In my last article, I mentioned a meta-problem many people seem to have. They say for instance: “I have no time for exercise.” In my opinion, this is not correct. Everyone principally has the same amount of time per day. The better way would be to say: “I do not take the time to exercise due to XYZ.”
Rephrase
This simply rephrasing can serve three purposes:
- First, it turns your attention to the fact that you have the ownership over your time and nobody else although it sometimes feels like we have lost the control of our schedules. It puts accountability into your focus.
- Secondly, you must think and argue with yourself why you do not want to take the time for exercising. It is easy to find reasons for not committing to important tasks like working out or eating healthy. But if you say: “I do not take the time to work-out because I prefer to watch Netflix!” then you probably get a feeling of guilt. This could be a good motivator here. Most people agree that a healthy lifestyle tremendously contribute to an improved wellbeing and a happy life. If you contrast that you actively do not want to take the time for a healthy lifestyle and the reason (often a shabby excuse) for it then – at least for me – it is a lot harder not to take the time and do it.
- Finally, the feeling of accomplishment of conquering the inner pig is priceless. It can even start a ripple effect for many other tasks you postponed due to procrastination or the flinch. So, please rephrase and reframe and start doing.
I wish you the best of luck.
Blogpost photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.
