“I’m a loser.”
That’s what a listener said to us on the air after playing a game last week. She didn’t win, but not everybody does. My radio partner, Tracey, stopped the music and lovingly tried to convince this listener she was NOT a loser. Losing a radio game doesn’t make you a loser. We’re not sure she was convinced of that.
Life is hard and we don’t always win. Sometimes we lose. Sometimes we even find ourselves in a losing streak. This is particularly true of fitness. I suspect that can make each of us feel like a loser at times.
But, you’re not. Not sticking with fitness doesn’t make you a loser.
Fitness is one of the hardest things in life to win at. Exercise is not fun, results are slow in coming, and we’re often tempted with something that’s more enjoyable to do. Even sitting in an empty room alone can feel more fun than exercise at times.
That’s why it’s important to recognize and celebrate your fitness wins…especially if you’ve “lost at fitness” in the past.
RECOGNIZE THE HARD
Again, fitness is HARD. It’s hard today and really hard to keep going. There are so many things that we’re pushing against when we make a commitment to fitness and try to stick with it.
Life is busy and our emotions are fickle. We usually want results now and that just doesn’t happen with exercise. What felt fun on Day One is a grind on Day Five. By Day Ten we’re just looking for excuses to give up and still feel OK about ourselves.
Most people give up a goal by Day Nineteen. January 19 is actually called Quitter’s Day because so few New Year’s Goals are still moving forward on that day.
The point here is not to be discouraging, but to help us trust recognize how hard it is to stick with a fitness commitment. What you’re trying to do is really, really hard. If it wasn’t, why do so many people give up?
RECOGNIZE THE WIN
It’s time to redefine what a Fitness Win truly is. We often think it’s reaching a big goal. For many, that’s losing weight. For others, it’s improving key health metrics. And, for some it’s participating in an event…like a 5k for the first time.
These are all great goals, but they obscure another reality. Every day you keep your fitness commitment is a win. Some days those wins feel easy. Some days they don’t. And, some days they feel near impossible.
A listener to my daily podcast, “Walking is Fitness”, recently told me she made a commitment to walk outside. Guess what? The next three days were literally freezing. On the fourth day it was cold AND wet. But, Leah kept her commitment and walked outside. She said couldn’t feel her thighs for almost two hours. Those are HUGE wins!! Well, maybe not the frozen thighs, but those walks sure are!!
Keeping the fitness promise you make to yourself is a win. Keep stacking those wins and you can accomplish a lot. Fitness is hard so let’s celebrate these daily wins.
CELEBRATE WELL
How do you like to celebrate? The answer is going to be different for each of us. For some, a social media post is powerful. For others, it could be as simple as marking a daily progress log. And, for people wired like me a quiet moment of reflection on what I accomplished is good.
More specifically, what’s a meaningful way YOU can celebrate your daily fitness wins? Don’t simply pass by this question. What can you do when you reach your daily goal to remind yourself that you just did a HARD thing?
KEEP ON WINNING
Fitness is a worthy pursuit, but not easy. You and I need ways to stay motivated. Recognizing that we are doing a hard thing is important and helps us celebrate our daily wins. A constant reminder of our “deepest why” is always good. In other words, why am I doing this hard thing every day?
And, having a fellow traveler on this fitness journey and understands just how hard you’re working is a huge help. That’s one of the things I keep hearing from people who are using the daily podcast, “Walking is Fitness.” This is a podcast that I record during the first ten-minutes of my daily walk and I’d like you to join me and the many others as we separately walk together.
You can sample the latest episodes HERE. You can also follow and download the podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Together we are holding each other accountable for keeping out commitment to fitness. But, maybe even more importantly…we are doing a hard thing together and in a small, but meaningful way celebrating these daily fitness wins!
Would you join me?