Small Habits

Nov 01, 2021

The Holiday season is upon us!

I think we all know what that means! We’re about to be inundated with social events, glorious foods, sweets, and celebrations with some (or a lot of) adult libations. It’s a fun time. It’s a busy time. However, I think we’ll also start to see things pop up from the health and wellness industry too. The Turkey Trot 5k’s, the “How to Avoid the Holiday Weight” advice columns, or the occasional “Holiday Challenge” to gear up for the next year.

In the fitness industry, there an underlying theme of “all or nothing,” “0-100 MPH in 3 seconds,” or “you’re just not committed enough” to your wellness. We’re trying to find ways to motivate people, but, in reality, it’s over stimulating- even overwhelming. However, we all continue to buy into the narrative. 

Let’s take an honest look at the common cycles of fitness motivation:

  • The Buy In: You told yourself you’re going to start a new routine and be committed to the “New Year, New You” mantra. You sign up for the gym, throw out all the snacks, and succumb to eating only celery and carrot sticks.

 

  • The First Wall: You start the consistency. You tell yourself, “It takes 21 days to make a habit… you got this!” The hype is still real, but the workouts are hard, you don’t know what to do, your body is sore, but you’re determined to get to 21 days. Your new mantra is now, “kale smoothies aren’t that bad.”

 

  • The Second Wall: The Kale smoothies start to suck! 6 am workouts are too cold to get out of bed for. Committing to no more drinks has put a dent into your social life so “one Friday night” turned into a weekend of “catching up.” Your motivation is on its last leg. 

 

  • The Third Wall: Motivation is on life support. You haven’t seen the results you expected at this point. Life has gotten busy again. Your “routine” has now become less routine and more of an occasion. Staying to your routine has become a stressor more than a stress reliever.

 

  • The White Flag: Mid-February. The “New Year, New You” is gone by the wayside.

Why do I bring this all up? 

Well, what if we had it all wrong? What if the paradigm of “all or nothing” keeps leading us down the same pitfalls? Aren’t you tired of starting and failing over and over again?

What if it doesn’t have to be all or nothing? Data actually suggests small changes over time still create positive, more reliable results.

If this is true, then we don’t have to wait for the end of the holidays, the New Year, the next challenge, or “the right moment,” we can start right now! 

So here’s my unpopular opinion, motivation is overrated (*gasp*)! 

I know it’s a little counter-cultural, but it’s true. How many times have you stopped going to the gym, a diet, or quit any of your resolutions because you’ve lost motivation? 

What if we stopped relying so much on” motivation” to take us there,  and started relying on small-task consistency over time. Consistency may not be that motivating, until the results of consistency become motivating. That is the ideal order of things of positive change. 

You can start building the easy habits now. Evergreen PT Lab is here for you. Let us help you! We believe in you, we’ll set you up for success by building a community for you to belong to. We’ll provide strength training programs to help you not only move better, but also feel better. And we’ll coach you along the way. We can usually adapt to whatever makes the consistency easier for you.  Classes, 1:1 , early, later, mid-day, “ask a PT” troubleshooting, work out programs, discounts , parking, even fun stuff and a t-shirt. 

So let’s not wait until 2022! Building consistent small habits start today! Now we even have gift cards, so if not yet ready yourself, then you can gift the “small habits, smart health” way to someone you love. Better yet, buy yourself a gift card – and use it as you are ready. 

 

Cheers to lifetime, small habit, smart, health, and to prepping ourselves for the holidays and beyond. 

Isak 

Email me : [email protected] 


 Isak earned his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology-Athletic Training from San Diego State University. From San Diego State, he moved on to work at Azusa Pacific University (APU) as a graduate assistant athletic trainer while earning his Master’s degree in Physical Education. At APU, Isak worked with the Women’s Volleyball, Baseball, and Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams. From there, he spent seven seasons with the San Diego Padres organization as a Minor League Athletic Trainer, working at all Minor League levels. In his off time, Isak enjoys weight lifting, rock climbing, going on the occasional long run, and training for Taco Tuesdays. Isak believes in the power of exercise and movement as medicine and exercise’s ability rewrite the narrative of people’s lives.

 


 

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