What a fluffy title, right? I know. It is not all sunshine and rainbows all the time, but I want to let you in on one of my biggest secrets to getting through my workouts, daily tasks and generally hard things. It’s going to sound stupid simple and you may roll your eyes. Are you ready? It’s my mindset. It is how I choose to look at what I’m doing and WHY I’m doing it.

Let’s start with fitness. How many of you go into your workouts dreading the work, sighing, furiously cleaning your house to avoid actually getting around to the thing you have to do? Yeah, me too! I did this a lot when I was new to working out. When it wasn’t a habit or a daily routine that I had built into my life. I dragged myself out of bed, made a big show of walking around my tiny little studio apartment (Yes, alone. The drama was all for me) all hunched over, eyes half closed ACTING like I was more tired than I was because I needed an excuse to move slowly and put off what I knew I needed to do. Why do we do this??? Well, let’s think about it.

When you put something on your to-do list, is it a chore or is it something you’re looking forward to. Chances are, you’re putting it on your to-do list BECAUSE you don’t want to do it and this is your attempt at keeping yourself accountable. It is so satisfying to check off that little box when you’re done. But what if there was more than just the satisfaction of checking the box? When you set your weekly goals, HOW are you setting them mentally?

What would happen if you reworked the way you thought about a specific activity? Let’s use the tried and true morning workout. You decided that you are absolutely going to get out of bed at 6 am on Monday and do an hour of cardio. When you write this down or put it into your google calendar, or simply keep it at the back of your mind, how are you storing it? Are you thinking…

• “On Monday, I just have to push through this awful thing”.

• “On Monday, I will have a hard morning”.

• “On Monday I’m going to be sore”.

• “Monday is the hardest day this week”.

• Something along those lines?

What if you thought about this in a different way? There’s a reason you are putting this on your to-do list, right? You’re not forcing yourself into this routine so that you can ADD misery to your life. What if you thought about it this way…

• On Monday I am going to be so full of endorphins.

• On Monday I will CRUSH a goal and start my week off with positivity.

• On Monday I am improving my mental and physical stamina.

• On Monday I am keeping a promise to myself.

• On Monday I am going to be STRONG.

• Monday is the best day of the week.

What would happen if you REALLY made the effort to tell yourself these things. You believe all the negative things, right? Why not believe some of the positives. Whatever you have scheduled during the week that you’re not looking forward to… think about it a little harder. Is it something that you are being forced to do, or is it something that you GET to do? The things that are hard, often bring us the most joy. How much joy can you put into your life by rephrasing your thoughts?

What is the biggest, scariest task that you put on your to-do list every week? How have you been sticking to your commitments and how do you think this would change if you put a positive spin on it?

DO THIS: Pick a task that you dread every week. Pick two if you have a bunch! Write down 5 reasons that this task is HARD. Why don’t you want to do it? Then, write down some ways that this task brings you joy. Don’t set a limit on how many things you write down for joy. How many MORE positives are you able to come up with?

Are you ready to crush next week?