[Mahler]

Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 92 – Black Friday

Good morning, guys.

For the guys from the states, I hope you all had a calm and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.

Over the weekend the buzz words in the retail industry were “Black Friday.” This is the day that traditionally is the busiest shopping day of the year. That is not necessarily true, but the name evolved from retailers who operated at a deficit or “in the red” most of the year and started to realize a profit and operate “in the black” due to heavy sales on the day after Thanksgiving.

Our lives and our fitness goals often operate on the “Black Friday” principal. With all the best intentions we start a project or a program. Soon, however, we find that we are operating “in the red.” We postpone workouts, miss a few altogether and sometimes just plain quit. Perhaps we fail to make the gains we expected and lose interest. Or maybe we fall off the wagon with our diet and nutrition. This is my personal problem, especially around the holidays. All of this is done with the idea that we can turn it around and catch up later in the year. We begin operating at a deficit, telling ourselves that tomorrow we will get back on track. Tomorrow will be our Black Friday and we will start to make progress again.

It is so easy to lose focus; so easy to lose sight of our goals when we have lives that are complex beyond even our own understanding. There are demands from all sides on our time, our resources and our willpower and never more than around this time of year. These cause us to function a day at a time, just to get by; just to make it through to the next day. No one is immune to this virus that penetrates the defenses of our mind and spirit. But, getting along a day at a time causes us to function at a deficit because it only focuses on the next day and not the ultimate goal. In putting off things, we are actually depleting our resources and operating “in the red.”

It takes real effort to keep this from happening and it isn’t an easy task. The payoff in tackling the long term goal and continuing to operate “in the black”, however, is that it makes the day-to-day stuff easier to handle. The big stride for the long-term goal helps you to take the little steps from one day to the next without breaking a sweat. It takes commitment and focus, but is worth the effort. You must make your own Black Friday and stop living your life at a deficit.

So, when is Black Friday?
How about, today?
And everyday.

Have a great week.
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In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler