I am sitting here thinking about the workout I have scheduled for today and frankly, I am a little tired and I don’t want to do it. And so I repeat the phrase that has become a bit of a mantra for me over the last two months:
Here is a lion. She doesn't "hit the gym" and is pretty fit. Why should I have to...?
Half-Ass is Better than No-Ass
(Pardon the language, but hey, that’s my mantra…)
No, that is not a weird body-image type saying.
This mantra comes from the fact that so many times for me, over the history of my life, I have procrastinated doing activities that are beneficial to me because I was feeling low energy, or creatively blocked, or stressed, etc.
The thought process was “there’s no point in doing this activity now feeling like this when it won’t be so successful. Better to hold off until tomorrow when I am in a better head/body space and can do it full out.”
Sounds stupid to write it out like this, but that is what went on in my head. And I am guessing that same inner-talk happens to a lot of people.
And it is doubly stupid for me, an improviser and someone who teaches how to use improv ideas in the real world, because the concept of only taking action when things are certain to go great is very anti-improvisation.
In improv you need to take a step into uncertainty and see what happens. You may have no idea where it is going when you step, but you have to step. You may not think you have the best offer to make, but you have to step. You may even end up with a mediocre (or even bad) scene, but you have to step.
So that is my mantra now. And I have managed to workout more consistently than I have in a long time, even if not all of the workouts are amazing.
I’m also now using it for work and projects I feel like putting off because I don’t think I can perform at my 100% best.
Half-ass is better than no ass. Works for me. Feel free to use (or adapt) if it might work for you.