The Spill-Over Effect

You get to choose your spill-over effect.

You walk a flight of stairs or climb that hill that you used to do so with ease, and you find yourself wheezing, having to take breaks, and bambi-legged by the time you get to the top.

“Man, that used to be easy. I must be getting old.”

You hit the snooze button to get those last few minutes of Zzzz’s, then you rush into the shower to wake yourself up quick but then you’re left with only a few minutes to get dressed and rush out the door. You hit up the “hot spot” at the local gas station picking up a 16oz shot of Joe, your lifeline for energy, which fades almost immediately after your drink it, and you grab a couple breakfast sandwiches and rationalize to yourself, “it’s got eggs, it must be somewhat healthy.”

Then it continues…”I’ll workout when I get home from work, or after the kids go down for the night.” Or so you tell yourself, but because you started the day off wrong with a shot of procrastination, you typically end the day up with yet another shot of procrastination…..”I’ll wake up early tomorrow and workout.”

Yeah, sure you will.

Rinse and repeat and viola! 1, 5, 10, or 15 years later, you’ve hardwired yourself with lazy habits that leave you tired, overweight, unmotivated, and at an elevated health risk for just about everything, including the popular, yet less dicey new viruses that emerge. Then, all of the sudden fear strikes the land because we are the land of the “at risk and lazy!”

Or……….

You look at that mountain, and you say to yourself, “I wonder how fast I can hike that thing!? I’m gonna time it and then compete with myself.”

Month 1: 32 Minutes flat.

Month 2: 30 Min and 27 seconds. New PR!

Month 3: 28 Min and 40s. Another New PR!

You wake up before the alarm goes off. Your first instinct, a bad habit that still hasn’t completely died, is to roll over and get those last couple minutes of Zzzz’s, but then something amazing happens because of your NEW habits! You have a quick conversation with yourself and talk yourself out of bed early so you can have some quiet time to get your heart, soul, and mind prepared for the day. You get your sweat on and immediately feel like a brand new person. You grab a healthy protein shake after your workout, head to the shower, get dressed, grab a few healthy food items for the day, and hot diggity dog, you look good, you feel good, and you go perform good the rest of your day.

After a few weeks of this, your pants get looser, your spouse notices, you get luckier in the sack, and your kids start asking if they can exercise with you and they begin down the path that their parents are leading them down. You get leaner, you get harder to kill, and you develop a grittiness you never knew you could possess. You conquer adversity, and you get the pure satisfaction of filling in the checkbox of your goal list.

Look, I could sugar coat it and make it sound a lot more snowflakey, or I could write as if I’m flicking you in the forehead or giving you a swift kick in the hiney. I guess I chose the latter:

 

 

So, which spill-over effect do you choose?

Wake up America, you’re soft, you’re lazy, and you’re feelings get hurt too easily.

Wanna get sharpened?

Join me starting August 1st in the Iron 31 Challenge. Change your habits, change your life!

www.wellbuilthumans.com/community/iron-31-challenge