At over halfway through the Whole Life Challenge, we are moving through a crucial point in the challenge. It’s the point at which casual interest diverges from real commitment.

Everyone started the challenge by answering a simple question: what do you want to get out of your time on the Whole Life Challenge? Lose weight, increase strength, form new habits, improve mobility, decrease stress, etc. Perhaps you even took it a step further to ask yourself why do I want these things? To be a better example to my family. To improve health. To feel pride in my capacity to change and improve.

These “whats” and “whys” are decidedly powerful tools to have in your toolbelt when things get hard. They probably carried you through the first few weeks with momentum and excitement. But the important question that many forget to ask is: how much do I really want these things? This is the question that determines action and behavior. It’s the difference between a wishlist and real-world action. It’s the difference between starting something and actually finishing something.

Because everyone in the world wants to be rich and have six-pack abs, and yet…

Perhaps some of you have already asked yourself this question. Perhaps you’ve answered with a doubling-down on your commitment, with a recognition of the fact that it will be challenging, that it will take patience and effort, and that that’s the whole point. Or perhaps you’ve let yourself off the hook, because you think you’ve already gotten everything there is to get out of the challenge, or because things aren’t going the way you thought they would, or because as much as you do want to lose weight or improve your fitness or form new lifestyle habits, you don’t want it quite as much as you want to feel comfortable and unchallenged.

The questions I pose do not come from a place of judgment. They should prompt authenticity and honest introspection. If you truly don’t want to make change as badly as you want to be comfortable and unchallenged, then you ought to live out that truth. But I would challenge you all, whether you’re in the Whole Life Challenge or not, to ask and answer the question for yourself. And if these questions and answers make you uncomfortable, there’s probably a good reason for that. Dig deep.

- PS

2/16/18

• Box squat - 5,5,5,5

Then...

• 3 rounds for quality:

• 10/leg single leg lying hamstring curl

• 10/leg DB step-ups (AHAP)