Are you DISCOURAGED?

When you start something new, try being an underachiever at first.  Then slowly work your way into increasing your intensity or effort when you feel good about what you’ve already accomplished.  In other words, use the energy you gain from feeling accomplished to add a little bit more to your effort or set a slightly larger goal to reach.

I love this way of being and have used it over the past month to add cardio back into my exercise routine.  Even though, my cardio strength was definitely lacking, I was simply not looking forward to doing cardio.  And I don’t underestimate how much I really didn’t want to do it.   However, I knew it was something I needed to do for my health, so I decided to start out by walking on the treadmill for at least 12 minutes a few times per week.  Slowly but surely I began to run for small spurts and felt energized by my progress.  As I felt energized by my progress, I added a minute to my time and easily worked up to 18 minutes per session.  18 minutes of cardio may not seem like a lot to some people, however it was an amazing accomplishment for me, as I wasn’t doing any prior to this.

Being an underachiever was an easy way to begin cardio again.  And most importantly, I didn’t feel the extreme pain I could’ve felt if I forced myself to do the standard 20 minutes right off the bat.  Instead of going into it “totally pumped up and excited” and overdoing it, I chose to slowly work my way into it.   The slow approach helped me to avoid being sore and exhausted and not wanting to continue.  It was a great way to honor myself for accomplishing small goals and increasing the goal as my body & mind were ready.

I saw a great motto in a beautiful boutique in laguna Beach last week that said, “Plan for longevity.”  It really hit me in the heart!  Although, it is a simple concept, I found it to be profound.  Since I saw that motto, I have been adjusting many of my life goals and plans and adding in “longevity”.  When we allow ourselves to slowly add new things into our life and are steady in our pace, we can run a marathon’s distance with grace instead of sprinting into exhaustion.  It is much more enjoyable that way and I have definitely found it to be a much more successful way of being in my life!

Try it this week with something you want to add into your life.  Sprinkle it in slowly and keep building upon it.

Add a comment below and answer this question:  What have you been discouraged to do that you really want to begin?

For example, I have been discouraged to add cardio into my exercise routine and I want to begin!