Over the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s I managed to work out 3 times. That might not seem like a huge victory, since I’m normally working out 3-5 times a week, but it was. I really had to up my mental game. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS CHILL WITH A WARM ADULT BEVERAGE IN HAND. But I knew, that if I only did that, I would not REALLY be happy because ignoring workouts AND not eating healthily would be leading away from where I want to go despite being where I wanted to be in the moment. So, in search of balanced holiday indulgence, I got decadent with my food and beverages but maintained my workouts this wonderful holiday week. It wasn’t easy but I did it.
How did I do it? I talked, a lot, to myself.
Part of getting through anything tough, anything annoying, anything you just don’t want to do isn’t something anyone else can see or hear (unless like me, you do this aloud) is talking to yourself. I do it all day actually, but getting conscious with it really helps me to get through the things I don’t want to do, especially working out.
When talking to myself, sometimes I’m in the camp of:
I can’t do this
That’s too heavy
I’ll never finish
I’m so slow what’s the point
Guess what, that sucks! This is the LAME camp. It doesn’t make things any easier, it makes them worse. Clearly the task ahead of me is daunting or I wouldn’t be feeling the things that cause me to start talking myself out of the work. BUT in most cases, I’m for some odd reason, trying to talk myself out of exactly what I need to do to stay on the path to the life I want. Also, I am not LAME. So saying lame things to myself is silly. When I catch myself talking like that I flip it around and get in the camp of a FINISHER of a DOER, in the camp of SELF LOVE.
I start to talk to myself like I am a part of the Badass Babe camp:
You got this
Let’s get it
Ready set go
Just a few more
You’re gonna be so amped when you’re finished
Finishing is winning, just start and go
GO GO GO
And you know what, it helps me get through. Plain and simple, when I say nice things to myself during a workout, the workout is better, more fun, even dare I say, easier?
This helps me when I have trouble finishing work projects, cleaning the house, or completing any other lackluster task I’m just not in the mood for. At the end of the day, starting and finishing a workout always feels better than never having worked out at all. #wordsmatter