What do all-star athletes, Grammy-winning musicians, and automobiles in the dead of winter in Wisconsin have in common? Their success (or failure) on any given day hinges greatly upon warming up. Obviously a warm-up is not the whole story, but it’s a very important and often overlooked aspect of almost any undertaking. Warming up is psychologically where your desires and goals start to manifest themselves in reality, so it’s a great subject to focus on when starting with any new venture.

Why am I Writing About This?

In short, I have read about this topic for years. Yet I still struggle with it on almost a daily basis. I recently left my job of over a decade, got married, and I’m now focusing on getting my own small solo venture off the ground. Starting a business, and subsequently getting it in the green is a gargantuan goal with a goalpost that is miles from where I stand. Staring at that goalpost often makes me feel like curling up in a ball and lying on the floor more than moving toward it at any pace. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way, so I’ll share some insights that help me keep my proverbial engine running on even the coldest Wisconsin winter days.

Why Warm Up?

I’ll start here by providing the benefits of warming up as it relates to physical activity.

Warming up helps prepare your body for a workout. By gradually raising your body temperature and increasing blood flow to your muscles, warming up helps reduce your chances of injury and “wakes” your body up for the task ahead.

I don’t know about you, but I personally find that definition kind of boring and obvious, so I’ll share some of my own thoughts on the matter from years of kettlebell training. Warning: this is going to get a bit spiritual.

About 7 years ago, I read Kettlebell: Simple & Sinister by Pavel Tsatsouline. If you’re a Westerner looking into kettlebell workouts, you’ve probably heard of the guy. What really resonated with me as a runner reading this book was the simplicity of the workout: 2 simple movements that keep you in shape and strong; 1 small piece of equipment that can be tucked in a closet when you aren’t working out.

At the time of reading the book, I didn’t really put a lot of stock into why the warm-ups and stretches were so heavily emphasized, but I did them anyway. I did everything “by the book”… literally. What I found after just a month of doing this workout 3-5 times a week was that the workout would nearly finish itself after I started doing my warm-up and mobility work. Getting over the mental and emotional hurdle of “should I work out right now?” to “I guess I’m working out now.” was 90% of the battle. The rest really took care of itself after I had started. Noticing this phenomenon, a light went off and I remembered wise words I had read from The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg years prior. THIS strange trance state I fell into after warming up was simply running a habit program after a little bit of “activation energy”.

Activation Energy

Activation energy in this context is a term borrowed from traditional science. Conveniently, it describes why starting something is often half of the battle or more. Behavioral psychologists now focus a lot of attention on activation energy and its usefulness in understanding motivations that drive behavior.

You may have heard that the simple act of putting on your shoes to go running will increase the odds that you will in-fact get out and run. Going a step further, keeping your running shoes near the bed where you will see them when you wake up works too! If all you see is a snooze button, you’ll probably press it. If you wake up, see your old running shoes on the floor, maybe your dog nudging you to wake up and go for a jog, you’ll be much more likely to put those shoes on, beep boop (computer noises) initiate the running program.

Analysis Paralysis

Analysis paralysis is an inability to make a decision due to over-thinking a problem, or more accurately in this context, looking at the problem holistically instead of focusing on the first step to solving the problem. It’s a major sticking point when it comes to activation energy and the notion of “warming up”. Beware of this tendency.

Our life experiences teach us to anticipate the future. It’s a wonderful evolutionary trait that has gotten us through seasons, years, centuries, and advanced human society. Our goals or obstacles often conjure immediate images of full-scale intricate problems. Unfortunately, this can be really crippling, because when you are trying to do something new or awkward, guess what: you don’t have all the answers. There is, however, a secondary instinct we all have. Most of the time, we know exactly what needs to be done to start moving toward the goal, even if we can’t see all of the intricacies of the big picture. Focusing in on the intuition toward the first step, or next step of a larger goal is the key to forward momentum.

Design Your Warm-up

Alright, all of this sounds great, but how can I put it into practice? I find myself overthinking everything. As a result, I rarely make positive changes in my life, or start moving toward goals that are important to me.

First, I should mention that physical activity is a great catalyst here. By warming up to work out, intentionally placing your shoes by the bed to run, or whatever your strategy is, you are strengthening your resolve. There is no difference between the neural pathways you build warming up to move your body, and warming up to move yourself toward your goals.

With that in mind, if you’re a human who has ever attempted to run, you know that you might have some rough idea of how far or how fast you’d like to run, but those objectives are not the primary driving force for getting your body in motion. You understand inherently that you are running to make yourself better at running and physically stronger to handle whatever life throws your way. Try looking at your goals the same way.

  • It is unnecessary to focus on a specific timeline, quota, etc.
  • It is necessary to start moving in a forward direction.
  • Don’t focus on the big picture. You won’t get there in a day anyway.
  • Set small, reasonable, objectives for the day.
  • At the end of the day, note what seemed to move you toward your goals, and simply learn from what did not.

Recomendation: If, like me, you are prone to making “to-do” lists, limit yourself to a maximum of 6 items on this list per day. DO NOT make the items so large and vague that they are actually comprised of many smaller tasks. Put everything else in a separate list out of sight. It is for tomorrow and beyond, and has no bearing on the present moment.

The more you practice warming up for your day, your project, your workout, etc., the more naturally this will come to you. You’ll find new ways of warming up that work perfectly for you. The best part about all of this is that you’ll get better and more efficient at starting anything the more you focus on starting. Get out there, start something new, learn, grow, rinse, repeat! It’s a heck of a lot better than remaining stuck at the beginning.