11 reasons to prevaricate

by | 16 Nov, 2016 | Blog, Business, Business development, Consultancy

Oh my goodness (as we say to the grandchildren), back to work after a small break!  Over the break it took 2 weeks to alter my body clock, lie in bed late and change my eating habits.  If sugar, cream, or preferably both, were not involved in the making of a dish, I wasn’t interested.  Out went hot water and lemon and natural yoghurt in the morning, replaced with tea and a full English, or porridge (made with cream!).  It took until this week to get back into better habits, including returning to the gym.  Luckily my clothes still fit – just.

It was a real struggle getting to the gym this week.  The final push was realising that I had told at least 3 new clients that before Christmas I used to go to the gym regularly and cycle at least once a week.  So what was stopping me now?

  1. It’s cold
  2. Well, maybe not really cold, but wet
  3. I’m too busy (really, honestly, no a second free)
  4. Maybe I should shed a few pounds before putting on lycra again
  5. The “New Year resolution” lot would be in the gym…..I hate it when it’s crowded
  6. My “bad shoulder” was sore, and I have been told, once, by a massage therapist that I shouldn’t lift weights when it hurts
  7. Too much work to catch up on after Christmas
  8. The VAT return (there has to be at least 1 compensation)
  9. The accounts (now I really am avoiding something if this is my excuse)
  10. The cat, dog, puppy are on my knee and it would be unfair to move them.
  11. Lets be honest, Netflix and Sky boxsets

So, Sunday and Tuesday, I eventually got my somewhat enlarged backside off the sofa and went to the gym.  I thought I would start will a gentle reintroduction of the morning routine, lemon, yoghurt etc to convince myself that I have the ability to be healthy.  Sunday was fine, I even started to feel that I hadn’t slipped too far back and was quite happy on the cross-trainer, then weights, only 2.5kg less than the last effort in December.  Tuesday was a different matter, stiff and sore from Sunday, not happy.

Then I see a septuagenarian, nipping round the equipment, and pushing more weight than me.  I asked him, what gets him out to the gym, as I had seen him several times before.  He said “it makes me feel good”, “every day I get up and get out.  It’s hard when it’s cold like today, I don’t like scraping ice of the car to start with, but I feel great when I’m here.” He walks (proper 5-6 mile walks) and goes bowling and looks fabulous for his age.  He told me that when his wife died it knocked him back for 3-4 weeks, but he had to get out and get on with life.   I wish I could help more people of his age find the same drive.  When I asked him where he found his motivation, he said he had exercised all of his life as he was in the forces.

So, can I learn anything from this? Maybe that being happy and healthy in older age is all about motivation and your routine, sticking to it and keeping fit.

Have I been to the gym today? No, the car is iced up, and not suitable for icy roads. I will go later, honest.

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