Should you take a snack?
J.P. Montalvan • February 28, 2023
"Sometimes, it's just easier to say yes to that extra snack or dessert, because frankly, it is exhausting to keep saying no.”
— Michelle Obama
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Have you ever struggled to exercise? I’d be shocked if you answer something besides yes. I’ve struggled with exercise too. Some people that know me well find that hard to believe, because I owned a fitness studio for about 2 decades. But yes, I still struggled to exercise sometimes.
What I learned is that willpower isn’t enough. Whether it was helping others keep up their routine, or getting myself motivated to exercise or do something else important like working on a key business project, I learned that if I did something short and vigorous first — like 30 seconds of deep breathing or running in place — I would be ready to do more. That short, vigorous movement elevated my state. Once my state was elevated, I was ready to really act and do more.
With anything we want to achieve in our lives, taking action is always the first step to getting there. We can have all the best intentions and tactics in the world, but if we fail to execute, it’s meaningless. Whether we’re building our business or growing our relationships, everything revolves around taking action.
How do we take the first step?
It actually starts with what comes before you take that step. Then it’s how you organize taking and finishing that step.
What's the step before the step? It’s the first of what I call the 3 F’s — you need to "Feel Great."
Turns out that there’s new research showing that this type of physical activity of really short bursts I started to do years ago — what’s now called a “movement snack" — can improve your mood, circulation, strength and more. This wasn’t something that I learned to encourage people to exercise more. It’s one thing I discovered that helped me get through what held me back.
Great execution requires us to feel great. One way to start to feel great is to take that movement snack.
The process of feeling great introduces a paradox. When our bodies and minds need to feel great the most, we’re the least likely — and least ready — to do something about it. When work and life don’t seem to be going right, we quickly slide into a negative cycle of feeling overwhelmed, less energetic and motivated, leading to poorer recovery and exhaustion, which then makes it harder for us to do something to feel great.
To overcome this paradox, you can develop a “feel great” plan. It’s that thing you do when you’d rather stay in bed, you feel blah, or you want to do anything but what you need to do. It’s a thing that’s quick. It’s that warm-up, psyching yourself up — that movement snack — and the step before the step that allows you to go for goal.
Every journey starts with the first step. So next time you find yourself stuck taking that first step, you might consider a snack — a movement snack.
You are not in this on your own. Here’s to the journey with you.
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