You Did It! How Simply Getting Started, Gets “It” Done.
My wife and I have this ongoing joke when we get into the car. We will often say, “We did it!” even though we’re just pulling out of the driveway to go do whatever it is we claimed to have just done.
We haven’t actually “done it” yet, but if we’ve bothered to get dressed, get in the car, and start moving towards whatever “it” is, it really is as good as done.
When you think about doing something you might not be excited about (perhaps your workout), it’s much easier to think about the beginning steps of getting started, rather than the possible discomfort that you might experience during exercise, despite the fact that we all know we will feel better once we’re done!
So what are the easy beginning steps?
Put your exercise clothes on.
Get yourself a water.
Get into your car and drive to the gym OR walk into your home exercise space.
Start moving forward with your workout without thinking about how long you have to do anything. Simply start moving.
Many of us spend a ridiculous amount of time procrastinating and thinking about all the reasons we don’t want to do something, rather than simply getting started and allowing ourselves to feel good about our achievements.
Once we get started, we really have done it!
Another trick you can use when you don’t feel like doing something is to set a timer and just commit to that amount of time. I often do that when I start writing because I don’t love being on the computer.
It’s not a big deal to write and I actually use up more mental (and physical) energy by avoiding something I want to get done (this blog) yet our brains continue to fight us.
Just get started and commit to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour, whatever is realistic to you. The really cool thing that happens is that once you are moving forward, you gain momentum and want to keep going.
You feel good doing something you know is good for you or is simply something you wanted to get done.
It doesn’t matter what your “it” is, simply start, and you did it!
A final important note is that most things really don’t need to be perfect. If your workout is 45 minutes but you only have time to do 20 minutes, that’s great. You will have done something to improve the quality of your health, so you can be happy about that.
Action Steps:
Think of something you’ve been putting off that would feel really good to check off your “to do” list.
If you have time today, get started on this task. Once we get started, we often want to keep moving forward if time permits.
Let yourself say, “I did it!” once you get started. It’s entertaining and becomes mostly true.
