Keep On Keepin' On
June 25, 2008 8:19 PM | Motivation | Comments (2)
 | Sometimes it’s hard to reach our goals. Oh, it’s easy to start. It’s even manageable to keep it up for a few days, or even weeks, but when the hard stuff hits, we are thrown off track. And when we mess up, we figure we’ve ruined everything, so we stop. Sometimes the hard part is continuing. We don’t fail because we don’t start. We don’t fail because it’s too difficult. We fail because we don’t finish. We can be our own worst enemy. Have you ever stopped doing something, only to look back months later and say “If only I had stuck with it, I would be much further along by now?” |
The old me fell victim to this pattern quite often. Here’s a personal story: I love to work out. I can sometimes be quite anal. In the past, I planned my workouts for Monday through Friday.
Although I seldom let others get in the way of my workouts, I would get in my own way. When stressed, or emotionally challenged, I would not work out on say, Monday or Tuesday. Then I would be frustrated that I didn’t work out on those days, and that my “planned week” was messed up. That would be the beginning of me not working out until I felt better. Sometimes feeling better took weeks.
Then I’d be back to normal with my Monday through Friday workouts. But upon beginning again, I’d be mad at myself for stopping and wonder how much stronger I could have been by now. I realized that if I had done just half of my usual, I would not be far behind, if I was behind at all. After that happened a few times, I got sick of it. The new me is different.
This year has been extremely stressful for me so far, especially the months of April and May. I can tell you that the old me would not have worked out at all those months. Instead, I remembered how I felt before, and of course I know exercise helps stress and provides other benefits. I told myself I would do the best I could until I got regular again. So I did, and my workout days looked like this instead:
April | 1 Workout | 2 Oot | 3 Oot | 4 Oot | 5 Oot
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| 6 Oot | 7 Rest | 8 Rest | 9 Rest | 10 Rest | 11 Workout | 12 Rest
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| 13 Rest | 14 Workout | 15 Workout | 16 Rest | 17 Rest | 18 Rest | 19 Rest
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| 20 Rest | 21 Oot | 22 Oot | 23 Oot | 24 Oot | 25 Oot | 26 Oot
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| 27 Rest | 28 Workout | 29 Rest
| 30 Workout |
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May |
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| 1 Rest | 2 Rest | 3 Rest
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| 4 Rest | 5 Rest | 6 Workout | 7 Workout | 8 Workout | 9 Workout | 10 Rest
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| 11 Rest | 12 Workout | 13 Workout | 14 Rest | 15 Rest | 16 Rest | 17 Rest
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| 18 Rest | 19 Workout | 20 Rest | 21 Workout | 22 Workout | 23 Workout | 24 Rest
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| 25 Rest | 26 Workout
| 27 Rest | 28 Workout | 29 Workout | 30 Workout | 31 Rest |
*Oot = Out of town. I did not work out these days.
It wasn’t always easy, as I still had major things going on in my life. Some days, it felt like I had to force myself to go to the gym. Other days, I worked out at home. On many days, as you can see, it didn’t happen at all. But I worked through it whenever I could, and now I am back to regular workouts. I didn’t lose much strength during that time, and whatever I did lose is back, and I’m making gains again.
The point is: we are all human. We make mistakes, fall off the wagon. If you fall, pick yourself back up and keep going. Before you know it, you will have made some lasting changes in your life. You will have reached some goals. Most of us have an easy time starting the race - we just don’t finish. But even if you don’t sprint through the finish line, keep walking. As long as you’re moving forward, you’ll still get there. Do not give up.
Copyright © 2008 by A.M. Birmingham, ISSA CFT
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Comments
Posted by: Kim N | July 1, 2008 9:19 AM
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Posted by: P90x | July 1, 2008 5:05 AM
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