In our last +1, we talked about Tony Horton and his Wet Dish Rag Theory of Motivation.
As you may recall, he (like all of us!) has a few voices in his head.
There’s the Angel, the Devil, and the voice of Consistency.
It’s the voice of CONSISTENCY that gets Tony to do what needs to be done whether he feels like it or not.
That Consistency guy, Tony says, is about as exciting as a wet dish rag.
But…
He gets the job done.
Now…
As I was thinking about Tony while finishing that AM workout I didn’t feel like doing, I realized that Tony’s approach was a perfect application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (or ACT).
As we’ve discussed (check out the Notes on Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life), with ACT, you ACCEPT your current reality (including the voices in your head that may or may not be contributing to your well-being!) then you COMMIT to doing the things that will help you create a life based on your values/virtues.
How did that play out for me this morning?
Well…
I’m no longer naïve enough to think I need to FEEL motivated to DO the things I commit to doing.
So…
When the “Meh, I don’t feel like working out…” voice showed up in my head this morning, I could see (and ACCEPT) it for what it was: a normal (albeit unhelpful) voice we ALL have.
Then…
I could remind myself of the virtue-values I had JUST committed to embodying via the Heroic app that morning…
“I am… Disciplined. Calm. Confident. Strong. Grounded. Energized. Tranquil. Poised.”
Then…
I decided to live in integrity with that COMMITMENT as I strapped on the heart rate monitor and got to work.
And…
That’s Today’s +1.
Don’t FEEL like doing what you know is best for you?
Got voices in your head barking at you and telling you all the reasons why you shouldn’t do what you know you really want to do?
PERFECT.
Accept the presence of those voices.
Commit to living in integrity with your value-virtues.
Then get out the wet dish rag.
And get to work.
Day 1.
ALL IN.
Let’s go.
P.S. That “Day 1. All in. Let’s go!” is the voice of CONSISTENCY.
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