Rajesh Setty took the time to speak with me, I subsequently enjoyed reading one of his books which I highly recommend – Upbeat. While we were together, he shared an exercise tip which I failed to mention in Finding Life’s Secret Sauce.(I can’t believe I left this one out). He was recently working with an instructor who suggested he include yoga in his routine for twenty minutes each day. He successfully mastered this goal and increased the increment to 30 minutes. Then 40. Then…..before he knew it, he was effortlessly and enjoyably doing yoga for an hour/day.
If the instructor had started out by saying, “We’re going to do yoga for an hour/day,” he would have discounted the notion due to a “lack of time.” Yes, we all talk about goals which are realistic and measureable in business, but the same can be said of our personal fitness goals.
During my freshman year in college, I took a complete halt from my non-stop, active lifestyle in high school (or some might call it my glory days of basketball – ha!). After gaining 25 pounds, I decided it was time to do something. And that something, for me was running. I didn’t start out at an hour/day; instead, it was a mere mile I was able to complete during that first month of training. It took months to build up to an hour! The same is now true when training for the Boston marathon. I can’t start my training next weekend by running 20 miles, I have to build up to it (and slowly!). There’s a reason why you start a stick shift car in first gear- – it would sputter and die if you started out in fifth. Start slowly. Start small. Start short. Just START! Eventually, you’ll increase your distance, increase your duration and possibly even decrease your time. But the important thing is that you develop habits that stics by fitting them into your busy schedule – now!
