Today is Monday. Out of a possible 24 hours, 9 are already gone; another 2 are committed for sleep later tonight. You'll spend another nine working. That leaves four.
In the Western Christian calendar, this is the season of rebirth. And about time, too: we're dying here! For the first time, our childrens' generation has a lower projected lifespan than our own. We've literally got it so easy – so pain-free, so automatic – that it's killing us.
It's a common misconception that we're just plain lazy. We're not. Our minds have been finely tuned over a million years to be primed for action. We simply haven't come all this way, done all this preparation, to be more ready to watch Oprah than ever before. It's also a mistake to think that we've reached the end of evolution….unless we're capping the genome right here. If we continue to devolve, it's over.
Our problem isn't lack of motivation. It's not weakness of character, or weak ankles, or some elusive 1950s term like, "willpower." Given a crisis, we can still respond better than our predecessors. So what's stopping us? Too much information, Jerry!
Paralysis by analysis. We're looking for the perfect way to shed our skin. In a city of a hundred avenues, we're mesmerized by the map, bagel in hand, acting the tourist. We sample the culture without becoming immersed. We do drive-by dieting. We count to 8 (sometimes 12, if Dr. Oz says so) while we kill time on the recumbent bike, waiting for the Exercise Pill to pass the patent board.
You have better options.
They're simple, but they're not easy. For one, you can spend three weeks learning to exercise. You can meet Smilin' Whit every morning for 21 days, and reap the benefits for the next 50 years.
You can give yourself permission to be bad at it – at first. We all were. The most successful are just the ones who allowed themselves to fail most often.
You can plant something.
You can come to Fight On Friday, hover near the back, and just try not to get excited. It's impossible. Try NOT to cheer, we dares ya. Try not to smile. Then remind yourself: this is exercise. Are we supposed to like it this much?
You can try a Zone meal. One thing about the Zone style of eating: forgiveness. If you eat a non-Zone meal, just eat a Zone meal at the next one, and you're back on the road to insulin bliss.
You can tithe. That is, commit in advance to spending two percent of your day, once per week – 30 minutes – with a personal trainer. 30 minutes, once per week, and then just do the homework you're given. Heck, we'll even figure out your Zone blocks for you.
By Monday, you could be living a different life. To say 'reborn' is cliched nonsense, but starting a different track will be like learning to walk again. Expect shaky legs on the upward climb to self-actualization.