Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Keep it Interesting

Tags

Consistency, Do Something, Exercise, healthy living, Interest, Showing up, Variety, wisdom, workout

We’ve all tried to bunk our gym session or dance class. A single routine can get monotonous. That’s why I have decided to make my fitness regime fun by incorporating different workouts into my schedule. From dancing to yoga, I plan to keep it as interesting as possible so I’m never bored of working out.

Disha Patani

I’ve read a few books recently that are about habits. The first was Atomic Habits by James Clear; the other was Elastic Habits by Stephen Guise.

I enjoy synthesizing information and coming up with uncommon connections between this data. In Atomic Habits a lot of attention is given to setting the prime conditions for habit formation. Elastic habits look to form a variety of lateral and vertical targets for daily habits. Both of these align well with today’s quote.

If you follow my workout routine every week, you can see the amount of variety that I apply to my workout routines each week. I do this because the variety is what keeps it interesting. My efforts in the gym are not about having a perfect body; my efforts are about feeling good and staying healthy. Some weeks are really intense and others are just going to the gym and knocking out the day’s workout.

The benefits we glean from exercise come with consistency. You won’t get any benefit from working out once a month. You’ve got to get in your exercise every day.

Besides consistency, we also have to keep in mind that we have lives outside of the gym. Some days you’ll be so busy that all you can do is get in a 10-minute walk. Some days you’ll be motivated to do your workout. On other days you’ll go through the motions.

The key to all of this is consistency. Let’s say you go to the gym every day for a month. Some of those days will be great workouts; others not so much. What would happen if you missed a few days? I would argue that you may miss one of those magical gym days when you are energized, focused, and just feel great. If you miss these days, you not only miss a workout, you miss a great workout. So keep going.

The gym is not the only route you can take. You can work out at home. You can take a long walk around a park or your housing area. You can lift weights. You can do cardio. You can do Yoga or Pilates. You can use dumbbells, barbells, machines, or cables. You can do supersets, compound sets, rest-pause sets, pyramids, or tri-sets. You can vary the body parts you exercise, you can vary the reps you push for, and you can vary the amount of rest you use. You can use a pre-designed workout routine, or even wing it. The point I’m making here is a workout done is better than nothing done, even if you only show up and do the minimal amount. Your consistency will build and slowly but surely, you’ll have a habit of exercising. Check that off your list!

Well, it’s time to say goodbye for now. I hope you have a great Wednesday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Something is Better than Nothing

Tags

Asking for Help, Do Something, mini-habits, Patterns, Spirit, Take Action

“Give your best effort each day, and leave the rest to Spirit.”

—Harold Klemp
The Language of Soul

Look at the picture I chose for this article–a guy with no legs running a race. When I look at this picture, I do not feel sorry for this individual. Instead, I am inspired. If a guy who lost his legs can go through months of rehabilitation, physical therapy, doubt, fear, and all the rest, I can sure as hell tackle the goals I have set for myself.

I have read a lot this year and have a bunch more to read before the end of the year. As I read through books, articles, and take classes, I pay attention to any patterns I see. One pattern I have found is the emphasis on doing something rather than nothing.

I took a hacking exercise course earlier this year. It discussed all the insights science has discovered about exercise. Two of the biggest insights is how little we need to do to benefit from the exercise we do. Doing something like a set of curls or getting on a treadmill for a few minutes is better than doing nothing.

I like reading Stephen Guise. He is the author of Mini Habits. His new book, called Elastic Habits, builds on his premise of mini-habits. I have not finished the book, yet so I’ll leave this aside for now, but in Mini Habits, the entire premise of the book is to take small actions each day. These small actions build as you execute them every day.

Taking action, even if it is a small step will get you to your goal. This is key to getting the things we need to get done.

Do you have things to do that you abhor? This is the perfect time to chip away at that project. If you are not on a deadline, start chipping away at that thing you dread. Even if it is only one miniscule action, you’ll feel better and begin making progress. Or, you can continue blowing it off and carrying that monkey on your back. Your mind won’t let you forget about it, it’ll just keep bugging and bugging and bugging.

Your brain is a powerhouse. It is also very efficient. It is efficient because your brain automates things. It automates things you do all the time, like getting dressed, putting your shoes on, or brushing your teeth. It also begins generating ideas to help you work on your current task(s). When you focus on things, your brain will seek everything to assist you.

I just finished writing the first draft of my recruiting book. Now that it is completed, I’m going to put that aside for a few months and let it rest. Now, I’m going to start working on my first fiction book. I have never written a novel and need to find out the best ways to complete it. So, I’ll take some time to take some courses, read books, and reach out to make some connections with other authors to learn the best practices, software, and techniques that will assist me with this task. You would be blown away by the number of ideas my brain gives me to accomplish this task. The same thing can happen for you, regardless of what you have set out to do.

What’s the point of this posting? Do something. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Whatever your goals are, do something to move it forward. You’ll feel great and your motivation to continue tomorrow will be greater than it was today.

Until next time…

Dave