Mate, You're Doing Good!

It feels so much better to work out if you have a workout partner. It not only keeps us motivated which results in energy that constantly push us. So often your fitness partner would come up to you and shows you how much he feels good because of the muscles bulging out, during the exercise! He or she is not showing-off (maybe consciously he or she is showing-off) but subconsciously there is a bigger emotion at play. I like to call it 'back-me-up-mate' theory. It's like when we're happy we like to share it with others; it's not the pride that's causing it but it's the simple old sharing the joy.

Research has shown if we share our goals with our friends or peers we tend to perform better. Workout is like any other training that begins with goal(s) that are laid out as per our desires. It could be looking like ‘Stallone’ or your any other favourite movie star, or it could the desire to lead a healthier lifestyle. Having an aim isn't enough - workout is like a team sport where you've to push yourself harder and harder to keep improving. 

As with any 'pushing' a lot of motivation is needed. At times the internal well of motivation is not enough to keep you going so you turn to your peers for some kind words. It's like a child asking for an acknowledgement that things are going good and more push will help to make it even better. So I guess gymnasium is a playground where we "play" with body building equipment. Unless we don't play we won't enjoy it. And we need others to encourage us. 

So next time your workout partner comes with his or her mouth wide open with a big smile and flexing their muscles to show the 'cuts' - just smile and say 'you're doing good, mate'.

Can we apply it elsewhere too? Of course, which is the other team sport we play for the major portion of the day? Any guesses? It is our workplace, where we work for almost 8-9 hours of our day. It is called work but as any successful person would point out - work is also play. After all what is playing - it is enjoying what we are doing. So if we enjoy our work we are playing and learning. 

So it would be good to say a thank you to your colleague once in a while not just to acknowledge the help but just to motivate each other. And a motivational environment provides endless possibilities where there's a lot of learning and humility too.