When I was eight years old, my parents sent me to a one-week sleepover camp called Camp Otonka. After an initial bout of homesickness, I loved it! I played outdoor games, swam in the swimming pool, roasted marshmallows, and made hand-crafted useless objects that my mother cherished and could never part with.
At the end of the week, the camp counselors gave award certificates to all the campers. The awards were all fun and silly, like “Camper Most Likely to Push a Camp Counselor into the Swimming Pool” and “Winner of the Snipe Hunt,” stuff like that. When it came to my award, I was given the “Persistence” award. Persistence? Are you kidding me? I was just so humiliated. I just wanted to be one of the fun and popular kids.
Occasionally, I still wish I was a member of the in-crowd: someone whose adult children want to party with and someone confident and outgoing that is always invited to hip girlfriend getaways. But I’ve made peace with the essence of my personality for the most part, and I’ve come to understand that persistence helped me reach goals that might otherwise have been beyond my reach.
So, what does persistence have to do with exercising every single day? Well, maybe not as much as you might think. Innate persistence is helpful in overcoming life’s challenges, for sure. But persistence skills can be learned, developed, and enhanced with time and practice. Habit formation, once solidified, can supplement persistence and augment willpower and delayed gratification.
Persistence and willpower are not just genetic personality traits; they are affected by environmental elements like time of day, fatigue, stress, blood sugar, and psychological demands of decision making. This makes sense. When you are tired, it is easier to flop into an easy chair than to put on workout clothes. When you are hungry, it is more attractive to drive through a fast food takeout window than to shop and prepare a healthy dinner. By late afternoon at the office, it takes less effort to revert to “no decision” than to analyze and select an important financial option.
With practice and the formation of an exercise habit, you will learn to avoid situations that tax your willpower and erode your persistence. Self-talk, support systems, getting enough sleep, and eating a healthy diet throughout the day will help. Avoid delaying exercise until after a stressful conversation with your partner, reviewing your credit card bill, or working on your income tax return.
Habit formation complements willpower by over-riding emotional and behavioral impulses that get in the way of accomplishing our goals. So, if you didn’t win the Camping Olympics or scavenger hunt when you were in grade school, you can still triumph in the daily exercise division. If you are gifted, you are lucky. If you are persistent, you are a winner.