way of life. There’s no force, just flow. All you’ve got to do is know yourself and go with yourself!
As William Shakespeare famously put it, “This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day.” So Let’s Move! Figure out who you are, and work with what you are. 🤗