5 Ways to Avoid Indolence
Believe you can and you’re halfway there.
- Theodore Roosevelt
Here’s what I’ve realized about running.
I don’t ever want to do it.
My son is helping me train to run a marathon. Easy for him, he’s ran a marathon, but for me, it’s a bucket list thing, something I can say I accomplished. But a marathon is not something you can bullshit your way through. It’s 26.2-miles of grit and there ain’t no way around it. I’m holding off commitment until I know how my body will respond to high mileage, so it may end up being a half-marathon. I did commit to a recent 5k (and won 1st place in my age group) and I committed to two Spartan Races in Grand Rapids coming up in July.
As anyone who runs will tell you, it’s the starting it that sucks. It always feels fantastic when you’re done. Before I start, my legs always feel stiff. Something always hurts. My breathing sucks. And off I go. One foot in front of the other.
I fight off excuses like age or pain. There are those rare days when I’m motivated to run. Being motivated makes it so much easier. Let’s go people, get motivated!
This lesson is about avoiding indolence; to complete things when you’re not motivated. To be indolent is to avoid activity, to be lazy. At the end of the day, anyone can complete things when they’re motivated. No matter what the task is, when you’re motivated to do it, you get excited, you’re enthusiastic. The hard part, the work, is doing things, and completing them, when you’re not motivated at all.
I’ve managed to complete every run for the past seven weeks. I hope I can keep it up. Sometimes it’s not convenient. Sometimes it just plain sucks ass. But I feel like the first time I miss a scheduled run, the whole thing will come off the rails. Then I’ll start missing them all the time.
I must stay relentless. I can’t skip a day, which means that I must run when I’m not motivated.
Honestly, that’s what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. Successful people, and I mean people who are successful at anything, know that you’re going to be unmotivated far more often than when you’re motivated.
And they do it anyway.
That’s why they win. That’s why you can’t catch them.
So, how do you overcome a lack of motivation? I wish I could tell you it’s easy, but it’s not. God knows why so many of us struggle with it. In fact, if you are one who fails to perform when motivation is lacking, it is highly unlikely you will ever change that. However, it can be done, and you have the capability to do it. Here are 5 things to help get you started:
1. Train yourself to stop making excuses. Accept that you are sabotaging yourself. Say it out loud. I’m making excuses and I am sabotaging myself. Accountability starts with you. Then go do your walk or run, rain or shine.
2. Sign up for a challenge – a 5k, or 10k, a Spartan Race, anything. Sign up for something you need to train for. If you’ve paid the fee and signed up for something, it’s harder to make excuses.
3. Stop breaking the promises you make to yourself. Follow through. Complete the tasks you laid out. Stick to the diet you swore you’d stick with. Avoid the habit you swore you’d quit. Reach out to the loved one you swore you’d call.
4. Associate with people you want to emulate. Find people who do what you want to do and learn by association. Build the right relationships; not the ones that make you feel bad about yourself, but the ones that spark your desire to do better.
5. Stop lying to yourself. Common lies we tell ourselves: it’s not my fault, I deserve <said thing>, I’ll do it later, once the holidays are over, I’ll start <said thing – diet, exercise, etc.>, and the list goes on and on.
No one changes anything overnight. It’s repetition, it’s discomfort, it’s failure, and it’s starting again. Transforming into a person of action is not to avoid uncertainty, it is to take action in the face of it.
I’ve learned this lesson, but I still struggle. This blog is a perfect example. How many months did I go without posting anything?
You can do better than me, I promise you that. Listen to influencers who challenge you and do as I do, not as I did.
Your effort, your choice, your life!
Finish line of the Spartan Beast, Cincinnati
David Odle is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, consultant, and author. He spent seven years in the military, primarily in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is a Spartan Race competitor, an avid fitness fan, and a 5k enthusiast. David's mission is to help people transform into better versions of themselves by tapping into their dormant capability. If you want David’s help, please visit www.davidodle.com and schedule your free consultation today!