Gold’s Gym and Lane 8

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Last night at Gold’s Gym Orlando in the Dr Phillips area, I meet Pleasant Lewis, the owner of several Central Florida Gold’s Gym facilities.

As a 50-year old, I struggle like everyone else, to find time and motivation to exercise.

This is one of life’s big truths.  We all are given the same amount of time. Successful people figure it out, plan for set backs, never give up and they find a million ways to motivate themselves.

And sometimes, if not more often, the thought of, “Is this worth it?”, enters their mind.

Gold’s Gym, Lifestyle Litness, Bally’s, YMCA’s, all struggle too – with finding a way to inspire people to make a lifetime commitment of healthy living.

I proposed to Pleasant that I could help.  We’ll see if “Goliath” has any interest in “David”.

Gym owners have the same challenge as their customers – finding time to do the important things that make a difference.

Man, It Felt Good

Sure felt good to go for a short run and work out at Gold’s Gym yesterday.

Why?  Because it’s been nearly a week.  Why?  Because I’ve been traveling and working hard.

Got home (from Anchorage, Alaska) about 1AM Thursday morning, got a few hours sleep and taught all day Thursday. Then taught all day yesterday (Friday).

But I refused to let another day go by without exercising.  Sure, I had to get up at 4AM to run and the run wasn’t even half of my usual distance, due to time constraints.  And yes, I was very tired on a Friday afternoon (from travel and a six-day work week).  Did I feel like changing clothes and driving to Gold’s Gym?  Nope.

So what motivated me to go the extra mile?

Simply this.  I’ll be darned if I’m going to give up a decade’s work of life changing health habits because my schedule continues to be challenging.  Here’s a no-brainer: our efforts to get healthy do not matter if we don’t fight hard to win the battle to STAY healthy. Ya with me?

It’s Completely Up To You

What you do today is completely up to you.  Always has been.  Always will be.

Yes, everyone has obligations that must be attended to.  Yes, there are things that come up unexpectedly – and sometimes these events are tragic.

Yes, it’s difficult.  Yes, it’s overwhelming.  Yes, it’s confusing, frustrating, painful and on and on.

Thank you for listening.  You may have thought this was written for you.  Well, sort of.  Mostly though, I write to myself.  So, please don’t take offense to the tone.

If we can’t talk honestly and openly with ourselves, we probably can’t with anyone else either.  And even more than Halloween, that scares the heck out of me.

Did You Exercise Yesterday?

Did you?  Great if you did.  If you had a planned rest day, also great.

But if you didn’t do either in a purposeful way, you get another chance today.

Here are a couple tips, the most critical things, I’ve found to keep a positive momentum:

  • Have a goal, or purpose, bigger than yourself
  • Find the time of day that works best
  • Add it to your calendar (no afterthoughts)
  • Find an easy way to keep track of your progress
  • Forgive yourself if you miss a day, but don’t make it a habit
  • Have fun, stay healthy (injuries demotivate)
  • Carpe diem