Fake It Til You Make It

This morning Jen sent out an email congratulating us on making it through the first week of bootcamp and noting the value of a positive mindset. As a group, we weren’t very chatty this a.m. and it’s possible that this lack of enthusiasm affected our workout. That said, even without much chatter, I still found myself sweating and panting.

I can’t speak for the group as a whole, but it certainly took me longer to wake up this morning than it had last week. Something about it being Monday and facing a new week tends to make me drag a little bit. But, by allowing the Monday mindset to affect my mood, I’m choosing to waste part of my day in a funk.

Jen’s email mentioned one of my favorite mantras: fake it til you make it. I have quoted this tidbit for various situations – adapting to a new job, moving to a new town and learning to fit it, grieving the loss of a loved one, and aspiring to a new fitness level. The mantra doesn’t imply putting on a front, but it asserts that by working through challenges and putting a positive spin on tricky situations will eventually lead to success.

Fortunately, with bootcamp we usually snap each other out of our morning stupors. A little conversation, and mutual pain gets us all laughing and motivating each other. But today we were all much more silent. The sun is rising later in the morning and the crickets seem to be louder than usual. It’s harder to wake up without the sun welcoming us but it is too easy to blame the season change for our moods. The email was right. We choose to have energy. When I wake up and my eyes droop I can tell myself – wake up. Let’s get this day started. I can talk myself in to having energy and pushing myself. Fitness is very dependent on mental well-being. If I am getting myself up, making it to Reeve Park, and working through the hour-long camp session, I need to fake my way to an energetic attitude if I want to make the most of it. There is no point in dilly-dallying through it. That’s just a waste of time.