In the past 24 hours I heard this message twice so far. Once from a person considering a gym membership, but found out during his trial he does not like to work out. “It's not fun,” he said. Next from someone who finally found a fitness program that worked for her, but said all others she tried fizzled out because after the excitement wore off, it just wasn't fun anymore.
Where is it written that fitness has to be “fun”? Fitness is necessary. Just like brushing your teeth to stay healthy. Is brushing your teeth fun? Did you quit after the novelty wore off when you were six? No. You were taught and understood that brushing your teeth daily was necessary for your health and you just do it.
We need to start changing our perception of fitness. There are just as many choices for fitness as there are toothbrushes for brushing your teeth and it's all a matter of what does the job best for your body. You can change fitness routines like you change toothbrushes, but you don't quit. You get it set in your mind that it is essential for your health, and whether it's “fun” or not doesn't matter.
Everything we do in life has a downside. Nothing and no one is perfect. Even things we like and consider fun, challenge us on some days. There are just days we don't want to take the time to brush our teeth just as there are days we don't want to do our exercises. But we do it. That's the point here, people. We do it.
There is another avenue to consider here. We are raising children and they are watching our every move. I remember my kindergarteners complaining about some tasks we had to do everyday to hone our skills. I had to teach them that we all have to do activities in our daily life that we don't like or don't feel like doing. I used to tell them that I hated cleaning the toilet, but it had to be done and I had to do it whether I liked it or not. I would hope as they grew up they could apply that to exercise and toothbrushing alike.
We need to put this “but it's not fun” attitude aside and just get it done because it needs to be done and it's essential to our physical and mental well-being. Fitness is not entertainment. It's not something you have a choice – to watch or not, or to attend or not. Granted, it is nice when we can find some enjoyment in whatever we choose to do for fitness, but it is not a requirement to get us to do it.
To me, fitness is a serious health issue and that is why I built my second career around it. I have a passion for helping people realize they need to do it. They need to incorporate it into their daily routine. If I can contribute to making it enjoyable for them, it's a bonus, but my main goal is to make it attainable for them. To start where they are and encourage them and make them see that fitness is necessary for everyone.
Don't get me wrong – I do have fun in this job, just as I had fun being a K teacher, but fun wasn't the object. Children have no choice in the matter of going to school and sometimes when hard lessons have to be learned, it's not always fun. Same thing in my gym. My clients have to learn that they have no choice whether to do fitness or not, and it's not always going to be fun because they, too, have some hard things to overcome. And that's where I, the coach, the teacher, come in. I am there for them during the times it isn't fun. If it was always “fun” and never hard, they wouldn't need me and I wouldn't be writing this blog.
My dear readers, if anything I said here today resonates with you, please go find that coach. In fitness, which is not meant to be “fun”, the coach is everything. The coach understands where you're coming from. The coach understands how hard it is to take those first steps and then keep it up after the newness and excitement wear off. The coach has been where you are. Like finding that brand new kind of toothbrush, go find that coach and turn your fitness life into something that is integral to your everyday life.
And so, as another day goes by, remember: EVERYTHING starts with the decision to try, and…I have written. This is for your fridge:
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