I recently started going to the gym again. I'm pretty sure I canceled my gym membership during COVID, and I can guarantee you I said something like, "This will only be a few weeks."
That was wrong. Life happened like it always does, and fast-forward six years, and here I am, still without a gym membership. Until a few weeks ago, when I finally kicked my butt in gear and decided to get back in action.
So now, my alarm goes off at 4:45 am each weekday, and I'm slowly starting to feel good.
Here's the thing that's so wild about this whole gym situation. I re-joined a gym that I went to five times a week for about six years. I know where to park, I know the equipment, I know the locker room situation, the setup, everything. Then, when I re-joined, it took me a week or two to just mentally unlock myself to go. For whatever reason, the idea of going through that process of just walking through those doors felt heavy. I can't explain why. It just felt harder to go do than it really was.
Then I decided to just get started, and it felt even more ridiculous that I was stalling.
We get these mental blocks, and it becomes really hard to overcome them.
We build these things up in our heads like they're some massive barrier, like there's a version of us on the other side that needs to be fully prepared, fully ready, fully dialed in before we can even begin. But the reality is, nothing changed about that gym. The only thing that changed was the story I was telling myself about walking back into it. And that story was just enough to keep me on the sidelines.
Once I got through the doors that first time, it all came rushing back. The routine, the flow, the familiarity, even the confidence. Not because I suddenly became more disciplined overnight, but because I removed the friction that I had created in my own mind. It wasn't the workout that was hard. It was the decision to start.
And this shows up everywhere, not just in the gym. It shows up in your career when you delay sending that message, applying for that role, having that conversation you know you need to have. You sit there thinking about it, overanalyzing it, building it up into something bigger than it is, when in reality, the action itself is usually the easiest part.
So here's the question I keep coming back to, and it's the one I'd throw right back at you. What's the gym in your life right now? What's the thing you already know how to do, the place you've been before, the version of yourself you've already proven exists, but you're hesitating to step back into? Stop waiting for it to feel easy. Walk through the door anyway.