The Having is in the Doing

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“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” ~ Someone cleverer than me

I don’t wanna be a complainer (well, I do for this post), but there are a number of things I don’t like doing.  By no means is this an exhaustive list, nor is it in any order, but it’s mine and I wanna share it.

  1. Cleaning the kitchen
  2. Returning and making phone calls to prospects, friends, and family
  3. Laundry
  4. Making my bed
  5. Disciplining my children
  6. Landscaping
  7. Shaving

Now that I’ve shared my list, please share yours.  Go ‘head, I’m listening.  Uh-huh . . . yep . . . good one!  Nice work.  Now that you’ve got your list of things you don’t like doing, why do you do them?

I’ll get the ball rolling on this one as well.  Here’s my list of why I do the things I don’t like doing.

  1. I like having a kitchen where I enjoy preparing meals.
  2. I like having clients, friends, and family.
  3. I like having clean clothes, clients, friends, and family.
  4. I like having an organized room where I can retreat at day’s end from a disorganized world.
  5. I like having children that [I’m hopeful] will one day contribute to society.
  6. I like having a home with a well-manicured lawn and some curb appeal.
  7. I like having wife that wants to kiss me.

One of the greatest complaints I receive from people about working out is that it’s boring (don’t get me started on the word “boring”), uncomfortable, painful, monotonous, etc.  In the past, to give exercise more “curb appeal”, I would try to convince them that it’s not.  But if I’m being completely honest with them, with you, and with myself, it is some of these things.  Sometimes it’s these things.

There are days I don’t like working out, or at least the idea of it.*  For me it’s more about the discomfort and pain than it is boredom and monotony.  (Here’s a tip: if you make your workout challenging and uncomfortable enough, they become a whole lot less “boring”.)  So, here’s another list of things I [sometimes] don’t like doing.

  1. Intervals
  2. Eating supportive, nutritious meals
  3. Pull-ups, front squats, split squats, and planks

But here’s what I like having.

  1. Improved health
  2. Improved body composition (a.k.a. a lean, muscular body)
  3. Improved performance

I’ve stopped trying to sugar-coat exercise as being fun and easy (although it can be fun!).  You don’t like exercising?  You think it’s boring?  Hard?  I’m sorry, but that’s not a good enough reason to not do it if you’re interested in being healthier, leaner, and stronger.  If you’re not interested in feeling better, looking better, or moving better, then yeah, why do it?!  (It’s a trick question.  You do it because you need to take care of the body God’s given you.  It’s called being a steward.  Oh, and the thought of my health insurance premiums going up because I’ve been “pooled” with someone who doesn’t give a rip about their health irks me to no end.)

Like most (all?) things that happen in life, there’s a cause-and-effect relationship.  If you want to have something, you must do something.  If you wanna be stronger (effect) you must lift things up and put them down (cause), both weights and a fork.  If you wanna be leaner (effect) you must move more and eat the right foods in the right amounts (cause). 

Regardless of whether you like doing something or not, sometimes you must do it to get what you desire.  If you do like it, or learn to like it, great, but it’s not a requirement.  What is required is that you do to have the have.  You can’t have the having without the doing.

*There are days I don’t look forward to working out, but there has never been a day I’ve regretted doing it.”

Question: How can this be applied to other areas of your life?  What do you need to do today to have what you want?