The Unexpected Benefits

I had heard from many people that exercise does more than just help your body... But I had no idea that it would have an massive impact on certain areas of my health and well being. Most notably:

• Energy levels
• Productivity
• Self Motivation

It really is crazy how much a 30 second exercise can lead to a dramatically different life in just a few weeks. But here I am. Feeling 3 times the man I was only a few months ago. And it all started by doing a single 30 second plank 5-6 times a week.

Sadly 30 seconds was all I could manage at the beginning. But I am cutting myself some slack since I am a 40+ year old gamer / computer guy who never played sports or anything. So yeah, I started "working out" with a tiny 30 freakin' seconds a day. Sounds lame? If it does sound lame, lemme ask you this:

Do you even do that much yourself?

If you answered yes, then sweet! Rock on, you're doing better than me and that's awesome! But if you answered no... how about you definitely keep reading. ;-)

How I started

After a week or two of just doing those planks (forward elbow plank if you're wondering) I started to introduce a few other things into the mix. I had succeeded at the tiny habit forming and needed to expand using my new found motivation and successes! (See the life changing book Atomic Habits from the My Reading List)

It really started with a single 30 seconds every night and each week I added another 10 seconds to that. Then within weeks I had added additional exercises! I think the entire workout didn't start being more than 3 minutes until almost two months!

How It Changed Me

I always thought it was cool that people said exercise had all these other benefits besides a better bod. But I had no idea. I used to have my energy crash out when I got home from work. Now I work out immediately after work and I am moving solid for another 6 hours each day!

And to go along with that I am getting sooo much more stuff done. At home, here, everywhere. Because I have the energy to do it! Which translates into getting stuff done!

For me the biggest challenge was self motivating. And learning the discipline of working out has given me the chance to flex that internal "muscle" known as self motivation. The ability to motivate yourself, rather than having someone tell you or give you a reason to do something. Sadly working out was easier than pushing myself to draw more. Which is odd because I don't enjoy exercise, but I do enjoy creating and drawing... Ah but thus is the human condition...

I do the things I don't want to do, and don't do the things I should be doing.

So yeah if you are having issues getting motivated to do something, try getting motivated to do something else that's easier. Because that will give you strength and success that you can then use to tackle the thing you truly desired.

What's The Plan?

Slowly build a future that's different from my past. Different from my present. I have risked much in my lifetime, only to lose much. I have squandered much money, and more importantly much time. And time is the one resouced you can't get back. You can't make more of it. Every second of your life that ticks by is gone to the winds of the universe. So I am focusing hard on not wasting any more seconds. I am tired of paying a steep price for my own lack of doing something about it!

I'll leave you with this words of wisdom:

"You may say that being disciplined is hard. I am going to tell you choose your pain. You can choose the pain of discipline or you can choose the pain of regret."
-Pastor Craig Groeschel (Leadership Podcast #47)

The Practice Journey