Sweat once this week

How a shift in words can make a big impact

Written by Jess, Edited by Jenna

It’s amazing how a shift in words can make a big difference! Thanks to one of our students, Brevin, I had a big aha recently.

Often, we ask our students to come up with a to-do, an accountability item they can do the following week, in alignment with the topic we discussed that week. In this case, we were talking about success.

Exercise or movement is often on many students’ to-do list. I want to work out 3 times this week. I want to go to yoga. I want to go for a walk with my dog. I want to go to a dance class.

But Brevin said it differently. With a big smile on his face he said, “I want to sweat once this week”.

Sweat! I chuckled as he said it. But it made an impact. I thought about it all week.

As a former college athlete, I move my body often. But thinking about it in relation to sweat was different. For me, there is nothing better than a good sweat. In fact, I probably feel most authentically myself when I am sweating. Red-faced. Panting. Music blaring. I would imagine Jenna may feel the same. It’s part of our DNA.

The same week Brevin talked about sweating, I had a Sunday morning completely free. A rarity. I could do whatever I wanted. Such freedom. But pressure too. The indecisiveness hit. I contemplated my choices. I could run at the beach. I could go to the farmer’s market. I could run errands. I could read a book. I could go back to bed! All great choices. But I kept coming back to sweating.

So I made the drive to the beach. I put my headphones in and ran (and walked some too!). No to-do list. No expectations. No timeline. Just the crashing of the waves, the sun shining, the blue skies.

And the sweat. Thanks, Brevin.

Next steps:

• How can you reframe a to-do to make it resonate?

• What can you do to sweat once this week?