I have done this before and wanted to start doing it again. This morning however, I was really struggling to get dressed, ready and out the door. I was really close to saying to myself that it was OK and that I could go later. That’s when it hit me….

Why bother? Why am I bothering to drag my tired body off the the gym?
Answer: Because one of my goals is to get fitter, a LOT fitter.

It didn’t end the internal conversation though, which surprised me a bit, so I went with it.

Why bother? My little internal voice was repetitive but clearly unimpressed with my first answer. So I began to list of the reasons, no matter how small, why I wanted to get fitter:-

1. Real health history, my mother died at 45 from a heart attack. My father has vascular dementia at 72 and is confined to a wheel chair. I have a sleeping disorder called Sleep Apnoea, which basically means I stop breathing when I’m asleep. So I have to use a CPAP (in basic terms a breathing machine) to allow me to sleep properly at night. If going to the gym will help me long a better quality of life for longer then that is a huge reason to go to the gym this morning.
2. I’ll be 40 in two years time. I’m not getting any younger or any prettier for that matter! So if I can help myself feel and look a little younger by having a good fit body then hitting the big 4-0 won’t seem such a big deal.
3. I’m a life coach. I love to help people achieve what they dream about and help them find the motivation to do so. So if I can’t motivate myself to go to the gym this morning how can I expect my clients to?
4. Once I’m at the gym, within just a few minutes I’ll start to feel the endorphins working. I’ll feel uplifted and be able to carry that energy throughout the rest of my day.
5. Because I do enjoy it. I like learning new things and working out a routine for myself plays on my desire to do things right, but to do things my way.

Why……..? My inner voice fell silent.

As a coach I was trained NOT to ask a question starting with Why? Which for 99% of the time is true. WHY? Because….. to answer a why question the client jumps straight to “because” and begins to justify themselves. This can stop people looking deeper to find out what is really driving them.

On this occasion, my subconscious was using it correctly though. I needed to spend some time justifying why I was bothering to drag my tired body to the gym.

I went to the gym this morning.

I enjoyed it.