or Chapter III of Marti Soosaar’s e-book “A New Beginning”
“5-4-3-2-1-go”
We often have a goal for getting active, and it may well be some external motivator that feels far away. If you check Tiia Kaar’s or Ott Kiivikas’s Instagram every day, but the person looking back at you from the mirror is a slightly overweight middle-aged man or woman, the contrast is a little too great. Unless you have the self-confidence of Karlsson-on-the-Roof, who would say that despite everything, he is a perfectly plump man in his prime, reality is more likely to hit us: we will never have a body like that.
In fact, we do not necessarily need a body like that unless we intend to compete at the Fitness World Championships. Even if we do, we would be wise to set our sights much closer.
Let’s focus on the beginning—on getting out of the door. On putting on your trainers. If you started but did not become Kiivikas, that is still a far greater achievement than never starting at all.
Yes, there even seems to be some scientifically supported logic to it: as a single-threaded processor, the (human) brain prefers, where possible, to avoid switching from one task to another during routine activities—the brain’s internal instincts resist the switch, and that resistance has to be overcome. However, once the switch has happened, things are easier and, when you are “in the zone,” no longer even unpleasant. In that sense, simply knowing this could help: the psychological discomfort lasts only as long as it takes to start the activity, and you just have to ride it out. So the advice to force your ass out of the door is sound—the rest then happens by itself, without any motivational tips.
Asko Seeba
Co-founder of the software company Mooncascade
We have also shared the previous chapters of Marti Soosaar’s e-book, which you can read HERE. To download the complete book, go HERE.
