Working Out Even When You Have No Drive
One of the most challenging tasks throughout the day is working out when you have no motivation. Growing up playing competitive tennis in the USTA juniors, I felt the experience of having days when I lacked drive and motivation to practice or even compete in tournaments. The worst part about it was traveling to other states for tennis tournaments and attempt to compete in 90 degree weather with no passion for the sport. When you have no motivation to exercise or compete, it often feels like you just want to quit.
But quitting gets you no where exciting when it comes to that realm. The more you allow your lack of motivation to prevail, the harder it’s going to become to get back into a solid routine. That’s because it’s not easy to work out, exercise or competitively play a sport. You have to power through even on the days when you don’t feel like doing it. That’s because if you can get through those days successfully, you often end up with a renewal of energy and interest for your next session.
What you don’t want to do is power through on those days and not enjoy it one bit. This is because it will lead you to burning out rather quickly. I felt that with tennis when I was 14. I was an extremely hard-working tennis player who reached a national boy’s 14 USTA ranking of 69th in the country. But as I entered high school and realized that I didn’t have many friends and that my entire life revolved around going to school and getting yelled at by tennis sergeants at the local tennis club, I lost passion for the sport.
It’s not that I ever disliked tennis to begin with; otherwise, I wouldn’t have played for that long (by the way, I still play tennis today). But as with anything in life, you need a balance of different activities. Even if you are focused on working out, exercising or playing a sport, make time and room for other activities as well, such as socializing, spending time with family and friends and even kicking back and watching a documentary or two. You are not a robot to be doing only one repetitive task continuously.
So whenever you feel burned out or have no drive to work out, remember to push yourself to still get some in that day, but mix it up with other activities as well. On the other hand, you don’t want to just stop working out because then your lack of motivation will take over and you’ll soon lose interest altogether. It’s normal to lose interest in exercising here and there, but don’t lose it completely to the point of quitting.
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DSM (Defeating Stigma Mindfully) 