Change Your World
Ever lifted weights with the lights off and smooth jazz playing? I have. It’s awesome… for me.
Sorry to make that weird.
We are environmentally driven beings. Sometimes, a change in environment can be the difference between someone having huge success or crippling failure.
Have you ever tried to work out at your local gym but the music sucks, the lights are too bright and that weird, creepy, sweaty dude keeps staring at you? It can be tough to find enjoyment in that and even harder to come back and do it again.
Putting our health first can feel like an individual feat. Rising up in the morning and deciding to go for a walk, eat something green, and drink an extra glass of water. The reality is that it’s harder for some of us than others.
Ever tried going for a walk in a dangerous neighborhood?
What about eating something green during the month of February in Nova Scotia?
How about drinking a glass of water when the local well is filled with iron and the local grocery store is a 20-minute drive away?
Sure, some people are just downright disciplined when it comes to personal health. There are folks out there who will walk with pepper spray, build a greenhouse on their property, and create an elaborate filtration system in their backyard.
If you are one of those people, heck yeah! I’m sure there are a lot of people reaching out to you for help.
If you could be one of those people but don’t have the time, money, or interest and simply want to be a little healthier with your habits, addressing your environment can be a differentiating factor.
Perhaps that means joining a local CSA to get vegetables weekly that you can pick up and are forced to eat. Ever seen a turnip go bad? Super gross.
Maybe it means planning your walks around times that you are out traveling. When you go to the grocery store, you could stop by the local park and go for a quick walk before heading home.
It could also mean buying a few extra bottles of water at that grocery store 20 minutes away so that when you need a glass in two weeks, you can walk to the pantry and get it as opposed to driving that 20 minutes for a special trip. Water tends to keep!
The book Atomic Habits by James Clear is an often-cited read in the fitness industry because it touches heavily on the subject of environment dictating behavioral decisions. If it’s easy and pleasant to do, people tend to do it far more frequently than if it’s difficult and terrifying.
Use this to your advantage when planning your fitness routine.
How can you make a workout the easiest thing to do?
For some, it’s getting a coach and knowing that you can show up in whatever state you’re in and your coach will help you through a workout.
For others, it’s building out a space at home that is comfortable and fun to exercise in. Perhaps adding a yoga mat to the guest room or a space heater to the room with the cold floors so you can be in there barefoot to do all your Toe Pro exercises (inside joke).
Trainers often talk about the difficulty of fitness. People using the gym need to pack gym clothes, plan their day, have food prepared or available and disengage from their busy lives to make the time for themselves to exercise. Some people even pay to do this!
Inherently, it is not an easy process, especially in the middle of winter in Vermont!
Taking a few moments to think about how to make it a little easier on you could be the reason you’re congratulating yourself in a month for sticking with a new healthy habit.
If you are interested in connecting with one of Soma VT’s coaches to shift things up, please reach out and schedule a free consultation.
