Dennis Waitley the well known productivity consultant had this to say:
You may know me.
I’m your constant companion.
I’m your greatest helper; I’m your heaviest burden
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am at your command.
Half the tasks you do might as well be turned over to me. I’m able to do them quickly, and I’m able to do them the same every time,
If that’s what you want.I’m easily managed; all you’ve got to do is be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want it done; after a few lessons I’ll do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men and women; of course,
I’m the servant of all the failures as well.
I’ve made all the winners who have ever lived.
And, I’ve made all the losers too.But I work with all the precision of a marvelous computer
With the intelligence of a human being.
You may run me for profit, or you may run me to ruin;
It makes no difference to me.Take me. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Be firm with me, and I’ll put the world at your feet.
Who am I?I’m Habit!
Back in March of 2013 I was skiing and was somewhat horrified to find myself out of breath skiing down a relatively easy run. What had happened was that I had got horrendously out of shape – and it was something that just snuck up on me… My habit of smoking 40 cigarettes a day probably didn’t help either!
Certainly I found that my habits were driving me down and not taking me anywhere near where I wanted to be going in life.
So I resolved to change…
And promptly did nothing about it for 6 months…
Then in September it all changed. I finally started exercising… I did something called the Couch to 5K running program… and this very simple routine that just started off with running for a minute and walking for a minute and a half for a total running time of 8 minutes has turned into a new way of life and has changed the way I eat, live and much more… Indeed I now 5 days a week for about 30 miles and am training for a marathon.
If you had told me several years before hand that this would ever happen and I would be a runner I would probably have laughed at you… Sure I had several times half jokingly mentioned I wanted to run a marathon but never really thought it would happen. Anyway I run my first Marathon in May of this year all being well, and I currently run 30 miles or more a week.
The habit of running led to several other health related things… One of the first things it made me do was stop smoking!
And it has led to other things like a daily yoga practice, better concentration at work, more productive in most areas of my life and additional health benefits including no longer being obese, a much better understanding of what I eat and more willpower when it comes to chocolate and icecream! I also now do weights three days a week.
All of this has pretty much happened by committing to make small changes… Most people can commit to jogging for a minute and if they can’t then they can commit to moving for a minute…
And as we start a New Year I am fairly confident that my new found love of running and exercise will continue to have enormous benefits in my life…
The first of these is that for the next 31 days at least thanks to a 31 day writing and running challenge is that there will be a new blog post every day!
The one really big takeaway from this experience for me is that the decision to change your life may happen overnight, but the way that the changes happen is slowly and gradully over time. One step at a time.. or in the case of me and my running one minute at a time!
Let me know in the comments what you think and whether you have any questions about running or indeed anything else!
I’m grateful for Justin for what he has accomplished this past year. Because I too had let a decent bit of weight gain -35 pounds- creep up on me.
And throughout this past year, Justin has supported and helped me loose it all and train for my own marathon as well, grow my business, be more productive and disciplined… And it all starts with that first step.
When I didn’t “want” to run, I’d see that Justin ran a few miles. So I got out and took my first step.
Now it’s as natural for me to run as it is to breath in air.
Thanks for the support buddy and congrats on all the accomplishments!!
Aww shucks – you are making me blush!
I like that line – Its as natural for me to run as it is to breath in air…. You have always had a way with words I have rather envied!
Here’s to a succesful year of running in 2015 – who knows we may even manage to make it to the same ultra = although I suspect you might lap me! – Youth of today!
Great post. The 31 day challenge will hopefully help me to become consistent again with exercising. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure Andrea – yes I am hoping that the challenge will help me become more consistent with writing – exercise I hope is now as Brandon says in his comment as natural to me as it is to breath in air.
Hope it goes well for you!