Hot Tip!! Its not just about the exercise!!! Find a deeper meaning in training and your motivation will last a lifetime.
When I started back into exercise following Adrenal Fatigue (of which I’d stopped exercising believing I didn’t have time!! What a mistake that was!!). I could have delayed the recovery believing I was too tired to exercise! But what lifting did for my self esteem was unparalleled. As a Mum I was struggling with what felt like an infinite amount of change and struggling to comprehend my husbands ongoing illness at that time, lifting was a healthy coping mechanism and an outlet to pour myself into every day.
Exercise has many parallels to life, Just like there are seasons in life that we go through exercise is no different. When I was in my 20’s exercise was all about how to maximise my looks, what made the most beautiful muscles lol. Comparison is the thief of joy as the saying goes.
In my early 30’s it was about what exercise helped to keep my weight down… yip not proud of that, but it’s the honest truth, I controlled my weight in such a manner as to control everything that went into my mouth, keeping my bodyfat percentage under the recommended guidelines was a goal! After having my son, exercise was a way to have my me time, I joined an outdoor fitness group, it was all about me! That season ended of course, as has each and now I am onto the next season prioritising health, conditioning and overall sexiness…. LOL just kidding, its lifting heavy!!
So what’s the underlying thing that kept me exercising for all of these years now? The idea of investment. Lifting weights isn’t always fun. You have to commit to it and put in a lot of effort knowing that you’ll get paid for it later! There are plenty of days that I dread it, or even skip it. But there are more days where I don’t, Its become ingrained in me that not doing it just feels weird, and yucky and I feel lethargic! That’s the thing about life, exercise, relationships whatever you have committed to- in order for you to continue to invest in them they must add meaning and purpose to your life.
I still get a lot of my gym time, the purpose related to that time may have changed, I’m no longer obsessed with looking a certain way but I still love pitting myself against the iron on the daily! I still find a lot of meaning involved in the effort.
I’d love to give some poignant advice about how one could find such meaning with the iron. That would keep them motivated to stay in the gym, but I honestly don’t have any. I believe that motivation, as a source to draw from, is very fragile and mostly bullshit.
But if I had to give some advice, it would be this: somehow you have to learn to fall in love with the process and stop worrying about the destination. The happiness that arrives at achieving something is fleeting. It’s that area in between where you are now and where you’d like to be that you’ll spend the most time in.
You have to fall in love with the effort required for you to get from that metaphorical A to B. That’s where the magic in longevity lies.
