I woke up today.
Big news, huh?
Not the usual kind of waking up — although I’m certainly not downplaying the importance of the usual waking up every day.
That’s no. 1 on the gratitude list!
What I mean is this:
I started feeling like I’ve gotten a little complacent lately. I needed something to shake things up a little bit.
For one thing, I’m not as fit right now as I want to be. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for probably a dozen years or so, but not where I want to be — yet. So I decided to add more activity to my daily routine by adding a 30-minute walk to my morning ritual.
The new morning routine that I’ve been following for 98 days now is important, so I’m not going to give that up or change it in a big way, but I decided what I would do is listen to my usual spiritual message first thing before getting out of bed, then instead of going in and sitting on the couch with my coffee and listening to a couple of positive messages and then a meditation, I would go for a walk while I listened to my first positive message, then come back and have some coffee and finish the routine.
This new and improved routine would start this week, on Monday.
Well, guess what?
Monday, it didn’t happen. The truth is, I completely forget about it.
Sometime yesterday, it dawned on me that I didn’t do what I said I was going to do.
So today, I did it.
Not long ago, I might have told myself, “Aw, hell, that’s OK, man. No big deal. You can start next Monday.”
Wrong answer.
If I did that, guess what would likely happen next Monday!
So, this morning, I listened to my spiritual message in bed, then I got up and brushed my teeth and all that good stuff, then found a 40-minute positive message on YouTube, plugged in my ear buds, and went for a walk around the neighborhood.
There were several different speakers during the message and one of them was Tony Robbins, and evidently he was talking around the first of the year because he was talking about New Year’s resolutions and why people either don’t make New Year’s resolutions or why New Year’s resolutions so often fail.
He said the reason they so often fail is because what people actually do is make New Year’s wishes instead of New Year’s resolutions. They want to accomplish something but they don’t ever take any action, or they give up before they accomplish whatever it is.
When I finished that 30-minute walk, it felt really good.
I think it did me more good mentally than physically. I felt a little lighter inside; a little more energized. A little more positive.
Why?
Because I did something I said I was going to do. I didn’t blow it off. Make excuses.
And while I was walking, I refined that goal a little bit, of adding a walk to my morning routine. I thought about it and I made it more realistic and achievable. For now at least, I will walk 30 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, right after my spiritual message. Tuesdays and Thursdays are normally a little busier days for me, so we’ll let things stay the same on those mornings.
Moral of the story?
Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it.
Make your goal realistic and achievable, and don’t make excuses.
Just go do it.
