Sometimes all you have to do is show up. You just have to push through that doubt and negativity and get out of where you are now.
It’s hard.
Sometimes I don’t feel like doing a lot of things like:
- doing yoga
- doing jiu-jitsu
- doing judo
- working out
- meditating
- or starting something new
But I always feel better when I do.
That’s right, when I DO them.
Let’s take today for example. This morning I had no problem doing yoga and riding my bike to jiu-jitsu.
But the difficult part came when I realized it was Friday and I had to my workout.
Ahhh…
I didn’t feel like it.
I usually do it at Ohori park near my jiu-jitsu, but it was bit crowded today as it’s a holiday and I thought I could do it at that other park near my house.
So I got to the park and…
Ughh…
I still didn’t feel like doing pull ups and it was a bit hot in the sun. But I mustered up my courage and thought to myself we can do at least 5 or so.
I remember reading once that if something is really tough to do then you can just imagine taking the next step vs. focusing on the whole thing that you have to do.
And…
Instead of doing 5 pull ups I managed to do about 18, 19 or 20 (although they weren’t very deep as that bugs my shoulder).
They were tough, but I got the ball rolling. Oh yeah, earlier in the morning I did a little tummy workout after yoga so I didn’t really have to do any core stuff.
So I continued my workout with some jumps where I jump up on a bench and back down. Then we did some frog jumps.
And one set after another we powered through it.
I did about 3 sets of all of those which added up to about 35-40 pull ups, about 50 bench jumps and 45 frog jumps.
Then one set of planks and some toe raises.
Yay, I did it.
It wasn’t easy, but I am happy I powered through it.
It’s like the other night…
I have been going back and forth about starting to train judo at this new dojo. I thought of a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t do it. It’s far, I don’t really like that dojo, etc.
It was comfortable where I was (at home), but what are my goals?
One of them is to learn judo.
The other is to get a cultural visa to stay in Japan. I already tried getting one through my first jiu-jitsu school, but the officials didn’t like the name “Brazilian jiu-jitsu” on my school’s website.
Probably sounded too exotic to them and not Japanese enough, even though I tried to explain to them that it’s basically just judo with a focus on newaza (ground grappling techniques) and a different rule set.
So I needed to find something more traditional and this new dojo was like that.
It’s not perfect, but I kept telling myself you don’t really have another option and if you want to stay in Japan then you need to find a different school to help you get the visa.
Anyways…
So I pushed through my doubts and negativity and rode my bike 50 minutes to the new judo dojo and signed up.
And…
I had a good class and I am happy I made it.
I felt better after I did it.
And that’s what I was telling myself.
“Chances are you are going to feel better after you do this.”
And I did and that is what almost always happens. In fact I can’t think of a time when I did push through my negativity, doubt, comfort or “resistance” and actually felt worse because of it.
It’s hard, but…
You just have to do it. You have to do that exercise, project or whatever. Stop thinking about it and do it.
Sometimes you just got to start it and it will get easier once you are on your way.
I remember reading once that it’s important to make routines and I agree. And the author was referring to exercise and he said it’s not important necessarily that you reach a certain number or a quantitative result.
Some days your tired, busy or just don’t feel good.
Say you normally do 100 push ups, but you feel tired and it’s Tuesday your workout day. So he said you don’t have to hold yourself to that number just do some if you are tired.
That’s better than nothing and just remember to show up for your next routine.
I tend to gradually alter my workout routine and throw some different things or variations in to keep it not so monotonous.
If I usually do 3 sets of everything and I am tired then I might do 2.
Or…
If I didn’t sleep good and I go to jiu-jitsu I might just try to go easy or spar a bit less. But many times I went to class feeling like sh*t cursing the whole bike ride there about all of my problems until I get there.
And once I get there, things change.
I do occasionally have bad days and get discouraged, but I almost always walk out of there feeling better than when I went in.
It gives me energy.
So that’s the thing, sometimes that exercise that you are avoiding will actually give you energy.
Sometimes it’s not exercise, sometimes it’s a woman, sometimes it’s a project, sometimes it’s a class, sometimes it’s ____.
You just got to start it.