A little inspiration to get you started this year, in the wise words of the Retailworld Group General Manager Doug Downer.
I hope everyone had a great break and got to spend time with the one’s you love and that you had the opportunity to relax and refresh yourself for the year ahead. I don’t know about you but I overindulged, I ate and drank too much of the wrong things, I stopped my routine of going to the gym and generally took it pretty easy.
I went to the gym this morning determined to work off the Christmas cheer and get back into my pre-Christmas routine of eating well and daily exercise. Those of you that go to the gym will relate to the experience I am going to share with you below.
I was at the gym this morning and started into my standard routine, 1500 meters rowing (I imagine I’m rowing for Australia at the Olympics), 3 minutes on the grinder at resistance 15 (I imagine I’m racing in the Sydney to Hobart) 10 minutes on the exercise bike (you guessed it, I imagine I’m Cadel Evans in the Tour De France) and then I finish off my cardio workout with ten minutes on the elliptical cross trainer machine (I still don’t know why I do this one).
Sure enough, less than two minutes into each leg of my workout I want to stop.
This urge has hit me consistently every time I re-start my exercise regime. It’s amazing how quickly you can get out of shape and lose your fitness.
I’m glad to say I ignored this urge to stop, and after another couple of minutes of this urge pestering me, the feeling finally went away.
It was at this moment that I drew on the parallels that we all face in doing what we do, especially at this time of year.
Any time you start something new or what might initially seem difficult or even if we try to develop a new habit, the work can seem much more difficult than if you’re already in a groove. Each of us has the voice or urge that tells us to stop something after we’ve begun. And if we listen to it, it can lead us to disastrous results.
Like my experience at the gym, the majority of the resistance is mental, even though I’m attempting to change physically. But it does get easier.
Think of this in terms of Newton’s laws of motion: “Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion.”
If it isn’t already moving, it takes more effort to get it moving. When you learn to recognize the resistance and ignore it, you’re well on your way. This principle applies whether you’re starting a new exercise regimen, establishing better eating habits, or getting back into the swing of things in your role.
Be prepared to work harder, mentally and physically, when you start something new.
Recognize the resistance, and when you get adept at recognizing it, you should even come to expect it.
Prepared for the challenge, you will know that it’s time to push through the difficulty.
Stay consistent and the momentum of your efforts will build.
Results come after the hard work; persevere, and success you shall have.
What does all this ‘babble’ mean for you in your role?
With the Christmas break we’ve gotten out of our groove and it might seem difficult to get going and when we do, we are going to hit some resistance, it could be your resistance to get going again, it could be changing the way you approach what you do or how you react to the responses you get.
Today is the most important day of your career – What you do today will set you up for the rest of the year, whether it’s your goal to get a promotion, obtain a salary increase or just to be better at what you do and achieve a greater sense of accomplishment from what you do.
I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions but I do believe in Change and the time is right because we’ve been at rest and now we need to get moving again.
Going back to my Gym analogy - one of the major ingredients for any kind of success is pushing through the resistance. When I exercise I use résistance training, resistance training builds muscle and strength; It’s hard at first but it get’s easier once you train the muscle and you get into a routine.
Just like the fitness you get by working hard for thirty days, you can set your year, in fact your career up today, by the actions you take right now.
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Retailworld Resourcing is a recruitment agency that specialises in the retail sector. We place people in retail jobs in New Zealand and retail jobs in Australia, throughout all areas and levels within the retail industry.
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