The good thing about identifying that your procrastination stems from a physical source, then there are some easy solutions to lethargy. The con is… it’s like going on a diet. Change a pattern requires you to actually change some things you are currently doing, and if you want the results of higher energy and more motivation, you are going to have to keep on doing that new pattern until it becomes your new habit; that is the tricky but not impossible.
A) Retrain Your Mind for Energy
“But, I don’t want to get up.”
“The weather is bad.”
“I don’t feel like it right now… maybe later.”
The dynamic of procrastination is simply deciding you don’t want to do something, then casting around for justification not to do it. A procrastinator may use excuses to convince others, but the prime target is themselves. Truly lethargic individuals are experts in coming up with creative and compelling excuses to get out of physical activity.
Consider this situation: Imagine for a moment, you were home alone, late at night, and you felt something brushing on your leg. You look down to see a large scorpion crawling on you.
Motivation is no longer an issue. You don’t need inspirational music, special pep drinks, energy bars to get yourself “charged up” to do something. Scorpion on leg… and you are alert and active.
You may think, “Yeah, but there isn’t a scorpion on my leg.” Don’t be too sure about that. Habitual lethargy is an invisible scorpion. Extended physical inactivity can lead to a variety of physical and mental problems, from heart disease to clinical depression. Both are far more dangerous than a scorpion; because when see a scorpion you immediate consider it a threat and take action. Pathological lethargy is the killer you never see coming; it eats away at you through your own habits.
Those excuses that keep you on the sofa are dangerous. G.T.F. UP! Shake it off. Every time you make a lethargic choice, you make it easier and easier to give into that pattern. Every time you make a simple choice to engage in any action, it becomes easier.
Start Small
Going out for a walk doesn’t mean that you need to run a marathon. Start with a short walk to the end of the block and back. The next day, walk around the block. If that is too easy, scale it up. Try running the distance. A friend of mine worked as a security guard and was unhappy with his lack of physical activity. He was a huge guy (six and a half feet tall and about 290lbs), yet he sprinted to work each night, not run or jog, he was going flat out. The first time he tried, he managed half a block. But soon it was half a block and a tree, then it was a block. Every day, he would try to beat his past record; he wasn’t competing with anyone other than himself. Within two months he could sprint like a Roman soldier the full distance of 4 kilometres. Most of his younger slender friends were stunned as he could out pace them in a foot race. He never started out with that in mind, his exceptional speed and endurance came from a simple choice to go a little further each day.
So start small, go out for a walk. Walk your dog, walk someone else’s dog, take the kids with you. Walk in the woods, walk in a park, walk around your home three times. Get some fresh air to clear your head. It works wonders. If you a 106 years old and bed ridden, figure out what you can do. This may involve someone rolling you outside for a bit or just stretching your arms.
Walking is a great low impact activity to start with. Later you can scale it up into more interesting and more aerobic activities. In addition, the repetitive nature of walking gives your mind a break from worries. This mental rest time, through physical exertion can be even more productive than continually banging away on something that isn’t working. Often when you come back from your walk you will find that you have new ideas or new ways of tackling problems which stymied you before. Indeed break times can be highly productive.
B) Make Exercise Part of Life Style
There are many benefits to having a fit body. You gain more strength, agility, and endurance. You are more sexually attractive, will have a longer life, have higher regeneration from disease and injury. Mentally you will experience greater motivation, higher alertness, and your thought process will be quicker. There are many benefits for good health. Yet human beings often think that the cost of something must be in proportion to the benefits received. So we believe that to have good health you must join an expensive gym, you need personal trainers and make a large time commitment. Terms like “commitment, force of will, or no pain, no gain” are common in fitness circles. In their mind they make a big deal out of the “job” of becoming healthy; yet in reality good health is it is only a function of small choices made every day.
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to get in shape, to which every gym in every city can attest to. Gyms and fitness clubs always have a massive surge of new members in the first week of January. Gyms also know about procrastination and incorporate it in their business model. Contracts usually require monthly membership fees for a full year, whether or not they show up. And with their resolution freshly in mind, people are happy to agree.
After a few weeks of working out, people realize work involved. It is hard, they are not used to physical stress. They look forward and see a whole year of pumping iron, lifting weights, and eating bland food. This cuts into their time when they could hang out with friends, watch TV or do more relaxing things. Then they ask themselves if it is worth the effort and procrastination sets in. Statistically, 90% will drop out before they complete the year. This is why gyms are also relatively empty in December and why they insist on a contractual obligation to pay fees for the full year.
It is easy to become discouraged when you consider the vast amount of work required for a goal to become realized. It doesn’t help matters when you look into the past and recall past lethargic behaviour. One could logically conclude that you aren’t cut out to be fit.
There IS only NOW
Here is an absolute truth… “Tomorrow” and “Yesterday” do not exist. They are purely mental constructs. The only time you can take action is in the now. When we dream about the future or reminisce about the past, we do so at the cost of the present. Dwelling too much on the future or past can distract you from being in the moment and acting in the moment.
Working out is not, and should never be, a big deal. It is only one step and then another. You are making a small choice in the immediate moment of now. If you have a simple little workout, it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t mean you have to do a bigger workout tomorrow, and it doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t do a workout yesterday. The only thing that matters is the choice you make in the moment of now. In reality, this is the only moment there is.
Right now you made a choice to read this book. Right now you are re-evaluating how you think about tasks. These little choices, little evaluations seem insignificant by themselves. It is like moving pebbles. Pebbles don’t require effort to move. Toss one, toss two, toss three. If you make a habit of tossing pebbles, you may toss a hundred or a thousand without notice. Soon you have moved a mountain and didn’t even notice its passage. Books like this add small ideas one after another. In the same way as tossing pebbles, the landscape of your mind is altered without effort. You can apply this to a fitness goal or any other goal you value. It isn’t about setting a goal, or what you will do tomorrow. It is only about that one small action you do right now. Then make a habit of it. When tomorrow happens, do another small action now. You only live in the now.
Some of the healthiest people live in rural settings. Very few farmhands go to a gym as building fences, milking cows, chasing horses, repairing barns, feeding pigs, and tilling the soil provides a great deal of physical exercise as part of their lifestyle. You don’t need to move out to a farm but consider adding activities which provide you with exercise. If it is no big deal to exercise, then you are more likely to do more of it.
This next activity is a guided brainstorm for physical fitness activities. Remember, if you have ideas are outside the scope of the exercise, make note of them as they occur to you. Start by thinking in terms of locations you frequent and what sort of exercise would be appropriate for those locations. Place a check mark on any of these activities you enjoy and try to add a few of your own. Feel free to print out the following pages for your own use.
Activity Worksheet
Home-based activities:
□ Gardening.
□ Cleaning Up.
□ Turn the music on and dance.
□ Prepare a home workout using dynamic tension exercises.
□ YouTube an aerobic or yoga lesson and follow along.
□ If you live in an apartment, use the stairs rather than an elevator.
Other items: _______________________________
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Neighbourhood based activities:
□ Walking; take the dog out for a walk, take the baby out in a stroller.
□ Wash your car, wash someone else’s car.
□ Do a photographic journey (walking around town, and upload photos to Google maps)
Other items: _______________________________
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Park based activities:
□ Walk the trails,
□ Do Tai Chi or Yoga after work.
□ Measure a park trail and see how fast you can run it. Can you improve your speed the next day?
Other items: _______________________________
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Friend focused activities:
□ Go to a night club and dance.
□ Attend a Zumba Class (Brazilian Aerobics).
□ Go hiking.
□ Go swimming in a natural place (Lake or Ocean).
□ Run on a track, Work out in a gym, go swimming.
Other items: _______________________________
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Another Location: ____________________________
5 things I can do there:
1_______________________________
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3_______________________________
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5_______________________________
Another Location: _____________________________
5 things I can do there:
1_______________________________
2_______________________________
3_______________________________
4_______________________________
5_______________________________
