“Failure is usually from want of energy than want of capital.”
~ Daniel Webster
How would your life change if you had more energy? What would you do differently if you weren’t always so tired? It’s a Catch 22. Exercise gives us more energy but we need energy to exercise and because we don’t have any we choose the couch instead. BUSTED. If this sounds like you you’re not alone, and I want to hear from you. READ ON:
Imagine your perfect energy-filled day. You wake up before your alarm and feel refreshed and excited about the day that lies ahead. You’re up early enough that you don’t need to rush out the door, so you make a proper breakfast and enjoy the morning with your family. As you glance at the newspaper headlines you make a plan to walk the dog before you leave for work, and remind yourself to pack your lunch and a bag for the gym. You have a noon workout scheduled with a friend. You’re excited to get to the office so you can finish that proposal you’ve been working on, and begin preparing the presentation that will help sell it. You love your job. You work hard at it, but you also value time with family and friends so you created a schedule that allows for maximum productivity without the long hours. You get more done in four hours of work than most people do in a full day. It’s amazing what you can get accomplished when you’ve got energy and clarity on your side. You leave the office before rush-hour and have time to spend with your kids before making a nice dinner together with your spouse. Since you don’t have to bring your work home with you, the evening is about family, friends, fun, and relaxation. You’ve got your health, a sense of life balance, and energy to spare. Life is good. Actually, life is GREAT!
“HA! Are you kidding me?” You get up early only because you have to. You don’t have time to eat breakfast. You commute to work in your car every day for at least 30 minutes in each direction and mainline coffee from morning until 2pm. Around 9:00 a.m. you grab a doughy treat at the coffee place near your office. You sit at your desk for the better part of 8 hours a day with the occasional stretch for the phone, or ‘anaerobic burst’ to rush for the elevator at quitting time. Lunch requires a trip down to the food court so you get a bit of exercise then, but you don’t have time to workout. You don’t have the energy either. By the time you get home you can’t see straight for exhaustion so if you had a dog it would be overweight too. Your kids know not to bug you because you’re usually tired and irritable, or snoring on the sofa before dinner. If you are involved in activity with them it’s usually sitting at the side of the playground watching them climb and play. You channel surf for a few hours after dinner then fall into bed by 10:00 pm dog-tired, still wired, and wishing for a magical solution to get energy now.”
Which description is more like you?
As frustrating and depressing as it may sound, far more people identify with the second scenario over the first. We’re tired, wired, and ready to drop. These days we’re working more than ever, spending less time with our friends and family, and inevitably watching our health and happiness drift away. We are far more familiar with stress, sleep deprivation, fast food, and lack of exercise than we are with health, vitality, and vibrancy.
BE IN MY BOOK! I want to hear your stories, struggles, strategies and successes, with exercise, health, and taking care of yourself!
Here is what I’d like to know? If you’re currently not taking care of yourself the way you should, what are some of the major reasons why? Click here to complete a short NEED ENERGY survey.
If you are able to keep yourself on your self-care priority list I’d love to know the strategies you use or your story about triumph over struggle. Click here to complete a short GOT ENERGY survey.
Read JACKIE’S story below!
Thank you in advance!
WHATEVER IT TAKES (Jackie’s story)
A woman from a past audience shared her struggle with finding time to exercise. Jackie was a single mom to two school aged kids and also worked full-time as a paralegal at a busy downtown law firm. Her mornings were filled with getting the kids off to school, she often had meetings through lunch hours, and she usually had to leave the office right away at the end of the day, to beat the traffic and pick up her kids. Apart from getting up at 5:00 am (a move she simply wasn’t prepared to make) she couldn’t figure out how to fit in fitness. After hearing my presentation on overcoming barriers to exercise something clicked for Jackie. At that presentation she remembered me saying “10 minutes of doing is better than the hour you were thinking about doing, so just get moving.” She started using her coffee breaks to go for a walk – twice a day, 10 minutes each time. At first she was surprised by how tired she felt walking just 10 minutes, but then she hadn’t been exercising at all, and 10 minutes was more than she was used to. She kept at it and within weeks she was adding in stair climbing and even jogging into those 10 minute efforts. She started calling her breaks ‘get moving’ sessions to motivate herself to get to it on days she was talking herself out of it. A sign above her computer said “Get MOVING Jackie!” in bold print. On days she didn’t feel like walking she’d tell herself out loud “Get MOVING Jackie, it’s only 10 minutes!” She began to really look forward to her exercise breaks not only for the energy the movement gave her, but for the sense of satisfaction she felt when she was done. She said the walks gave her way more energy than a coffee and muffin ever could. Over the first 2 and a half months of her new exercise regime Jackie dropped 12 lbs, felt more energized at work, and even had the get-up-and-go to add in a couple of after dinner exercise efforts with her kids. She even started dating again. Some of her co-workers have started to join her on her daily walks now too.
No one says exercise has to happen in giant leaps in order to be effective. Jackie embraced the Whatever It Takes mentality and look where it took her!
