Autopilot

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
– Jim Ryun

I’m sick. My nose is by turns stuffed and runny, I’ve got a slight headache and that neck pain that comes from sinus pressure, and I’m twice as slow and sore as I should be. I didn’t get much sleep last night and etc, etc, etc.

Still, I just got back from the gym(s) – boxing, then lifting.

I can honestly say that it didn’t even occur to me to skip because I don’t feel well. I thought for a second that it might suck to cough or sneeze at boxing, because I didn’t want to infect my partner – but I took a Dayquil, drank two cups of tea to calm my throat, and was able to go anyway.

This sounds like bragging, but it’s not. I’m almost surprised at myself. I’ve got willpower and I can struggle through, but I honestly didn’t have to do that tonight – I was excited that I wasn’t too sick to work out, and I felt (emotionally) great on the way to the gym (and, as always, on the way back).

Now I’m writing this blog post, and I feel the same way. Never occurred to me to just go to bed early – the thought of it is strange and undesirable, like leaving the house without deodorant. It’s just not done. Blogging, lifting, boxing, wrestling – these things are, for now, on autopilot, and I can turn my willpower to other tasks.

That’s the power of habit, I guess. I’m posting this to remind myself – and you – that this is where you can get, if you can make it through the first few weeks of forcing yourself.

(Progress: After a more realistic look at my schedule, pushed the deadlines back for the writing and Fiverr goals. I did get through Scrivener‘s tutorial and the story outline, and got I five jobs up on Fiverr).