Small hurdles can cause big friction. Accept it.
I thought I was better then that. Turns out, I'm not.
I sit (or stand) at a desk most of my awake time and it was time to move my body more.
Super easy, barely an inconvenience. There’s a treadmill 10 feet from my desk.
I can get a quick run in anytime. Before work? After work? Mid-day? How awesome! Solved.
Didn’t happen.
For weeks I tried different things to make it more likely for me to use the treadmill.
I put sneakers, shorts and a t-shirt next to the treadmill. If I had everything I needed right there I’d get a run in, right?
Nope.
That’s fine, I’ll walk. No change of clothes needed. I’ll just put my sneakers on and walk.
Nope, didn’t happen.
Having to take the sneakers elsewhere to sit down and put them on was enough friction to stop me. Fine… that’s fine <sigh>. I took a chair and kept it next to the treadmill and put the sneakers right in front of it.
Still no success.
Weeks passed. The only thing the treadmill was doing for me was causing guilt every time I walked by it.
Finally I figured it out.
It was the tying of my sneakers. That was my problem.
I bought slip-on sneakers and the next day I walked on the treadmill for 15 min.
I was pleased…. and a little pissed.
“Really?”, I thought, “That was it?” (While walking on the treadmill, mind you).
Am I really the kind of person who can’t motivate myself to walk on the treadmill for a measly 15 minutes?
Yes. Right now I am. And I needed to get over it.
I thought that all I needed to do to in order to get my body moving was to A) decide what to do and B) make a plan for it. When that didn’t work I tried more ideas from web posts and books on changing habits, etc.
I kept removing hurdles long after I felt that I should need to.
Sure, I could beat myself up that this shouldn’t have been the problem. It was though. I was not getting on the treadmill.
Here’s a lesson I’m trying to take from this and I’m sharing it in case it helps someone else.
Even what seems like it should be a straightforward task can have obstacles. Small, stupid obstacles.
It’s like pushing a shopping cart and a wheel getting stopped by the smallest pebble.
Recognize them. Don’t beat yourself up over getting blocked by them. Being annoyed with yourself isn’t getting you anywhere. This is where you are right now. The sooner you can see it, the sooner you can make progress.
Take a moment and really see what you don’t want to do - what is stopping you from moving forward? Finding the right application, file or website on your computer? Pulling the appliance out of the cabinet? Having the address or phone number handy? Tying your shoes?
If it turns out your smallest next step is something so small you feel foolish for it even being a hurdle… get over it and make progress.
Whew, this…
I SO RELATE TO THIS..!