I’m going to throw out a very straightforward bit of advice for anyone who has ever struggled with motivation to go to the gym or get in some exercise: get to the gym every Monday.

It’s not that Mondays include any special training, or that there’s some scientific benefit to your metabolism or your cardiovascular fitness to working out at the start of the week. It really has more to do with the psychology of adherence. In plain English, it creates momentum and keeps you from backloading your week.

I see this play out frequently: a student doesn’t attend the gym on Monday; they wake up feeling far too tired on Tuesday, and so put it off until Wednesday; then demands of work make it nearly impossible to get to the gym that day, so it is put off until the next day (“I’ll just get my three days on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, then I’ll be good”). Thursday is met with the sort of mental and physical malaise of a week that has been characterized by disappointment in oneself and general lack of accomplishment, and by then the student says “screw it, this week is already shot, I’ll start fresh next week.” Next week, quite often, looks the same.

Mondays are not some magical trick or hack. Getting up early on a Monday to show up and work hard is not easy, and never really will be. But it is a powerful tool in fighting the ongoing human battle of discipline and adherence. Show up Monday, and you might just find yourself showing up the next day and the day after with a bit more ease.

- PS

6/8/18

• 5k row