I dare you to challenge yourself
The day after Thanksgiving I found myself at a Spin class at 5:45am next to the girlfriend who invited me (thanks, Erin, of InnSide Nevada City blog fame) saying, "wow! you made it!" which is still pretty much how I feel 2 months later.
Each morning I'm impressed that:
- I made it
- I made it early enough to choose a bike I want
- I'm able to adjust the bike to my fit (this involves knobs and coordination)
- I remembered to bring water
- I didn't run anyone over between yawns on my way to the gym
- I didn't puke or pass out in class
- I'm smiling & sometimes (very quietly) singing along to the workout music
- I'm able to say: see you next class! to fellow spinners
This list goes on, and I've realized that this list is the very reason why I get up so frickin' early at least 3 days a week. This weird list is all things I'm proud of myself for.Throughout the day this list serves as a reminder that:
- I already did something amazing today.
- I'm awesome. This is the stuff I'm made of.
- If I could handle that challenge at 5 am, I can handle whatever challenge is coming up right now.
Before starting this new 5:05 am (I still can't bring myself to get up at 5 for some reason), dare I say it, routine, I often started my day beating myself up somehow. I'd get up late or have coffee or spend time on Facebook... whatever it was, I was never quite satisfied with how my day started. Shawn Tuttle writes about these "Morning Demons" over on The Natural Professional blog.
My thinking shifted when talking with Shawn. My mind is still resisting the dreaded R-word (routine), yet I'm bringing back my old routine of getting up early for exercise that I followed for years just with a different mindset.
Now I'm not just getting up for exercise, I'm getting up to start my day with a challenge. The challenge sounds yucky: get up early and drag your butt to the gym. In Chicago my challenge was to get up and go running no matter how cold it was outside (there was no time limit). But the results of the challenge are the same: I feel awesome and accomplished just for doing the challenge. All by 7 am. No bragging needed to anyone other than myself.
For me, a morning challenge doesn't work at 9 am. That's too late. That's key brain power work time. I need the challenge to be exactly that — a challenge. Something that pushes me and my limits quite a bit but not so much that it breaks or hurts me. 5:05 am is definitely a challenge, yet I've learned, despite months of resisting invitations, that it's within my limits. (who knew? yay, Kathy!)
Now if I break down and have coffee, instead of beating myself up, I think, you deserve this after that Spin class this morning. I'm not using it to justify bad behavior, yet I do notice a generally more positive flow of thoughts through my head happening naturally (what a relief!).
One thing I have noticed in this change of mindset: I am aware if there hasn't been a challenge. So I do need to continually push myself in Spin class. I'm tacking on some other classes after Spin or on other mornings. Part of this is to keep things challenging (aside from the daily challenge of simply getting up) and new. Part of it in this specific example probably has to do with some lactic acid-adrenaline chemical thing that I don't totally understand but truly appreciate as I feel lighter and more energized all day if I work really hard and actually sweat. Mindless gym time sucks because then I'm just left tired... not motivation, no energy, a general disappointment about being awake so early.
What if you don't go to the gym everyday?
On days that I don't go to the gym I come up with some other challenge. I may sleep in a bit and then dare myself to write a blog post before work or simply try to shower-dress-eat in a set amount of time. Whatever it is, I'm enjoying this new key to motivation on the days that I need it (bonus: it helps me truly enjoy those decadent days off).
So, yes. I need a daily challenge to pretty much just get out of bed in my lovely life. I know it's not climbing Mt. Everest, but I'm convinced that this mindset shift will help me tackle some of those problems that feel like climbing the world's largest mountain because my brain is very good at exaggeration, and I'm trying to whip it into shape (all while possibly shedding a few pounds :).
Some other (non-daily) fun challenges I've done are:
- Bouldering (where I'm pretty much convinced I will die everytime)
- the Polar Bear Plunge in Chicago (not bad... I'm always game!)
- run the Chicago Marathon (next time, start with a half marathon)
- Sky Diving (I'll try anything twice!)
- my first Triathlon (looking for another!)
- and an Artist Challenge that has either been too challenging or not challenging enough
(verdict is still out... challenge has been unsuccessful according to my initial parameters).