It doesn’t matter how fast you go, as long as you don’t stop.
(Confucius)
Physical fitness is the cornerstone of the Seven Foundations of Health.
A cornerstone is the first stone in the building of a structure. In the case of your health and happiness, it is the most important stone. Without it, the entire structure crumbles. The way I see it, you can’t be much good to anyone or anything without your health.
I have been exercising regularly for more than forty years. Exercising is as much a part of my daily life as brushing my teeth. Like personal hygiene, I make it a non-negotiable activity. I just do it, whether I “feel like it” or not…I almost always feel better after.
Consistent exercise is a personal productivity booster. It makes me stronger, healthier, and happier. Physical fitness is like fuel. It creates energy for the other foundations of health: mental fitness, spiritual fitness, financial fitness, love, adventure, and significance.
Committing to consistent, lifelong exercise comes naturally for me. Recently, I have been wondering why since so many other people seem to struggle with it. I believe this is because of several techniques and tactics I use daily.
Here is the philosophy I have developed and practiced every day. I hope it will help you succeed in establishing a commitment to lifelong exercise.
1. Do what you enjoy.
To get in shape and maintain fitness, you have to move. That can mean running, hiking, swimming, playing a sport, gardening, rowing, yoga, pilates, etc. Try different activities and identify the ones you like and have fun doing.
2. Do it regularly.
I make an effort to do some form of exercise nearly every day, and plan to keep doing so for the rest of my life.
3. Don’t give it back.
It takes work and dedication to get in shape. Once you reach a certain level of fitness, determine that you will not give it back. I learned long ago that we lose fitness three times faster than we gain it. So if you take a week off, you lose three weeks. It’s not worth it.
4. Do it slowly.
Be careful and take your time getting into shape. Then, and only then, think about staying in shape for life. A common mistake people make is starting too fast and going too hard. Another is expecting immediate results even when it took years to get out of shape. Inevitably they get injured, or they cannot sustain the pace they have set, or they don’t meet the high expectations they created for themselves – and they give up.
So lighten up but don’t give up. Show up and don’t quit. Go easy, go often and keep going every day.
As Lao Tzu proclaimed more than 2,500 years ago, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Begin your journey today, and never look back!
Image via Unsplash
Many people simply don’t enjoy physical movement. Type of activity is irrelevant. We are goal focused, and often burn out after achieving the weight loss, or running the first race. Our hearts find no meaning in activity.
Dear Anonymous, thank you for writing. I can understand your comments, especially if you have created a lifelong habit of being inactive. As Issac Newton’s first law of motion states: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
I strongly believe that human beings are design to be active beings. I encourage you to find one activity in your life that brings you joy. And then slowly keep that activity in motion as you create a new lifelong habit of activity.
No matter what you decide, I wish you all the happiness you can imagine!!
I don’t personally believe in point 1 as necessary, i.e. to do something physical that you enjoy. This used to be my premise, and I’d argue it as follows:
1. If you do any activity, x, you enjoy, then you are more likely than not to feel motivated to do activity x.
2. I like x given activity.
C. I am more likely than not to feel motivated to do x.
The problem with this syllogism, though sound on the surface, is it presumes that you are always going to be in the same mood with activity x. Yes, if you have multiple possible activities, then you’d most likely be fine to take the initiative for each given activity and if there are sufficiently many, then you would do enough to cover the time. However, it isn’t necessary that you have multiple possible activities, and if one day you are NOT motivated to do it, then it could be detrimental to one’s chances of continuing the activity in the future.
Rather, what I find is worth considering is what the other poster has stated. You look towards the goal, and that goal is personal, rather than towards the actual pleasure or enjoyment gained. This argument is structured as follows:
1. If you have a given goal, then you are likely to work to achieve it.
2. You have a certain goal.
C. You are going to work to achieve it.
This argument is free from the factor of whether you like the activity or not, and so this actually fits beyond just exercise alone. Take, for example, studying for an exam. You might hate the subject, but you have the goal of achieving a high mark. So the only motivation you need is to believe in a certain goal.
I am not aiming to state all of this just to argue that feeling motivated by things you enjoy is a bad thing. Rather, I am saying that taking a goal oriented view, irrespective of the amount one enjoys an activity or not, is a viable alternative view and I would argue, very highly effective due to the reduction of emotional involvement.
Dear Anonymous,
I completely agree that working to achieve a goal is a wonderful and important motivator. I guess in my Philosophy for Lifelong Exercise, striving for the goal of health and wellness is assumed.
I write at length about how to bring the things you want or desire into your life (whether it is something you may want to do or something you may have to do) in my book Turning Inspiration Into Action. The Process is based on answering three questions. 1) What inspires you? In your example, achieving a high mark on a class. 2) Why is it important to you? Perhaps you’re in school to become a doctor and cure people from disease. And then 3) How will you bring it into your life? By studying hard, going to all my classes, and achieving high marks even in subjects that I hate…
Thanks again for your deep thinking and questioning :)
I wish you every success you can imagine in the New Year!!!