#217

Earlier this year, after my back operation, I started a new core routine: short stretches and exercises to keep me moving well into the decades ahead.

I’m building it slowly, with a “good enough for now” rhythm.

The other day, my daughter asked me:
“But what if you don’t feel motivated to do the exercises?”

Before I could even think of a clever response, I blurted out:
“I can’t rely on motivation.”

And it’s true.

Motivation ebbs and flows. Some days I’m up for it. Some days I’d rather not. If I depended on how I felt in the moment, my progress would be wildly inconsistent.

So instead, I’ve made the habit as small as possible. So small that I don’t need to feel motivated to get it done.

Here’s the thing: the benefits of these exercises are decades away. That future version of me who still wants to walk, swing a golf club, travel, and live actively - that’s who I’m doing it for. But future benefits are hard to feel right now.

So, I don’t try to feel them. I just do the thing.

I want this routine to become as automatic as brushing my teeth. I never say “I haven’t got time to brush my teeth.” It’s simply part of who I am.

And that’s the deeper point:
The more consistent I am, the more this habit becomes about identity rather than motivation. I’m not someone who occasionally does core work. I’m someone who looks after his back and therefore my future movement and activity.

Because when your actions are part of your identity, you don’t need motivation. You just show up as who you are.

So, a whisper for you this week:
> What inconsistent habit in your life needs to become part of your identity?
> What would shift if you stopped waiting for motivation, and instead relied on consistency?
> Who do you want to become, one small action at a time?