If all we had was time, we wouldn’t get anything done. The reality is we don’t know how much time we have, whether that’d be a lot or a little or none at all. But when it boils down to our dreams and living the life we crave, we always find time to procrastinate and push it off until later. We act as if our lives are timeless. That we have an unlimited amount of tomorrows. That “later” becomes hours, days, months, and usually years. For example, how many years has it been since you said “getting fit” was one of your New Years Resolution’s? Will it be one next year as well?

After years of disciplined working out through tae kwon do and volleyball, I lost my routine once I hit college. I couldn’t get consistent with my workout for years! About three months ago, I decided that I am going to get it back. It all started with Jera Bean (@jera.bean) and her productivity hack where she recommended we set goals for the week. I’ve done this before and it never ended well so I decided I need more. You can set goals all you want but if you’re not achieving them, you have to figure out why. I needed to understand what was preventing me from committing to my goals thus far.

The truth? I was better at doing what is expected of me or what people told me to do…

Typing that out now rubs me the wrong way because I have come to realize how true that is in other aspects of my life as well. It’s as if I voluntarily became a marionette and gave my strings away rather than finding my own drive and purpose for my decisions. I worked out all the time and I enjoyed doing it but in my head, it was also what was expected of me from my coach, from my TKD instructor, and etc. When I went to college, none of those expectations really existed. I played on an intramural volleyball team but not for very long. It just wasn’t the same without a coach and regular practices. I had no personal fitness goals or purpose besides the expected “be healthy” goal.

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Does this resonate with you? If it does, ask yourself: What do I want from working out? This was my answer. I want health. I want strength. I want to be able to climb harder and be a better runner. I want to do this for me as a form of taking care of myself, loving myself, and bettering myself. My workout goal is to workout 3x/week and my climbing goal is to climb 5.12s and V5s. But let’s be real, no matter what your goal is, there will always be days that you really don’t want to commit to but Livia Nieves (@livianieves) shared a quote that has stuck with me so far.

“It’s not motivation that gets you there, it’s discipline.”

So, if you find yourself struggling to fulfill your fitness goals, switch it up. Ask yourself what’s this all for? How do you want to feel? Then find a workout that works for you. If you’re intimidated or lost, do some research, look up videos or ask your friends. Majority of my workout routine now is picked up from opening up the conversation with my friends and trying out different workouts. I also literally read up on how to train for a half marathon and learned so much. I used to not be able to run over 3 miles. Now, with consistent training, I am able to do a 10+ mile run.

Remember, the beginning is usually the hardest part and everyone’s a beginner at some point. Athletic people don’t just become fit overnight. They put the time and effort in and we can too! Instead of feeling shame, humility, lack of confidence and whatever negative feelings you may feel, flip it. Tell yourself, “This is hard but I can do this. I am so excited to make progress towards my goals. It will only get easier.” I honestly love feeling sore after working out. Sure, it’s not the most comfortable feeling but it means I have pushed my boundaries and that I’m getting stronger which is progress towards my goal.

We convince ourselves that it’s so hard to do what is best for us. We make up excuses and start going down this rabbit hole of noes, laters, and tomorows. With that kind of negative mindset, we have the power to so strongly convince ourselves that we cannot take action which means we also have the power to positively change our mindset and convince ourselves that we 100% can take action. Start recognizing that internal dialogue and rewrite it. Remind yourself why. Remind yourself of your progress and growth. Remind yourself of your goals. If we don’t start today, we most likely won’t start tomorrow. Mindset is everything. Nothing will change if you don’t make the conscious decision to change. We can’t wait for “the right time,” the only time we have is now and the later will fall into place.