Jumping Off a Cliff

Once you jump off a cliff, there is no way you can stop til you hit the water.

I know a few people that were inspired by someone to go out and exercise.  They worked hard for a week... and by the second week, they stopped exercising.  So what happened?  Did some family emergency cause them to focus on something that was more important?  Well, it was because they lost the inspiration.  The motivation driving them forward dropped, and they lost the will to push forward.  Actually, you might know of people that are like that... or maybe you ARE one of those people that are like that.  You read an article or listen to a speaker, and you're pumped up and ready to go.  By the time the next day rolls around, that feeling has already begun to be depleted, and as time goes on, you end up back where you were.

What can you do if you are one of those people that lose the motivation and get back into your old lifestyle?

Jump!

Jump off the cliff so that there is no way you can turn back.  Make it a decision that you make that you have to follow through.  For some, the decision is signing up for a 5k and training to run that race.  For others, it'll be telling all their friends about their plans on getting healthy and running every day.  Find a cliff you can jump off of, and make that bold move to force yourself to submit to your choice.  Making a decision and actually following it is a different story.  We have a hard time when it comes to changing habits, and although it can be a good decision, we stick with the traditional things because that's what we're used to.  We're used to waking up later so that we could get that extra hour of sleep.  We're used to going back home and sitting down on the couch and taking a break after a long day of work.  We don't want to get up early to go running, and we don't want to work out after we get off work.  It's hard, it's different, and we want to just relax.  The temptation is sometimes too strong, and we make the choice of not going.  Sure we can be inspired to work out for a couple of days, but after those couple days are over... we just get back to where we are.

I want to encourage everyone to find that cliff to jump off of, to make that decision and go for it.  Changing not just a week or two, but a life.  Changing direction and trudging along is hard, jumping is easier.  Some people can just change direction and trudge on towards it.  Others need a push to get them to that point.

For the things I'm passionate about, I can trudge towards the change that I want to make, but for things that I'm not passionate about, I need that cliff to jump off of.  Fortunately, my running is a passion of mine, and I am trudging along, working towards my goal, one step at a time.  This morning, I ran 5.06 miles in 49:13, a 9:52 average, and at night, I walked around for over an hour.  Each step I take is a step towards my goal.

Let's all jump and trudge on towards our goals!