In one of my regular workouts I mix in a series of sets of pullups. I do a pyramid starting with 1 pull-up, then 2, all the way up to 10. Then I switch to chinups and work my way back down the pyramid from 10 all the way to 1. The total workout takes about 90 minutes and at times is daunting.
Usually, once I get to 5 reps, I’m warmed up and feeling pretty good. But some days, when I’m at the 10 rep sets, I question whether I have the oomph to crank them out.
When that happens, I say to myself, “Just Do 3 reps”. Then I grab the bar and crank out 3 reps. I hang onto the bar and crank out 3 more.Then another 3. Then another 1 until the set is complete.
In more than 900 workouts spanning 5 years, I’ve had to let go of the bar and not complete the set less than a half dozen times.
When I started doing Ashtanga Yoga 15 years ago, the instructor said if you are feeling reluctant to practice, just Step To The Front Of The Mat and see what happens.
I never stepped on the mat and failed to complete my practice.
Some days I don’t want to get into the pool – especially those dreary winter days where I’m freezing and the water feels extra cold.
You know what I do? I get in the water and start swimming.
I always feel better after the first few laps.
When I was in sales, I detested making cold calls. But I needed to do them to make sales. So I would block out 2 hours every morning and 2 hours every afternoon to do them. In those hours I would crank out up to 100 calls, dealing with rejection, leaving messages, and occasionally having a conversation that lead to a sale.
The key to making those calls was putting on my headset on and dialing. After about a dozen, I could stay in the zone for hours.
Why am I telling you this?
Because there’s probably something in your life that’s difficult too. Perhaps you avoid it, filling your time with less productive activity. Or you rationalize why you don’t need to do it. Or you put it off until tomorrow. Or you blot out your “guilt” by getting drunk. I did all of these at times in my life.
Since you already know what to do, I suggest you come up with your own Just Do 3 or Step To The Front of the Mat and see what happens.