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Speaker 1
Hello my friends. Welcome to another episode of Tennis Arena.

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Speaker 1
Today I wanted to talk about identity change, which is something that I've talked about before, but just maybe another aspect of it. So in my previous episode, I talked about building the habit of going to the gym regularly.

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Speaker 1
And the great thing about when you do that is that when it's a habit, it's not something that you think about anymore.

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Speaker 1
And so.

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Speaker 1
After six months ish

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Speaker 1
of me building this gym habit,

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Speaker 1
It is no longer something that I debate over in my head if I'm going to the gym or not.

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Speaker 1
And that has

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Speaker 1
relieved a lot of the pressure and anxiety and the planning around going to the gym. Now that I'm going to the gym

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Speaker 1
every day or almost every day, there's usually not a question in the morning of, oh, do I have to go to the gym today?

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Speaker 1
Do I want to go to the gym today? It's just no, I'm going to the gym. So more than not, my morning process is like this. I wake up, I brush my teeth,

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Speaker 1
I make my protein shake,

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Speaker 1
I

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Speaker 1
digest a little bit

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Speaker 1
because the protein shake is coffee, and coffee gets the system going. And then maybe about 30 to 45 minutes after I wake up,

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Speaker 1
I'm out of there and I'm going to the gym.

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Speaker 1
It's as simple as that.

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Speaker 1
I would love to journal, but journal isn't something that I've been able to make a habit. I'm like working out.

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Speaker 1
So my morning process is just that simple. There's no longer the ongoing conversation in my head about, do I want to go to the gym today? Do I need to go to the gym today?

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Speaker 1
Can I go tomorrow instead? None of that. I just I don't even think about it anymore. I wake up, I make my protein shake, and I go to the gym.

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Speaker 1
And that's.

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Speaker 1
That's the beauty of it. I feel like it's almost easier to have a workout split that is five days versus a workout split. That's three days. Because if it's only three days and you have that debate going on in your head, but which stage should I do it? And if I skip today, can I do it tomorrow instead?

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Speaker 1
If you have a plan for every single day, then you don't really have room to skip and shift it

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Speaker 1
because then you're going to fall behind.

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Speaker 1
It might sound crazy to someone that doesn't workout regularly or doesn't do something, but just in terms of if you think medication, it's so much easier to take a daily medication than it is to take

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Speaker 1
a medication every four days or every five days or every week, I would

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Speaker 1
always forget I used to have a vitamin D supplements that I would have to take every week, and I would always forget.

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Speaker 1
But if it's every day, then you can just leave it by your sink and you know, like every day you look at it. Every time I look at it, every time I brush my teeth, I need to take one. It's more simple

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Speaker 1
if you break it down that way. And so just think about your exercise like that. It's not

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Speaker 1
a decision anymore.

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Speaker 1
It's just something that you do. So that debate just cut it out. You don't have it. It's just you going.

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Speaker 1
And so the identity part makes it easier because if you can just tell yourself you're going, then, you know, in your head, like I'm the type of person that goes to the gym every day. And so the debate becomes even smaller.

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Speaker 1
You can tell yourself, I am a strong, active person, and strong, active people work out every day. And then the conversation is even smaller. It's still

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Speaker 1
you just.

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Speaker 1
And you just keep repeating this conversation with whatever skill or habit it is that you're trying to build until

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Speaker 1
you don't need to do it anymore because it's just who you are.

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Speaker 1
You stop thinking about it. Like, when was the last time that you had to convince yourself to brush your teeth?

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Speaker 1
Probably a long time ago. Hopefully.

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Speaker 1
And it's because that has just been a part of your identity. Because you're a clean person and clean people brush your teeth.

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Speaker 1
How many times did you have to convince yourself to put on?

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Speaker 1
There's a lot of moving pieces here when we're talking about habit change, behavior change,

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Speaker 1
but they all work together and they all build upon each other. So doing it slowly is definitely one like we discussed last week,

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Speaker 1
making the decision ahead of time. If you schedule it on your calendar, stick to it. Don't have the debate? Cut it out.

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Speaker 1
Changing your identity and telling yourself that I am the kind of person that works out every day.

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Speaker 1
I am the kind of person that takes care of my body. I am the kind of person that eats well so that I can feel good and move well.

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Speaker 1
And the more and more you reinforce these ideas and identities and shifts, just the easier it becomes. And so you have to give yourself grace for the days that you screw up, because they're bound to happen, and you're bound to get sick one day and need rest. And that's great. That's fine. The only thing is that you just have to pick it back up from where you left.

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Speaker 1
Don't let that break break you

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Speaker 1
just keep going.

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Speaker 1
So

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Speaker 1
that's me.

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Speaker 1
And so that's how I've been able to really embrace

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Speaker 1
these past couple of months

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Speaker 1
encouraging myself to go to the gym. And even when I am tired and possibly sick and I don't want to go to the gym, lately I've just been making myself go. And at minimum, I'll just walk on the treadmill and play on my phone and watch Netflix.

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Speaker 1
Do the StairMaster while I'm scrolling TikTok. Because if I'm feeling shitty about myself, I'm probably going to be scrolling TikTok anyways. I might as well do it on the cardio machine.

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Speaker 1
Because scrolling TikTok on the cardio machine.

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Speaker 1
Because scrolling TikTok on. Because scrolling TikTok while you're on cardio is an amazing hack to make the time fly by.

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Speaker 1
It just flies by.

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Speaker 1
It's

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Speaker 1
yeah.

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Speaker 1
So.

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Speaker 1
That's it for today's app. That's it for today's episode of Tina Arena. I hope it was impactful for you. Let me know if it was. See you on the other side.

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Speaker 1
That's it for today's episode of Tina's Arena. I hope it was impactful for you. Let me know if you caught something there that you haven't heard before, or if it just brought a new idea into a new light for you.

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Speaker 1
Hopefully it will leave a lasting impact on you and hopefully I see you next week. Bye.