All You Need

Many people think that people who exercise regularly are special in some way. They’re motivated, or passionate about exercise.

There’s an excellent book called “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”, by Cal Newport. It has to do with work and career, but there’s an important principle that applies to exercise, healthy eating, etc. In the book, Newport gives multiple examples of people who chucked everything and followed their passions. It didn’t work well, over and over. On the other hand, there are several examples of people who built their careers in a disciplined way, and the better they got at what they did, the more passionate they became about their chosen fields. The passion grew out of the doing, not the other way around.

The point is likely obvious by now: the passion, or motivation, for exercise comes from choosing to exercise, again and again. The passion, or motivation, to eat well, take care of your sleep hygiene, etc., comes from choosing to do those things, again and again. And that passion grows for the same reasons it grows in one’s work: the continued positive reinforcement of acting with purpose, of doing good, positive things for oneself; also, it comes from the results. When we take our work seriously, over an extended period of time, we get better at it, and rewards follow. The same is true of exercise and healthy living: when we consistently make good decisions and take positive actions, the rewards follow.

Many people confuse passion or motivation with inspiration. The emotional spark they feel, the one that pushes them to start, is the spark they think they’re supposed to feel every day, for every workout, for every healthy meal. But, nothing in life works that way: even people who love their work don’t love it every day; people who love their partner find that parter annoying sometimes; people who are in great shape, week after week, year after year, have plenty of days when training, healthy eating, etc., feels forced. The difference between failure and success is commitment, discipline.

But, that’s just it, you say: I’m not committed, I’m not disciplined. Those people are. I just don’t have what they have. Guess what? At the start, they didn’t have it, either. They built the commitment, the discipline, and along the way, the motivation, the passion.

And guess what else: you already have everything you need to build commitment, discipline, motivation, passion—and results. It’s that voice inside you that isn’t happy with how things are. The voice that knows you could feel better, perform better, look better. The voice that wants better.

That voice is like a fire starter out in the wild: it’s just waiting for you to strike it, and send a spark onto some kindling. And it’s easy to do it, so much easier than you’ve told yourself. Put whatever screen you’re looking at down and get up and move. Put on your shoes and walk; the walk doesn’t have to be long or fast. Make even a slightly better food choice. Turn off the screens, enjoy a little quiet, and go to bed on a time of your choosing. Get up at a time of your choosing. And then, make the choice again. And then, do it again. Those decisions are like muscles; they grow and get stronger when you make them consistently. Before you know it, individual decisions turn into discipline. Discipline turns into commitment. Discipline and commitment bring results that turn into motivation, and that becomes passion.

You already have everything you need. Make one better decision. Do it now.

Let’s get better together.