Make the hard (starting) easy and the easy (quitting) hard

Starting is the hardest part, make it easy.

I struggle to lift weights consistently. I’ve repeatedly started, done too much too soon, got too sore, it started to affect my running, so I quit. Also, many of the workouts were not workouts that I enjoyed which made it that much easier to quit.

This time around, I’ve explicitly not set any goals. I’ve chosen a minimal set of workouts that I really enjoy doing and I plan to do very light weight. If it’s so simple and easy, there’s no reason for me to NOT do the workout.

This has worked for me to establish a consistent running routine. I run on the treadmill and do 5mi easy because it is EASY. I don’t have to think and there is no possible excuse that is good enough to prevent me from walking down the steps and running for an hour.

This has worked for me programming in my personal time. Don’t set goals. Just do something. Just start. It feels so cliche.

Feeling follows action

When I’m “down” – I don’t like using the label “depressed” – I try to think of things that will lift me up. Run? Read? Play video games? I go through the list and can’t imagine any of the things lifting me up. But that’s the problem. When I believe my thoughts I remain stuck. When I ignore my thoughts and just do, I 90% of the time feel better.

Prefer small consistent action over grand one-time action

Every single time I sit down to work on a personal project. I think I have to crank it out immediately. That’s the problem. When I just do a tiny bit each day, I eventually look back in a few months and surprise myself with where I am at.

“555” run; Finding motivation

This is a combination of the above.

I’ve struggled with motivation to run lately. After struggling, I think, “To get back on track, I need to go run a half-marathon to feel good about my running again.”. That’s the problem. I feel better about consistency. When I’ve run every day for 2-months I’ve felt better and been more proud than when I’ve trained for and ran a marathon.

So, I’ve found when I’m not motivated to run, I need to remind myself, consistent, small, slow, easy, runs makes me feel the best! 5-miles, 5% incline at 5mph. It takes just an hour and I can feel completely different about my running.