Creating a fitness lifestyle requires a lot of discipline and routine. Unfortunately, not everyone is disciplined or works well with routine. I am a perfect example. While I can be very disciplined in specific instances, I am far from a disciplined personality. And routine, frankly, drives me insane. I thrive on variety … even in my daily life. So how do I make fitness work for me?
That is one of my personal challenges, and why I have periods in my life when I am NOT so fit. Routine ultimately bores me. Even if the routine ends up somewhat varied … it will eventually bore me. It is simply who I am. Gyms have NEVER worked for me. They bore me to tears. For me to thrive on exercise, it needs to be constantly changing exercise, or part of something else. For instance, I love to walk, but can’t stand walking in circles. If I am actually GOING somewhere, then I can walk forever.
Obviously this kind of thinking can make fitness goals that much tougher to achieve. So what do I do about it?
The first trick is not to do it alone. If one thrives on routine, then making our fitness goals part of the routine will make things easier. But even then, sometimes we just don’t want to do it. Healthy living is a lifestyle, and like ANY lifestyle change, it is much easier to achieve when we do it with others. This could mean physically being in the same room with others as we exercise. It could mean exchanging recipes for good eating. It could mean competing with friends to achieve goals. Or simply having someone there to remind us if we stray. I personally find when I try to be my own motivator … when I take the “I don’t need help” attitude … that is when I usually fail.
That is one of the beauties of what I am trying to offer here. This is an opportunity for people to work together to achieve a community of health, instead of focusing on just ourselves. It no only helps to have others supporting us, but it can be a great benefit to ourselves when WE support others. The only drawback to helping each other is it only works if we actually take advantage of the opportunity. I often fail in that area myself, which is all the more reason why I want to try to help others. I need others to keep ME on track as much I a want to help keep others on track. But if neither of us follows through … well then nothing happens.
