Fitness is a Lifestyle
Fitness is a Lifestyle that brings happiness and health. Fitness may look like an impossible dream from a sedentary lifestyle. It has to start with the first step and progress from there.
The beauty of getting fit is it grows on you. You start to feel better and have better self-esteem. It is a spiritual adventure because fitness is what Nature intended for you. Man is the only creature that becomes content without moving.
On the other side of the spectrum are the people finding bliss through movement. Getting fit becomes a lifestyle and something people look forward to every day. Yes, it does mean you can consume a few more calories, but the more fit you become, the more you want to tailor your calories.
The Start to Fitness
Just about every new behavior requires a why. We get a job so we can eat. We want a relationship so we can enjoy love. We want friends so we don’t feel lonely. We want exercise when we know it makes us feel better.
The problem many people encounter in getting fit is they can’t get past the first week. I used to run 60 miles a week and people wanted to join me to start running. They would run that first quarter mile and their lungs were coming out of their body and they would quit. I would say, it gets better after a week.
The more fit you get, the more it becomes ingrained into who you are. The more it becomes your purpose and identity. A fit person may list that as one of the main reasons they enjoy life. Fitness transforms who you are.
Several benefits from fitness are
- A leaner body
- A more energetic brain
- Better fitting clothes
- More attractive to others
- Greater energy
- Better discipline
- Identity with Nature
- Reduced stress
- Better health
- Enjoyment every day
Start with the Why
This is the key for any achievement. Why does an entrepreneur want to risk? Risk is exciting. Risk is a challenge. Challenge grows our brain. Challenge stimulates our creativity. Challenge is how man has progressed from the cave. Challenge identifies who we are by how we progress.
There are so many psychological benefits to the challenge of getting fit. It is a challenge. At the beginning you may have to struggle with putting your running shoes on or beginning your floor exercises. You may struggle when the effort gets tiring. A Navy seal said when the brain says we are tired, we are only 40% there. That is the point of Seal training-finding the 100%.
I love to bike and hike. I reach limits of duration in my mind. Right now I feel content to bike for 3 hours and hike for two hours. But I have a near term goal of riding 45 miles over the 36 I have been riding. I have plotted the route and am psyching up. I just have to push past my comfort barrier that my mind has created.
Why? I want to know what I can do. If I can ride 45 miles, can I ride 70? I have ridden 70, but do I want to do it again. Why will be the sole motivation. Do I have to prove something to myself? Do I want the satisfaction of achieving? Do I like how it feels? Is it my identity? Why?
Engage and Push Through Mental Limits
The mind is often a saboteur. Once while in a routine of running the 20 stairs near my house on the beach, I was about to begin. My mind said I was tired. I knew I had rested a day and should not be tired. I ran 80 times up and down instead of the usual 20-40 times. I wanted to prove to my mind that I was the boss.
Set reasonable goals and don’t listen to your mind when it says you shouldn’t. The mind wants to rest on the couch. The mind doesn’t want you to experience the pain of pushing your limits. The mind doesn’t want you to go through the exercise of creating reasons to push on when it is telling you you are tired. It takes a strong will to overcome the mind’s resistance.
Once you can conquer these challenges, you can set your will to anything. You have developed the discipline to complete tasks you often don’t want to do. Success requires we often do things that are challenging and that we would rather not do.
I do these tasks first thing in the morning when I am fresh. I get up at 5 a.m. most days so I will have plenty of time. I don’t feel the resistance early in the morning. If I get up at 7 a.m., I have a totally different mindset. I feel like I am already running out of time and I won’t be able to fix complications I might encounter.
I exercise after my morning work. By then, I am looking for a break. I am looking to engage and drop into flow while I ride or hike. I want to feel my body working. I want to conquer a challenge that is within my control. I want to feel my life and world are more in my control and physical exercise is one of the few things in our control.
Fitness is a lifestyle.
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