#1912 The Wet Dish Rag

I just finished a quick AM sunrise workout.

My primary Energy Target right now is moving my VO2 max from the highest rating at the place I did it (“Superior” which I think is around the top 5-10%) to a Peter Attia-approved “Elite” level (top 2%) for my age.

My primary process Target right now is building my Zone 2 base by clocking in Attia’s recommended 4 hours of Zone 2 per week. (I did 3 hours the week I read his book and I’ve hit 4 every week since.)

My primary micro-process daily Target I’m experimenting with this week is 3, 15-min Zone 2 workouts Monday through Friday as I hammer some Deep Work to get ahead—using the micro workouts as my oscillations between Deep Work blocks.

I just did my first one.

And…

Let’s just say I DEFINITELY didn’t really feel like doing it.

(I laughed as I typed that.)

Now…

As I was finishing my 1,000-meter row as the sun was rising, I was thinking about my lack of “motivation” and Tony Horton came to mind.

Tony Horton is the guy who created P90X.

He’s a legend in the fitness industry.

Think: The Energizer Bunny of workouts.

And…

In his great book called The Big Picture, he lets us in on a little secret…

He says: “Here’s a dirty little secret: I don’t get all that fired up about exercise most of the time.”

In fact, he tells us that he has a few different voices in his head.

First, there’s the “Angel” Tony who’s ALL IN on working out. Given the fact that Tony is one of the most iconic figures in the fitness world, you’d EXPECT that voice to dominate his brain all day every day. (Right?)

But…

Tony says the voice of Angel Tony only shows up about 21.35% of the time. (Hah.)

Then there’s the “Devil” Tony.

That guy has ZERO interest in doing ANYTHING productive.

He shows up 35.4% of the time.

Ooops.

Tony’s chances of working out on any given day aren’t looking so good with Devil beating Angel at a 35.4% to 21.35% clip.

So…

How’s he get himself to show up?!

Enter: The Voice of CONSISTENCY.

Tony says this guy is “about as exciting as a wet dish rag.”

But…

Thankfully, he shows 43.25% of the time.

Put the voice of Consistency together with Angel Tony and BOOM!

We’re at 64.7%—enough to get the job done.

And…

That’s how I got myself to train this morning. 🤓

And…

That’s Today’s +1.

Let’s quit thinking we need to FEEL like doing the things we KNOW we should be doing to create the lives we want.

Turn up the volume on the voice of Consistency and…

“LET’S GO!” motivation not required.

🤓

P.S. Tony also puts it this way: “Sometimes the biggest obstacle to consistency has nothing to do with external factors. Some days, you just don’t feel like you have what it takes to do what you need to do. Do it anyway. I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care if it’s ugly. I don’t care if you do it hard or slow. I don’t care if you do it with a fox, or if you do it in a box, in a house, or with a mouse. Just get it done.”