Gotta Push Yourself Til Your Butt Hurts

I awoke this morning shortly after 5AM and went downstairs to hit the treadmill.  Like many of us I started off this year with the grand goal of getting into shape and I even did a pretty decent job right up until March.  Then the notorious "sleeping in bug" caught up with me.  Little son of a gun I never saw him coming!

The alarm would go off and those warm comfortable arms would wrap around me and pull me deeper into the labyrinth of soft sheets and wistful slumber.  The soft breathy "no baby stay in bed" would whisper ever so gently in my ear.  That soft kiss of that scrunchy pillow enveloped me while giving me the excuse of maybe you can get up tomorrow but stay, stay right here and catch a few more winks with me convinced me that there was no better place in the world than my bed.


No it wasn't my wife I'm talking about...she would groan after she would smack me in the head and turn over  - more annoyed that I had disturbed her slumber with that horrible clock radio.  It was the excuse machine kicking into high gear - ready to claim it's next victim.  And me? I fell for it like a big haired screaming woman running from a killer with a chain saw.  I dropped by purse, tripped....and gave up crying the whole time saying "why? why? why me?" 

The excuse machine had won.  The rumble of it's chainsaw raised in victory still auspiciously sounding in distance.

Well I'm back on track - sort of.  I've been hitting it pretty hard every morning for a while now. Translation - a little over a week.  But hey you've got to start somewhere.  Don't be a hater!

We all start with grandiose plans - especially at the beginning of the year.  But how many of us actually are still following through?  That's a rhetorical question by the way?  Overachievers need not comment.

The sad fact which, by the way, is supported by some pretty strong scientific studies I can't seem to put my hands on at the moment, most of us have slipped on the original goals we set for ourselves this year.  It's human nature.  We give up or simply take our eyes off the prize for a variety of reasons. Seth Godin tells us in his book The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) (affiliate link) you've gotta push yourself to get through those times when things really start to get hard.  You've gotta get yourself through the dip in order to earn that opportunity, achieve that goal, lose that weight or learn to play better rhythmic guitar (another goal I'm sort of falling short on).

It's easy to give up.  The excuse machine otherwise known as our mind loves to see us take the easy way out.  In fact it relishes in our personal defeat.  But you must persevere.  You mustn't let the opposing forces prevail.  The fate of the galaxy is in your hands!

Wait...too much?  A little over the top?  What you don't think the evil empire is coming for you then fine...keep being lazy, sleep in and grow your belly like it's another appendage.

Oops sorry for that little brain dump outburst.  Still some left over ass kicking juice I consumed myself this morning.

Seriously the only person at the end of the day (or the year) that you either stand to impress or disappoint is you.  After all...it was your goal, your idea, your commitment, your whatever....in the first place.  You and only you can hold yourself accountable.

Gotta push yourself through those dips, walls and other obstacles the excuse machine loves to throw at you because here's the deal....no one else will.  They might say they will but let's face it - they won't.  Not even me.  I have enough problems motivating myself, how in the world do you expect me to motivate you as well?  "Jesus Jim I'm only a doctor!"  Wait...I know your name is not Jim (unless you're my dad or some random dude named Jim that just so happens to read my BLOG) and we both know I'm no doctor (though my wife might say I am the love doctor hmmm if I conveniently plied her with a few extra beers beforehand).  No that was my veiled attempt at a "Bones" Star Trek reference and a weak one at that.

Again too much?  I digress.

In other news my butt hurts so bad this morning after running I worried I wasn't going to be able to put on my pants.  Easy people no need to panic! Put away the cameras, "There's nothing to see here!" (more likely what my wife would say).  I was able to get them on after a fair amount of struggle!  Geez!  But let me tell you as I slipped into my khakis this morning I sure did smile.  Victory over the demons is sure sweet.  Painful but sweet.

Scurry off into another corner excuse machine...I'm gonna win this tug of war and so can you.  Trust me I'm a doctor.

Now where's the Tylenol.

Ripple On!!!