Just 5 minutes on the treadmill!

Oh man, today's trip to the gymn was a tough one!  I was kind of tired this morning, and I'm fighting a cold, so the brain wars sounded a little like this:  "Just pour yourself another coffee, snuggle up in a blanket and check Facebook"  vs  "No, you'll feel so much better if you go and do your workout; it will be energizing".  It was actually another voice, kind of a middle-ground mediator that resolved the conflict this morning:  "Okay, here's the deal, just go and do 5 minutes on the treadmill.  Have a super easy workout, but then you get points for going!"  And voila, it worked!  It didn't seem too daunting to do 5 minutes instead of the whole weights routine, so I got in the car and went.  Wouldn't you know it though, once I was there, and did my 5 minutes, the energy was back, and the weights didn't seem quite so heavy to tackle.  So motivational lesson learned is this:  When the willpower just isn't doing the trick for you, give yourself a break and lower your expectations.  Set yourself a small, easily attainable goal.  The key is to just get moving, take a baby step in the right direction.  Then, you may surprise yourself that it's easier to let the momentum carry you forward, rather than just stopping.  And even if you do stop after just 5 minutes on the treadmill, that's better than nothing, so yes, you do get points for going!