Creating Time and Motion

We have had and always will have all the time there ever is.

Do me a favor. Close your eyes for just a second. Clear your mind.  Now, visualize Hobbits – the cute little dudes with extremely large hairy feet. (I know, that wasn’t what you were expecting, but that’s why it’s a visualization exercise… Now back to our visualization.) Think about Frodo and Sam specifically.  These are two guys who got the job done despite the odds.  With hardly a plan, skills, or street smarts they set out to, and accomplished, what to most would seem impossible.  How?  Well, it seemed that they were brave, stubborn and most importantly, resourceful, present and focused on their goal. The Hobbits represent the archetypal mythical journey.  Our individual journeys aren’t fantasy realm, but they can easily stay a fantasy, never leaving the house, never getting off the ground.

That’s not what we’re about is it?

I didn’t think so. So come on, let’s join ranks and start to move, let’s get going and head towards the flaming realms of success.

Oh, and you might want to shave your feet…

Focus on what is here and now

A potential problem with goals is that they are always in the future.  Because they are in the future, it means that we tend to think a lot about stuff that hasn’t happened yet; what things are going to be like, how things are going to turn out.  This can be really stressful, filling our heads with a million and one things that actually don’t exist!

Focusing on the here and now, and being mindful of the most powerful action we can take will help quiet the chatty mind.  You’ll also discover that small incremental steps add up.

Stick enough tissue paper together and you’ll make yourself a brick!  Saying “NOW AND HOW!” are the pieces of tissue paper that will help you build that consistent foundation.

Accept responsibility, take it on

I don’t want you to hear this and think I am your stern parent wagging my finger; the idea is for you to be “full of response.”  Be a first responder!  By finding the simple “go to” actions that get your feet moving, you take on superhero status because you’re doing it!  Jump into the driving seat, be an activist, get your hands dirty, get the exercise routine going and step into the moment. Find yourself doing it!

One successfully completed piece of your plan has a magnetic effect; it creates compelling motion.

Momentum.  Motivation.  Meaning.

Question rather than defend

Defending where we are is incredibly tiring, incredibly boring and incredibly ineffective.  We ache for change yet cling to the familiar.  Asking great questions of you can stem that tide.  “Is this true?”  “How am I stalling right now?”  “How could I be devilishly creative here and get the job done?”

Many of us do this already in different areas of life, so all you need to do is transfer those same skills across to your movement and eating.  Question any thought or feeling as to its efficacy.  Even asking the question changes the game….

Be specific and practical

Someone once asked me “how do you start training?”  My reply was “I get changed and get my first exercise going as soon as I can.”

Nothing gets us moving as fast as ACTING.

While you’re defending the idea of not starting, start to get changed, start to move to your car, start to put the music on.  “Movement breaks the state.” By taking action we learn, in acting we meet, in acting we are already doing what we want to do.

Pack the fridge, pack the bag, buy the steamer, buy the flask, prime your app, set the scene then jump in. Get good at surprising yourself!

Make simple statements

Hint: if you keep reading, just ahead is a Fitness Hack…ready?

Here is a trick! Next time you are successfully putting yourself off something, sneak up out of your seat and silently just start doing the opposite.  We actually have to sit and listen to critical thinking for it to become a bodily expression.  So simple statements don’t have to be verbal.  Vote with your feet. Often we dialogue our way out of new things straight back into the familiar.  If you do need to make simple statements, make sure they are commanding, with a clear direction.  “Car keys, bag, I’m going.”  It’s “LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!!”

By the way if anyone asks you “why are you doing all this?” just reply, “I love it.”  The actual “loving it” part may come later, but it will come.

Explore and experiment

You’ve got access to a fantastic resource, so have many.  What will make you special?  How will your experience and your approach create both amazing results and inspire others?  By being an explorer, an experimenter, a scientist; conducting your own voyage of discovery.  Never get hung up on dogma – one approach, one belief – because the routes are many.  Search with vigor for the balance you need and reap the benefits, digging into a routine or an approach and see what it yields.

Fortune favors the brave, so believe in your choices and get going.

Clarify your perceptions and share your evidence!

As you progressively become awesome at getting going, cutting through defending not doing, asking great questions that pull the rug out from under the Gremlin’s feet, you’ll discover that you have entered the realm of mastery, the realm of learning.  You’ve created a wonderful self-built, self-owned practice that will keep on giving back.  So share it!  Connect with others, and see how they create their systems, attitudes and outlooks.

Who knows, you may become part of a mindful, motivated intelligent group of like-minded…. hey, wait a minute….

This post was written by Tim Wong