For years I’ve tried to get up in the morning and work out. I’d tell myself on Sunday night, tomorrow is the day I’m going to start going to the gym in the morning.
Monday morning would come. The alarm would go off. And yep, you guessed it, I’d hit the snooze button for an hour.
Why is this?
I’ve always figured it was because I have absolutely NO willpower.
In Benjamin Hardy’s article, Confidence, 2 Reasons Most People Don’t Have It he says,
“Willpower, from a psychological standpoint, is often called “ego depletion” or “decision fatigue.” The reason it is called decision fatigue is that, the more decisions you make, the less willpower you have. Put another way, the more decisions your mind has to weigh, the less likely you are to make good choices over the long-haul.
Willpower, in reality, reflects an undecided mind. For instance, when your alarm goes off in the morning, if you haven’t made the decision about what you’re going to do in advance, then you’ll need to exert willpower in the present to do it.
You’ll need to exert willpower because you didn’t already decide. Thus, it takes willpower to weigh the decision. This is decision fatigue. It’s exhausting and usually ends in failure
You will fatigue yourself emotionally and motivationally by being indecisive. Instead, you make one choice that eliminates other options. By removing options, you no longer have to think about it. 100% commitment is easier than 98% commitment.”
Some juicy stuff right?!?
When I read this I nearly did a cartwheel (which by the way would likely end me in the hospital so it’s a good thing I didn’t go through with it).
BUT, I was so excited because I thought YASSSSSSSSSS! How many times have you decided you’re going to eat well or exercise only to find yourself on the couch or diving into “bad” food.
The minute I made the choice I wasn’t a momentary “healthy person” and that I was 100% committed to taking care of myself, my whole world changed.
Instead of trying so hard to make daily choices, I decided I was a lifer and this health and wellness thing was a long term life decision. Suddenly, things got a lot easier for me.
When I go to a restaurant I don’t stare at the food choices that won’t serve me well a.k.a “bad food” I instead go on the hunt for what I want to feed my body that serves the “healthy choice” purpose.
I know this sounds simple – it’s not. But honestly, deciding what I want for myself is one of the top reasons I eat well most of the time and I get up at 5:30 a.m. and ensure I get my workout in.
There was definitely a time and a place where neither of these things consistently happened and I truly believe it was because I was always trying to decide. I was always trying to have willpower. And I was not committed to myself.
And I am not sure I ever could’ve put it into the words to describe what was happening like Benjamin did but I can honestly say, I was absolutely exhausted from always making decisions. Then, of course, feeling bad when I made the “wrong” decision.
Once I just decided, it got easier and easier.
When my alarm goes off, I don’t even think. I just know I’m going to get up because I’ve already decided. It’s not a conversation. It’s not an option.
Deciding what you want for yourself is key. And once you decide, it takes away all the thinking. If you’re still heeing and hawing, you’ve not really decided what you want for yourself.
Also, what comes with making the decision, is confidence in yourself that you can take care of you. You can do things that are hard.
Benjamin says, “Your faith and confidence increase as you continue pursuing what you genuinely desire and value, regardless of the outcomes along the way. You will continue forward until you succeed.”
Another huge point. The more you do it, the more you have confidence you can. And the best part, once you’ve decided you’re going to do something, you KEEP GOING REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOMES!
Oh man this is powerful!!!
How many times have you given up on yourself because you “screwed up”? Or you quit a health and wellness plan because “it’s not working”.
BUT, if you just start and you just decide what we want for yourself and you 100% commit to it, maybe, just maybe this is the “secret sauce”.
The key here is, you KEEP going regardless of the outcomes along the way. Because if you really want a life of abundance and you want well for yourself – you have to say every day – come hell or high water, I’m doing this for ME.
And regardless of what bumps are hit along the road – YOU KEEP GOING!!! You keep going because you’ve committed to it. And you stop trying to make the choice and the decision every single day because it’s exhausting to decide every day how you’re going to treat yourself. It’s much much easier to decide, I’m going to take care of me.
The more ya do it, the more confidence you build that you can keep doing this for the rest of your life. This is not a 30-day plan. It’s not a get fit quick bs moment. It’s life. You’re in it for the long haul. And I know, if I can commit to it, so can you.
Hit me up if this resonated – I’d love to hear from you!!! info@melissacoloton.com
Xoxo
Melissa