89. What I learned from #75 Hard (Lessons 6-10 = Talk #2 of 2)
In this talk I continue reflecting on what I'm learning from the #75Hard Challenge. WIth just two days to go...
(See the previous talk for lessons 1-5)
#6 = You don’t always “feel like it.”
Sometimes the motivation to do it comes in the actual doing…
Sounds odd, I know. We often think we NEED to get motivated first, and then we can step it up, get going, etc…
Then there’s this…
C.S. Lewis, the famed author of the Chronicles of Narnia said that even when he didn’t feel like praying, he just knelt and prayed…
… it was in those times, he wrote, that the supernatural kicked in, God showed up, and he most felt like it…
We often wait to feel it— anything— before we move, don’t we…?
I’ve learned… some of my best workouts (a la in the #GarageFit gym here at the #Hilltop) happen on those days I don’t actually WANT to get up and get moving…
Then, I rationalize…
What else am I gonna do with the next bit of time? Just lay here in the bed…?
Nah…
So I get up, and get moving…
And those are the days that seem to be the best day.
Can’t explain it, it just works…
Then there are the days I don’t feel like writing, but I do…
Or I don’t feel like having that convo, but we step in and push anyway….
And the days I don’t feel like…
… ah, you know what I’m saying.
Sure, sometimes we’re motivated. And that’s great.
But many times… some of the best things happen when we’re not. And we just show up and step into it anyway.
Because a lot of time the motivation to do the thing comes in the actual doing…
🚌🚌🚌
#7 Propensity = to “do it now”
Two workouts a day is a lot.
So is reading 10 pages a day— on top of everything else going on.
And so is drinking the water…
After a few days, I realized that if I put anything off, I was just wasting valuable time that I could be using to DO THE THING that I was going to END UP DOING ANYWAY… just a few moments down the line.
So, I would tell myself, “There’s nothing to do but do it…”
Besides, hitting the snooze button in the morning feels good for a moment— but I’m not better rested 10 or 20 minutes later than I was the first time the alarm went off…
I carried this mentality to other things, too.
I realized that many times I would punt a phone call off one day (in my day-timer) to another day. Mind you, it wasn’t a hard call to make— not difficult conversation involved. It was just, well, I was “mentally tired.”
Turns out, I discovered I spend MORE time writing and rewriting my “to do” list (inking the call or email or task to the next day) than it would require to just DO THE THING!
So, I began developing a “take action now” mindset. Here’s what I mean:
👉 If the task requires less time to do than to write down (i.e., reply to the email, text message, etc.), I just do it right then.
👉 if I’ve already bumped it a few times, I ask myself WHY— and evaluate it if actually needs to be done. No sense in postponing something that could be done NOW, nor putting off something that could just be permanently erased.
#8 = Not just what you give, but what you get…
This one sounds odd, so let me flesh it out a bit…
The #75Hard challenge— and any exercise / personal development process— becomes more about what you GET than what you GIVE..
I get it. A lot of us are busy. And we don’t know when / where / how we’d fit anything else in…
I (generally) wake up around 5:30- 6:00am, take time to exercise, then read, then write… all on my own…
… that 2-hour (or more) window always seems “selfish” when I’ve got a lot going on…
But…
I realize that—
🚀 if I don’t take that time, it just evaporates. It’s not like I use it on anything else…
🚀 What happens in that time radically affects everything else— and everyone else— in my small world.
🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌
And that leads me into the next observation…
#9 = The morning routine sets up the entire day.
I talk about the extensively in video #13 of the Advance Planner Workshop (www.Jenkins.tv/AP). The way I begin my day MARKS THE TONE for the entire day.
(Sure, you can overcome a bad start, but… why risk it?)
Look back at #8…
That morning time…
If I don’t TAKE IT, it’s not like I can “make it up” later.
A few days, I missed the early workout. So, I “made it up” in the middle of the afternoon— and found myself running in the heat of the day. Though I still enjoyed the time, it wasn’t the same. There’s something unique and unhurried about the early hours, something precious about a long pause before anyone else is awake…
… when there’s no talking…
… and I’m just alone.
The mental space which the margin of time offers was shocking. I processed more ideas and crafted more plans WITHOUT trying during that time than any other part of the day. And, it was during those long runs (with no headphones) that my mind began making connections on its own— unforced— about pieces of projects that needed to come together.
#10 = Cross the goal line— and keep going 🏁
Several people asked me if I ever thought about quitting. The answer…
“Yes.”
With about a month to go, though… I began to think about what’s next AFTER #75Hard…
I realized, for me, the key = to keep going. On something. Somehow.
🏈🏈🏈
A few years ago there was a pandemic of college football players DROPPING the ball before the goal line…
… they did ALL the work go getting to the end zone, then began celebrating too early, effectively dropping the ball as they raised their hands in celebration.
It happened MULTIPLE times…
🏈🏈🏈
We do that too— in life. We “drop the ball” rather than bursting through.
Or we achieve something…
But instead of continuing— even if a different or limited capacity— we just stop.
🛑 Ever hit the weight loss goal and then stopped, then gained it back?
🛑 Ever trained for the “couch to 5-K,” run it, and then lost the progress?
🛑 Every made massive strides in marriage, parenting, finances, whatever… but then just quit moving once you hit the goal…?
For sure, you don’t have to “double down” once you hit the goal, but it makes sense to USE the momentum you’ve acquired, and allow it to propel you forward. Somehow…
🚀🚀🚀🚀
++++++++++++
Links
ESPN- goal line drops = https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/11844727
Download the free Advance Planner = www.Jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF
