Why Planning for Failure is Essential to Building Great Habits
I had put on the notorious “Freshman 15.” Eating cafeteria food (and partying) had caught up with me. I was chubby.
So I set a goal of going to the gym every single day of the second semester. I did chest, shoulders and triceps on Monday, then back and biceps on Tuesday. I went back to the first part of the split on Wednesday and kept repeating the cycle. (That’s right, I didn’t even squat, bro.)
I was proud of myself for starting my exercise habit, but after a few days, my entire body was brutally sore.
After a week, I could barely raise my arms more than five degrees from my sides. I was constantly tired. I needed ten hours of sleep some nights, just to be able to get out of bed in the morning. I was always hungry. I ate more gross cafeteria food. I became irritable and had trouble focusing in class.
I started having gut wrenching reactions to going to the gym. I wanted to vomit just thinking about it. It was my body telling me I couldn’t handle it. I had to stop.
My exercise habit was broken before it ever really started. But I used this failure as an opportunity to learn where I had gone wrong…
