When I lived in a major city, I was constantly chasing the next fun exercise class, trying spin, pilates, yoga, HIIT, and more. I had tons of studios at my disposal, and I plugged each class into my Outlook calendar at the beginning of the week so I could shape my work and social plans around them.
Fast forward to a few years ago when I moved into the suburbs with my boyfriend, where we had more room for us and his kids. While there are many things I love about our area, access to fitness studios isn’t one of them. I bought an elliptical from amazon and even paid someone to assemble it. Yet here it sits…collecting dust.
About six months ago, my manager sent me to a full day Thrive Global workshop. She was actually giving me permission to spend an entire day focused on my well-being! At the start of the workshop, we were asked to consider our well-being in five areas: body, mind, connections, resources and purpose. Then we were asked to determine which area we wanted to focus on. Of course I was able to conjure up “areas of opportunity” in each well-being topic area, but I felt really down about my lack of physical activity. So I chose to spend the day thinking about my physical well-being.
At the end of the day, each team member was tasked with picking a Microstep. Thrive’s science-backed approach knows that someone who hasn’t exercised in six months is unlikely to start exercising an hour a day, seven days a week, from an inert state. My Microstep was to do five minutes of exercise five days a week.
I must admit, once I started doing five minutes of exercise a day, I was pretty demoralized. Push-ups, squats, lunges…all seemed much harder than they had before! But it motivated me too. I knew that I had the potential to be strong since I had been before. I found a nearby gym that offers classes six days a week. The classes range from cardio to toning to weight-lifting to boxing. I signed up and I am committed to doing five hours per week. I am working towards returning to my prior levels of strength and stamina, and I feel amazing doing it.
Sure, there are moments I have to drag myself out the door to drive to class. But I never regret it afterwards. And the satisfaction I get from building muscle and breaking a sweat is an incredible feeling. I am so thankful my manager allowed me to participate in the Thrive Global workshop so I could get back to being fit and healthy!