I hate running!
I always have. But why?
1. It’s Lonely
2. It’s Boring
3. I get a stitch in 3 minutes
4. I am not as good as my friends
5. I have to Change clothes
6. I have to Shower after
7. I have to Wash and Dry my clothes
These reasons stop me from taking the action that I know is good for me.
So my team and I built an app called The Burner so that my friends could bet that I wouldn’t hit my target of burning 10,000 calories through running in 3 months, great banter 🙂
We hooked the burner up with Run Keeper for the running data proof and Givey to send the bet money to the causes we support, I thought this would fix my motivation but it didn’t….
Why?
I had only dealt with issues 1 & 2 by including friends and measurable data and 3 because I just walk for a bit when it hurts, still burning calories.
But there are still 4 good reasons not to get out the door. Thankfully last night it all changed.
I Love tennis and happily forget reasons 5,6 and 7 to play it as it is so fun.
Playing doubles isn’t that taxing so last night with the aid of the burner nailing reasons 1,2 and 3 and Tennis paying the bill for 5,6 and 7 I was left with only number 4 which in the light of the benefits lost its power of inertia and I did my first run 🙂
Often negative behaviour, results or responses feel unchangeable but I have found that if you break them down into their basic elements and then address them individually I am often surprised by the things I have been able to see achieved that first felt impossible.
But the real challenge in all of this is being vulnerable and aware enough to share all of our honest feelings at the beginning and being humble enough to want to the change.