Exercise: Chore vs Purpose

Find your purpose" is part of the advice vernacular of every University professor, self--help guru, and top preachers. For good reason, as we are emotional beings who respond to meaning, AND meaning moves us to act. If we really don't care about something we simply go through the motions until we find a reason to not do it anymore...

...and there are 8,444 reasons not to exercise today. That number might be outdated and from the 1980s, and could be closer to 8,444,000 reasons today. To overcome all the excuses, options, and lack of motivation one must create meaning behind exercise or the resistance is too great.

To create some meaning behind exercise, you begin by understanding HOW YOUR BODY CAN HELP YOUR PURPOSE. In other words, you make the connection between that thing that is stirring in your soul and exercise.

Life smacked me square in the face after my accident and I realized I had been living a life without any purpose, blindly following along with the drumbeat of life, but it was someone else's beat. I turned to fitness to rebuild myself. I wanted to see IF I had the strength that all the self-help gurus said existed inside of me...and if I had it, I wanted to unlock it to pick myself off the ground, endure what I had to endure, and come out of it better for it.

Each workout took on a different meaning. I wasn't running to burn calories, I was running for my life. I didn't race in duathalons to win, I raced to find my limits. I push my physical limits to develop my mental limits and conquer the demons in my head. And, here is the key to it all, through hundreds of meaningful workouts, I unlocked a part of me that built a mental toughness I didn't have for the first 40 years of my life. I want that for you!

Right now, exercise may be a chore; something you do because you associate it with the ego (ie - swimsuit season) instead of the soul (bringing out the real you and fulfilling your spot in this world). This chore is necessary and if you could avoid it and still obtain the benefits of it, you would. This is why we buy fitness gimmicks and spend time looking shortcuts instead of actually exercising (Principle #1: DOING).

As long as exercise makes your list of chores, you will not sustain any type of regimen long enough for it to grow roots in your lifestyle. To change fitness from a chore to a purpose you must explore your soul to make a connection between something you really want in your life and how exercise will help you get there. It may be the standing up to some demons, the pain you wish to conquer, or a dream you want to bring into the world.

Exercise will give you confidence to do the thing you are scared to do but is necessary. Exercise is a way of fighting through the pain in your heart so you can move forward. Exercise brings us alive so we can take action towards our real purpose.

Chores live on the to-do list. Purpose lives in your soul. Where exercise lives will determine whether you attain the transformation that fitness offers.