Making A Decision-Staying Motivated
According to the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) I am a great one for starting projects. (I'm an ENFP). Get me excited and I can easily get started with a great deal of enthusiasm. But it can be difficult to keep me motivated. Once the newness and novelty wears off, well, it just doesn't have the attraction any more. Time to move on to something new.

Which is why over the past 30 years I have had such a difficult time keeping myself in shape. I have joined any number of fitness centers and go great for a while. Then I slow down. Finally I stop. Sometimes it may be 4-6 months, sometimes less, very seldom more. My wife will tell you that "he always has to have something new going on."

Not that I don't have stick-to-it-iveness. I do- as long as I am good at it and don't have to keep struggling with it- and have a clear purpose and goal. I am a decent trumpet player (when I practice) and I want to pick up the guitar and play like that right away. It doesn't work. I want to start losing weight- and not have to sweat or struggle.

But then I heard a new way of looking at it. It all depends, I was told, on your reason- your motivation. Some reasons make good short-term motivations. Others will hang in there for the long haul. These are the ones that you stick with.

Like, for example, 18+ years ago I made a decision to get sober. I went through struggles and ups and downs and cravings and fears. But there was this long-term goal- a sober life that they promised me was far better than anything I could have imagined at that time. All I needed to do was stay sober today and not worry about tomorrow. That will come along in its own time. I still participate in recovery today. It has not only become a habit- but I know I need it to stay sober, happy, joyous and free.

Well, a month or so ago my weight jumped (well, crawled, actually) back to that magic 200 pound mark. In the past I have tried to "lose weight." This time I realized that my weight along with some physical stuff, was leading me to feel less than healthy. Instead of jumping head over heels into some program I decided to go it easy. Just cut back, slowly, and not try to be 180 pounds in a few weeks.

Then I realized that the other half of weight loss, after you eat less, is to move more. Uh-oh. That means exercise. That means sweating. That means a commitment to exercise and diet etc.

Until someone said to me that this way will never work. Do it to feel good not to lose weight. Do it to feel better or healthy. Don't do it for "negative" ideas. Look at what will happen in the positive. Sounds simple and basic. And for the moment it made sense. After all, we humans, myself included, are in it for ourselves. What can I get out of it.

All this is a a long way to say that last week I joined up with a fitness center. My goal- to feel fit. Whatever that means for a man of my age and shape. So my first time there the other evening I walked .3 miles in 10 minutes. It was so tempting to push the speed or the incline. But that would have meant I was not doing what I really want to do.

I am not going to become a world-class weight lifter, athlete, marathon runner or the like. I just want to feel better so I can continue to do things I like to do and find a few new ones in the next summer- like trying golf, returning to the Boundary Waters Canoe Aware for the first time in 10 years and perhaps biking the Pine Creek Rails-to-Trails.

Then yesterday I went in for one of those "Body Age" tests. THAT was a wake-up call. Without going into the gory detail- my body is quite a bit older than I am. I am not sure when I saw it go past but it really is time to bring it back- because I don't want to catch up with it. Just keep reminding myself- do it slow- and I'm doing it for health.

Now that I have admitted that publicly, I am committed. I will keep you posted.