EPISODE 4
Daily Questions - Part 3
TRANSCRIPT
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Hey guys, welcome to A Lifelong Habit of Exercise, I'm Coach Kendra and this is episode four. Today we are going to be finishing up our discussion on daily questions. The last couple of weeks, we have talked about the importance of daily questions and I've shared with you two of the daily questions that I use with my Check Your TEMP program. That is my one month program, where we study and apply everything we talked about on this podcast to you individually and in a very personalized manner. Today we are going to talk about the third question we ask daily in my program. Just a reminder question one was, "What do you think about your upcoming exercise for the day?" And question two was two parts and it was, "What is your current emotion?" and "What is your ideal emotion?" So question three is, "What do you have planned for today's exercise?" With the first two questions, they have given us a chance to be extremely curious. We were given the chance to kind of watch and become aware of our thoughts and what is going on inside of our brain and kind of inside of those thoughts that we have and we had a chance to kind of look and examine those. This is so important as we discussed in our previous episodes, that having an awareness for something is the first step to change. If you were unaware, then you will think everything is fine and continue on the same way that you've been. When it comes to exercising most of us are aware of the inconsistency and so many times we do attempt to try new and different activities and hopes that it will stick and we will continue forever and ever without looking back. That's our hopes. Right? So I laugh because I've tried everything. I think I've told you guys this in the previous episode, but I feel like I've tried every single exercise every single different activity that there is because I was just kind of like hoping that something, like it's something, if I do a different exercise, if I do a different activity, then I'll be able to do it forever. Right?
So as most of us know, that's not the case. And we don't end up continuing on and we don't end up just that like all of a sudden we find an activity, we may continue on for a little bit, we may enjoy it, and we may do whatever, but we are aware that there is something that we want to change. And we try, it's just we haven't had the right approach yet. So we try to do different things, and like I said, the becoming aware is the first step to that change. So we're aware that something that we want to change it which is the inconsistency for the exercise, and now, being aware we can try to figure out how to change it. Which is what most of us are trying to do when we try different activities, try different exercises, try everything like that.
So for many of us, this is really where most of the emotions when it comes to exercise - this is where most of the emotions like frustration, disappointment, helplessness begin. They begin to set in because we begin thinking that there's something wrong with us. I mean, there has to be because we've tried everything right? So this is where we begin to think that there's something wrong with us because we've tried everything on the planet, every exercise, every group, like I said, I did it too. And so we start to begin to feel the emotions that are like that helplessness, emotion because it we're like, if it's not something outside of us than it must be us. And that's what we begin to think for those of you guys that have been following my teachings and listening to this podcast for four weeks. Yes, I like to say that so you might hear about a bunch, "for four weeks". We've had this podcast for four weeks. I'm so excited. Most of you guys that have been following know that until we change our brain, we will continue to be stuck in the cycle of inconsistency. So there's nothing wrong with us, but we have to understand that we do have to change our brain in order to get out of the cycle of inconsistency. Because like any cycle, without a disruption, the cycle will just continue forever. Like there has to be a disruption in a cycle, and that is us changing our brain for this situation. So when we do this, like I said, when it comes to exercising, we have a cycle of inconsistency. We're stuck in the cycle of inconsistency. We talked about it in week one in Episode One. We're stuck in this cycle of inconsistency where we start to exercise and then we stopped for whatever reason, and then something perpetuates the cycle where we begin again, and we begin and we stop and we slow down and then we begin again, and we're stuck in that cycle. And for exercise, like I said, until we change our brain, we will continue to be stuck in this cycle.
And the disruption only happens in the brain when it comes to exercise. So that's why we are here. That's why I'm bringing you this podcast for week four. Like I said, I'm gonna just continue to say it and it is something that I really enjoy talking about. I'm so glad you guys are tuning in and this is something that we get to dive deep into a little bit more. So within the first four weeks, this is the first time that we're going to be discussing anything even about kind of a true workout plan or exercise like as far as a plan goes. And in true Coach Kendra fashion, you will see that the specific what that you do, still will not be the important part of your exercise. And I'm going to tell you this, I'm going to give you an exercise hint that the what will never be the important part.
The what will never be the important part. So a lot of people around us want to make it seem like that is the gold, the what you are doing is the gold and that's how it happens. That's how you build your exercise. That's how all of it but the what will never be the important part of your exercise. So we will discuss today how the specific what which is our workout or our exercise plays its role, because obviously there does have to be an exercise or a workout when establishing a lifelong habit of exercise. The reason most of us miss this mark on our own and end up in a cycle of inconsistency is what my college coach would say, as we put the cart before the horse. We expect the what, which is the workout and in this example the cart to lead the brain which is what we're looking for - the motivation, the drive, the desire, the emotion. And again, in this example, that's the horse, we expect the brain to follow. So we expect the cart, which is the workout or the exercise to lead the horse, which is the brain in this exercise. So my college coach used to always say that, "Don't put the cart before the horse, don't put the cart before the horse." And what we miss when exercising in establishing the habit of exercise, is we try to do the workout in hopes of our brain kind of catching up. "Once I start exercising, then my brain will just be ready to go, my brain will be like motivated every day to get going into work out more and to do all of that." We put the cart before the horse. So and that's in any case, a lot of times, that's just how we do as humans, we try to do something in order for us to feel better and I've talked about that before we try to purchase house in order for us to feel accomplished, we try to do something in order for us to feel. And in reality, what we need to do is we need to put the horse back in front, and then the cart, the horse in front of the cart, not the cart before the horse. So we need to do that and our cart needs to be our exercise in the workout and our brain, the horse needs to be the one that's leading.
So for daily question number three, what do you have planned for today's exercise, I want to first recommend that you have your plan of what you're going to do at least 24 hours in advance of your scheduled workout time. So let me be clear, I want you to have your plan of what you're going to do at least 24 hours before your scheduled exercise time. So I don't want to confuse you because I'm talking about plans and I'm talking about schedules. And sometimes we use those interchangeably. And I don't want you guys to be confused on that. I want your plan of what you're exercising like the actual what you are going to do. If I am planning on working out at noon tomorrow, I want to have by noon today, I want to have the plan of exactly what I'm going to do at tomorrow's workout already completed. So this is interesting to you guys, because the daily questions happen the day up, right? We've talked about that the day of or maybe sometimes the night before, but that's definitely not 24 hours in advance of when your workout is right? So daily question number three. When you're asking yourself this question, it's actually like a last minute refresher to see what may come up. It's not when you're actually deciding what you're going to do because that's already happened.
So what is the importance of actually having a plan having a plan? You must know what you are going to do. In order to do something like to do your workout to do your exercise, you must know what you were going to do ahead of time. Because I have been in athletics for so long, I used to think I could just go in the weight room and put together a workout on the spot. Now, could I actually do that? Yes, I absolutely could. So the problem wasn't the being capable of being able to put a good, complete workout together. I could do that. The problem was if I took this approach where I was going to just wait until I got into the weight room and then I'd figure it out and do it. If I waited and took that approach over half the time I never even made it into the weight room. So why is that? Again, because the workout is never at the important part. Again, the workout is never the important part. That is why I would like not even make it to the weight room. If I waited if I'm like, "Hey, I can do this. I'm a basketball coach, I've been coaching for 10 years. I can put a workout together. I can wait until I get in the weight room." But most of the time, I never even made it in the weight room because the workout isn't the important part. I stayed stuck in a habit of exercise, partly because I took for granted the importance of having a plan. Our brains do not like ambiguity, it's so easy to put something off that is unclear when it's unclear anything is possible. And that means it could be painful. It could be uncomfortable. And our brain is like, "no, we're just going to avoid that." So when we're clear, our brain is able to kind of grasp it. Our brain can make a connection. If it has something specific to look at. Our brain when we make a specific plan, our brain can look at that and see and be prepared. It becomes more doable when we make it unclear and vague. And when we just kind of say like, I'm gonna work out, our brain immediately is probably going to jump to two worst workout you've ever done. That's what my brain does. I could know that I've like the worst workout I've ever done has probably only been like, once. But if I'm like, I'm gonna go work out my brain is like, takes that worst workout ever and it's just like, that's what you're gonna do. So when you really clear, it's still may be the worst workout ever if you're clear, but your brain is able to look at it and it is able to connect with individual pieces. It's able to connect, if you're saying simply, "hey, I'm going to go on a walk for 20 minutes." If you have specific things like I'm going to do curls, and I'm going to do squats and I'm going to do squat jumps. And I'm going to do lunges and I'm going to do bicep presses. If you have something like that your brain is able to look at that and be like oh, I can do that. Rather than I'm going to go lift weights, I'm going to go with my trainer, I'm going to go do some type of exercise workout that I'm unsure of. Your brain is able to connect to it, it becomes just an exercise or an activity, rather than a big glooming unknown workout. So it is so, so important that you have a plan of what your exercise is going to be.
Now, we're going to go to the scheduling time.
It's not only important, like I said, to have a plan, but you need to have a time that you're scheduled to work out. And it's important to schedule a time because one, then you're able to know when you need to have your plan done by. But beyond that, we're going to kind of go into these reasons on why it's really important to have that scheduled time ahead of time. I think just like a plan, just like our plan of our exercise sometimes we take this for granted. And it's really important that these two things having a plan of what you're going to do, and scheduling a time we don't take for granted. I recommend using a planner. This could be as simple as a calendar in your phone. I like using the calendar in my phone because I can set it for 30 minute notification like reminder before my next planned activity. Like whatever it is that I plan, I like to have that notification 30 minutes before of kind of like this is what's upcoming. And so that's why I like to use my phone but a planner like if you like writing it down and you want a planner that you write in, that's fine too. But I like it because I have to get things done as far as have that notification come up to me and tell me what's going on. Because everyone that knows me knows that if I don't have it in my planner, like it's not going to get done. But if it's in my planner, it will be getting done at the time that it is planned, like at the time that it's in my planner, it's going to be getting done. It's not in my planner, most likely it's not getting done at all. Some people ask me sometimes, and they're kind of like, wow, how is that even possible? Like, I want to be like that. And I used to be that way too. I used to be where I wish I could have something in my planner or use a planner consistently or do any of that stuff. And now that's me like, it's like I said, if it's in my planner, it's getting done. If it's not in my planner, it's not getting done. And not only is it getting done, it's getting done at the time that it like 30 minutes, I know that whatever is coming up in the that's just where I'm going to be and that's what I'm going to be doing. So I used to be like that, too. Like I said, I used to think about that. And I used to want to be like oh I wish that I could put something in my planner and just get it done. And now that is me because I had to establish a habit of weekly taking one hour either Sunday or Monday. And it would depend on when I had my daughter and I would schedule out my entire week. Some thin; that's hard to do like, I mean, I talked to my players all the time, I talked to different people, my different clients, I talked to different people who were like, okay, "that's just hard." And some think that it's it's hard because or even not possible because their life is so inconsistent and they never know what is going to happen. I hear that so much. And I want you to listen to me. I am a college basketball coach with anywhere from 13 to 15 college students needing things at all different times at all different hours of the day. I have a two year old, I have my own business, trust me. Like I used to be the first person like I said, I used to look at people and be like, how is that possible? Like That is not possible. I'm different. My day to day my week to week is so different, that I couldn't even imagine having to try to plan and schedule. So I used to be like that, but now I know I like I started doing it. I started taking that one hour every week to schedule my week. And now there's no way I could really go without scheduling my week because the truth is that I've gained so much more time that I can enjoy and do the things that I want to do now that I take the time to schedule my week. Like I used to be the first person like I said, first person to be like, Nope. Like I'm a basketball coach. No things happen. things come up. "Nope, I can't schedule my week. It's just not possible." And now it's a non negotiable for me. I enjoy spending time with my daughter. I enjoy doing things that I want to do. And I've learned that the only way that I can be present and focused completely on those things and have a quality that is where I want it to be during those times is by me scheduling out my time. So without a scheduled time to exercise, like written or entered into your planner, your exercise becomes just a suggestion or an idea you have. So I'm not saying you have to schedule out your entire week like I do. I definitely recommend scheduling your exercise time. Like whatever time you plan to exercise, because, like if you just say it in your head, or you're just like, oh, tomorrow I'm gonna exercise and you just kind of have it out there but not written or entered into a planner. Like it really is just a suggestion or an idea, like an option of what you could do tomorrow. And this is also why it's so easy if something else comes up for it to just be dismissed, like your exercise to just be dismissed. Because it was just an option of what you could possibly do. It was not a "This is what I'm going to do." It was just like, Hey, I could work out tomorrow. That was more of what it is. And that's how your brain takes it too.
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So say you're having, like irritation in your mouth, like around one of your teeth. So you call the dentist and you schedule an appointment. Once it's scheduled, you're likely to write it down, or put it somewhere, put it in your planner. And you do this because you were an immediate discomfort and you want to make sure that you don't miss your appointment. Establishing a habit of exercise takes consistency. The reason you schedule your exercise time, is because you don't want to miss your appointment. When scheduled. It's no longer an option of what you could be doing. But instead it's an appointment with yourself. You may not be in immediate physical pain like you are for the example for the dentist, but you're probably experiencing discomfort, which is why you're here with us. That's why you're here listening to this podcast, you're aware that there's an inconsistency that you want to change. That is the discomfort like your discomfort. But why is it that when we have like an irritation in our mouth for a tooth, and we like schedule an appointment with the dentist, like it's like that is an appointment, we are not going to miss. We write it down, we schedule it. That is how, like when you are talking about exercising, if you schedule your time to exercise, you are like scheduling an appointment with yourself.
So I want to just go back again, question one, what we talked about, we talked about our thoughts that gave us a chance to look at our thoughts about our upcoming exercise. Question two, gave us a chance to look at our current emotion and our ideal emotion. Remember, we're responsible for our own emotions and an emotion is simply a vibration in our body caused by a thought in our mind. So those questions one in question two, that's what it allowed us a chance to kind of examine. Now question three, what we really get to do is embrace our ideal emotion from question two, and look at what do you have planned for today's exercise? So while we're embracing the ideal emotion, we get to see what do you have planned for today's exercise and we get to overview the exercise for the day. We get kind of another look at what is our exercise for the day because remember, it's already planned. We already know exactly what we're going to do. Now. It just gives us a chance to kind of go through it as an overview. I like to look at this as like a walk-through. It's kind of like a walk through of the day for our exercise. In basketball what we do the day of a game is we do a walk-through. And we do this to get loose, we do it to get comfortable with the place that we're playing. We do it to get last minute questions answered. So for daily question number three, this is your chance to do a walk-through. This is your chance to kind of look at things again to answer questions ahead of time to look at it if you have questions about it. If you're like, unclear about things, you can look at it and be like, okay, and kind of gain some clarity, and just get comfortable with your upcoming exercise.
Alright, guys, you now have all three daily questions. That is so exciting. It seems like I mean, it was three weeks ago that we started daily question number one, but it seems like it was just yesterday. So you have all three daily questions and for the next week, each day, I want you to ask yourself and write down the answers for all three daily questions. Remember, take your time and plan what you are going to do at least 24 hours in advance and schedule a time to do it. Remember, it does not have to be strenuous, it just has to be consistent. Until next time, guys, I'll see ya.
If you guys love this podcast, you will love my Check Your TEMP program. It is a personalized program that we dig deep into everything we discuss on this podcast. Work with me for one month and never stop exercising again. Head over to CoachKendra.com/WorkWithMe to set up a FREE Mini session.