Working out is the easiest hard thing you can do.
3 years ago, I was far away from the world of fitness and didn’t even like the idea of working out.
I believed that people who work out, do it to get better looks and better outcomes. I thought of myself as the wise kid and said “looks don’t matter”.
That’s quite a bit of delusion and ignorance, I knew nothing about the subject, yet had a strong opinion. Then, my friends started working out, I saw them progress over the months to get stronger and look better, meanwhile, I was still the same thin guy.
Slowly, due to this “good peer pressure” I found myself wondering if I should do a few pushups too. That summer after we graduated, I did my first ever pushup!
Immediately, you feel better, you look better, and it’ boosts your confidence.
When I started working out, it was very uncomfortable but at the same time very fulfilling. My body felt better, I thought I looked better, and that all added to how I presented myself, how I perceived myself.
When you look in the mirror and see the sweat, the work you’ve put into yourself, it does wonders to your self worth and confidence.
I discovered that building a fit body and looking better has more intrinsic impact than external.
You feel good when you work out, both biologically and mentally. You present yourself better, you’re more confident in social situations. And when you come off as confident and comfortable, people reciprocate. Sometimes that could even mean them reciprocating in ways that give you a better outcome. A new job, saying yes to going out with you, paying you more, etc.
It’s a ripple effect of you feeling intrinsically better and hence driving better situations.
Looks do kinda matter…
For the naman who believed that looks don’t matter, let me present another angle of looking at this.
I believe it’s human nature to judge someone with their first impression. Probably evolutionary, as our ancestors had to quickly judge if someone is a potential mate or an enemy. Quick and accurate judgement meant survival, so how someone presented themselves was important.
When you present yourself better, the brains of everyone around you see you as an ally and they reciprocate.
Now, I don’t mean to make you conscious about your body. We are all made different and special. So when I say looks, I don’t mean that everyone needs to have that model body or be able to lift 1000 kilos. It means to take care of your body, be fit, flexible and mobile in it. Feel comfortable in your own skin.
There’s no fixed ideal body, all you need to do is show up and work on your body regularly, and you’ll shine. You’ll shine even if you’re short, tall, thin, not thin, It doesn’t matter.
Let’s make a consistent effort to stay fit and healthy. Whatever that means for you. I don’t have much experience with setting goals like “I will lose 10 kgs in a month“. I don’t think it’s a good way to treat fitness in general, rather have no goal just a mission.
I commit to working on my health regularly for the rest of my life.
Especially if you’re starting out, focus on showing up for your fitness, rather than a big goal. Yes, later down the line, once you’re already showing up every day, then you can set some milestones you want to achieve.
Talking about showing up,
Working out is the easiest hard thing you can do.
The entry gate to self-development is to start doing things you perceive as “hard”. When we conquer things we believed to be hard, our brains start valuing ourselves. When I put actual physical effort into myself, it told my brain that I am a person who values myself. And that subconsciously helped me work on other things and feel more driven.
If you’re feeling low, if you feel emotionally tired, if there’s something holding you back. This is the best and most reliable way to get you back on track and in a better mental state.
In these tough times that we all go through, we start to value ourselves less. By working on ourselves we rebuild our self-value. Working out is the easiest hard thing you can do.
Another advantage is that when you do it for the first time, it bears results much earlier than any other hard thing.
Now, this is not to say that we should be attaching our self-confidence with the just body we’ve built. The other extreme side of this is people who just focus on building a body and all of their identity relies on that. That’s not healthy for you. This is much more of a process of proving to your brain that you value yourself by doing many hard things, one of which is working out.
100 days of sweat.
I follow a youtube channel called yes theory, and one of its founders has been doing a challenge called 100 days of sweat. The theme resonates with what I’ve written above. In 100 days of sweat, you have to show up for yourself every day and sweat. Doesn’t matter what you do, how long you do it, how far you run. You have to break a sweat every day.
I’ve tried and failed at it once, I’m joining the challenge again this year, because working out made me feel better, carry myself better and boosted my confidence. And of course, it’s a journey of staying fit, not a destination of a particular physique or body measurement.
My 100 days start from 2nd Feb to 13 May ( which is also my 20th birthday ). So this time, I believe I’ll be able to keep it up till the last day and learn to show up for my health. I’ll be checking in every day on Strava, and if you want to join me, let’s talk on Instagram.
We’ll be accountability partners, super cool huh!!!
Okay then, see you on the track, let’s get running. 🏃🏽
[Update July ‘22]
Although I could only do 37 consistent without a single break day. I’ve been pretty consistent with working out all throughout the summer break. I’m not counting, but I’m sure I’ve worked out 25/31 days in a month.
So we’ve done part 1, which is showing up (almost) every day. Now it’s time to level up and learn!
