Tuesday, January 31, 2012

My approach to working out


For those of you who don't know me in real life, I'm about a hundred pounds heavier than I'd like to be. I'm attacking this head on, and I'm now exercising twice a week with a friend of mine (the goal is to go two more times in the week on my own, but....let's face it, that doesn't usually happen.)

This morning I got to the gym and hopped on the elliptical, because to me it's the most fun machine in there. That doesn't mean it's not hard for me, though.

I've discovered that for me, I need to count down the minutes. Not just "I've done x amount of minutes" but breaking them into percentages and fractions. So if I'm exercising 30 minutes, after two minutes I think, "I'm 1/15 of the way done." After three I think, "I'm 1/10 of the way done." And so on.

All I focus on is the next minute. Because I can do one more minute.

When we write, sometimes people look way beyond where they're at. They're writing the first draft, but they're already looking for a final draft. They're doing their first revision, but they want to be on their last. It is critically important that you focus on the step you're on right now, or you're setting yourself up for failure. Can you not imagine doing five more revisions? That's fine. Find the strength to do one more, then let it sit for a while.

If you take this approach to writing, you will be published someday. It might not be with your current WIP, but some idea will come along that only you can write about. And if you take it one step at a time, you will be unstoppable.

At least I'm hoping this is all true, because that's what I'm counting on.... :D

The second thought I had in the gym was that if the characters from my epic fantasy walked in, they would think it was a torture chamber.

What motivates you to keep going even when it's hard? Do you have any tricks you'd like to share?


♥tg

3 comments:

  1. torture chamber lol. And it's a good analogy. Though I can't last long on any of those machines if I'm not listening to music or watching TV. They really help. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. the idea of it being done and over with, and that I'll never have to deal with it again. That is, until it's editing time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cute tiffany! i love working out- I go every day! it is so hard to get into the routine of it, though- so I suggest for the days you go on your own do go at a set time, every time. You'll start to see some of the same people there, and that makes you feel accountable... Also- if you're planning on eating something sweet, wait until after you have worked out, that way because your metabolism is going you won't want as much!

    ReplyDelete

Share your passion!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...