Month: October 2024

Do it for your future self

This is for whatever it is you don’t want to do today. Don’t want to exercise? You don’t want to eat nutritious food? Or you don’t want to work on that project you’ve been putting off? I get it. Some days it’s all too tempting to stay under the covers, eat chocolate and chips and binge Emily in Paris or whatever show you’re into. But think about how you’ll feel tomorrow. And all the tomorrows after that if you don’t show up for yourself. It’s easier to not do the things. But those things will stay the way they are. You’re not going to get the benefits from exercise. Your body will not get the vitamins and minerals from the healthy food. And you’ll still have that project hanging over your head.  Do it for your future self.

How your future self will feel

Keep moving for healthy aging. And for my future self.

Think about how you want to feel in the future. For me, I want to feel no pain, or at least less pain. Also, to be able to stand tall and not hunched or with rounded shoulders will be good. I’d like my legs to be able to hold me up, and my core to be strong and stable to share the load. I want to breathe freely and not get winded when I walk. Does this sound good to you? For our healthy aging, this doesn’t seem to be an outrageous goal.

The food we eat is reflected on the outside

What goes into our bodies should be good for the outside as well. The food we consume has an affect on our bodies – inside and out. Our skin reflects the good nutrition that goes in. We feel better when we eat nutritious food. Of course, I’m not going to say no to a piece of good chocolate, but on the whole I try to maintain a healthy diet.

Working toward a goal keeps us resilient

When we work toward a goal, even just for a little bit every day, we’re being optimistic for the future. We’re happy when we have an objective. And creating achievable goals keeps us focused on that future. We want something to have happened to make a better future for ourselves. That’s what goal-making is about. And if you’ve set goals in the past but not achieved them, then download the Get It Done Guide. It’ll help. Seriously.

So keep on working toward goals. Exercise regularly. And eat good food. It will show in your future self.

Get uncomfortable to get motivated

Discomfort is only uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable. Get uncomfortable.

Get uncomfortable to achieve your goals

And that’s another way of saying that you should get uncomfortable so that you can achieve your goals. Discomfort happens when you reach for something that’s beyond your grasp now. Like running. When you start running, even after warming up with some stretches and walking, it feels odd and uncomfortable. But when you keep on doing it, even during the same session, running becomes more comfortable. You get used to the motion. The first few times the motion may not seem completely natural (for me, it’s still not natural), but it’s not as uncomfortable any longer.

Embrace discomfort to grow

Get uncomfortable to succeed.

Some athletes embrace the pain they feel when training, so that they can move past it and improve. I don’t relish pain of any sort. The most I want to feel in my workout is discomfort, and even that is a stretch. But the idea is the same. In order to grow in any endeavor, many feel that it’s necessary to challenge yourself. The challenge can then lead to increased motivation to succeed. In fact, Stanford professor Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, reveals that students with a growth mindset, that is the belief that they can grow and develop, outperformed their peers with a fixed mindset.

Challenge yourself and succeed

It’s not just in learning more that we succeed by challenging ourselves. In the running example, we can grow – that is, run faster and longer – by pushing ourselves a little more each time we run. That is, get uncomfortable a little more. At the end of a few sessions, that little push becomes more comfortable, almost natural, and then we can push even more. Challenge ourselves a little more. This starts with a single push of the up button. When I’m at the maximum speed I did last time and it doesn’t feel too bad, I just push the increase speed button one time. Increase my speed by just one tenth of a mile per hour. Not too bad. Not even too noticeable, in fact. And I don’t sustain that for long – just a minute, maybe less.

I’ll keep the same maximum speed for a few days until the increase is indiscernible. And then I’ll do it again. It does help to journal my workout – my average speed, maximum speed, how it felt, when I feel I can push it again. If you just want the bare bones of a workout tracker, download the Basic Workout Tracker today. If you want more, check out the Fitness Journal and Tracker which has pages for nutrition and, my favorite, goal planning and tracking!

Challenge yourself more to achieve more

So, get uncomfortable. And soon the concept of pushing beyond boundaries becomes the norm. Then you can push more. Challenge yourself more. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. It doesn’t happen overnight. But it will happen. You’ll become more resilient. When things in your life go sideways, you’ll think, I’ve achieved so much, I can push through this. And your resilience will make you more optimistic and ultimately happier, which means good things for your healthy aging.

Get uncomfortable. And you’ll go far.