by Kerry Taylor
As you progress on your workout journey, you will have days where you just don't feel right. You put in a crazy effort to get somewhere to workout and once you get there, you just want to give up. Simple exercises seem complicated, usual weights seem extremely heavy. You start to say in your head, "you know what, that's it, let me stop while I'm ahead." You start to pack it in and call it a day. We all have these days at some point and go through that battle in our minds. Trust me, I've had many of them. Between working out and practicing for a sport, my mind has told me many times, "Kerry, let's regroup and come back tomorrow." The question I have for you is when you're faced with this feeling, how do you handle it? Do you just pack it in and take it as an "Oh well, I will do it better next time," and then just go home? If you do that, then you potentially can be making one of the biggest mistakes of your life. If you don't, great, but most people do.
I know some of you are saying, "Really, Kerry, biggest mistake of my life? Come on, cut it out." Well, let's think for a moment, why would I make such a huge deal about this? Because you can potentially be weakening your mental fortitude beyond repair. Giving up once, just a little bit can lead to a habit. If you do it once, then the possibility of it happening again is there. I'm sure some of you are thinking, "one time is no big deal." I'm telling you it is because it was easy for you to make that decision and you weren't hurt by the consequences of your decision. So, therefore, there were no repercussions of your actions, which in turn will make it happening again easier the next time you feel that way. Once that habit is created, it will be extremely difficult to break it.
I want to challenge you to work through those days because another step towards greatness awaits you on the other side. Just take a step back, slow your workout down a bit, but stick with it. Turn up the music on your iPod and keep going until you finish what you have planned. Believe it or not, these are the days you get better. It's not always about the physical challenge. Some days the mental is more important. If you can just get through it, even though your're not at 100%, mentally you just raised your game a notch. All that we do starts in our minds, if we can be strong mentally the physical piece will catch up in time. So, next time the thought of giving up on yourself creeps into your head, remember, something is always better than nothing! Until next time, keep striving for greatness, and get 1% better everyday!
