A Series of Fortunate Gym Events

I lay on my back, staring blankly at the ceiling as the ice-cold tiles sent jabs of pain through my body. It was the thick of winter, and my thermal regulator had gone bad. My space heater sat on the dresser in my room, adjacent to the bathroom where I lay, churning out hot air that I’d hoped would waft in through the open door. The thumping in my chest would not slow down, and my fingers trembled so much that I could have sworn they weren’t mine. The bright yellow lights hanging over my double vanity sinks bounced off the cream-colored walls onto my eyes. I felt unexplainable pangs of hunger and a hollowness that felt like my guts were suddenly a cavern. My legs were rigidly splayed out as more of the cold seeped in through my bare feet. I could not believe what was happening to my body. When did it become a stranger? Less than five minutes ago, I was playing loud music and going hard at jumping jacks.

Prior to this, I was becoming acutely aware of my need to start exercising. My knees had started to pop every time I squatted and stood back up. My fairly toned abs were fast disappearing. I had popped the seams of one of my favorite Ankara dresses and couldn’t fit into any blazer for the last career fair that I had to attend. Even worse, my energy levels were dipping, and I knew that that could set off a terrible domino effect. So, at the next get-together with my friends, in between slices of pizza and a vodka-ridden cocktail, I recruited pumped my friend, Elfriede, into becoming my first gym buddy.

Our first day at the gym was ridiculous. Among mirror selfies, recording hilarious videos of Elfriede peeling herself off the floor, and me trying not to re-enact what happened in my bathroom a few weeks back, we did it. We set our bodies on fire and started tuning our minds to a higher frequency that we didn’t realize was even there. We sulked, but we came back twice every week. We recruited inspired Ines to join us, and soon, the Power Puff Girls made their comeback in a sweaty gym building at GWU. Shortly, we’d worked up enough steam to go solo sometimes, add swimming to our routines, and start purchasing sports gear. My priorities were shifting, and the rain, sore hips, two-hour commute, and hangouts with friends were no longer reasons enough to stop.

Why did I tell you this story? Why should you care about a flowery workout tale from a size 8 woman who knows nothing about “any of the real reasons why people actually work out”?

I’ll tell you.

1. “Never waste a good crisis” – Winston Churchill

The bathroom episode was a crisis – a ripe “what the heck!” moment that provided me with enough rope to save myself from impending doom. While someone else might argue that it might have been worse, my question is, “Why the need for a bigger crisis before a change is triggered?

Many of us have a high shock threshold that numbs us to the realization of how urgently we need to take constructive action in certain aspects of our lives. We “manage” ourselves into disaster or oblivion. We lay on the icy tiles until our bodies start working again, and then we get up and keep going as though nothing happened.

There was never a better time than now, with the global pandemic, to put this to practice. For every opportunity you’ve lost, for every sign of impending failure, you have enough yarn to weave solutions into being that would never have been possible without this crisis.

2. Nobody Has a Monopoly on Any Problem; If It’s Yours, It’s Probably Someone Else’s

I knew that I couldn’t have been the only one who needed to work on health and fitness. No problem is unique enough that nobody else is faced with it. I figured that I could find others who shared in the vision, not just for me but for themselves, too. Together, we could create an energy field strong enough to push farther. I recognized that sustainable change requires accountability, and accountability is more effective when the other parties have stakes in the outcome. Sometimes, your challenge is bigger than you. It’s also about unlocking value in others who could share in the process and creating exponential benefits that only a collective endeavor can yield. Like the African proverb says, “if you want to go far, go with others”. It works! Ask Elfriede and Ines.

3. You Do Not Require Expertise to Make A Difference

I am neither a fitness coach nor a life coach, but I somehow managed to motivate others to take on that lifestyle change with me. I can’t say for sure how far that movement would’ve gone without the pandemic situation, but I clearly understand that change-making has nothing to do with expertise. You can start that business without an MBA. You can start that book without an MFA. You can start that food channel without attending Le Cordon Bleu. You do not mandatorily need any qualification to inspire, motivate, or empower another human, or yourself. Training is important, but be wary of using the need for it as a crutch to service your dysfunction or inertia. It is not impossible to build your wings mid-air, except you’re literally jumping off a cliff.

4. You Won’t Become Until You Start Doing

During my time working at KPMG, one of my performance managers would always echo a quote from one of the partners: “KPMG is not training you to have, it’s training you to be.” I’m not sure he realized that he managed to make this a fixture in my subconscious. Here’s the catch: you only become by doing. Fitness cannot be read up. Impact-making cannot be demanded. The challenges that matter in life – those that will panel-beat you into actualizing your vision – cannot be wished away. You do the work, and then you are transformed.

Before graduate school, I had always desired to drive thought leadership in international development practice, particularly through published writing, but I thought I was not there yet. I figured I needed to become “someone” in the field to start putting work out there. Then I took Prof. Kojm’s policy writing class, where you had to get published to get an A. Boy, I got busy, and I did it! Now, I have published an op-ed and am confidently working on other pieces. That’s how you become; you get off your ass and get to work! 

5. In Training Your Body, You Often Train Your Mind Too

This has got to be one of the most profound experiential lessons I've learned. Your body is a viable tool for building your mind, too. In the space of weeks, I went from passing out after four minutes of jumping jacks to working out for hours. I think I might have pulled an adductor muscle at some point, after which I limped for about a week. None of that put a stick in my wheels. In putting your body to work, you start to harness the power of vision, discipline, delayed gratification, and doggedness that can be applied to just about any other endeavor. It’s not about being a gym buff because I still am not. It is about creating mental pathways that push you to create value, regardless of discomfort. It’s about creating a system around teaching your mind to overcome the frivolous demands of your physical body. It is about creating references you can look back on when you next need to push the limit.

I hope there was a gem somewhere in my story for you. Thanks for doing Day 3 with me!

Cheers!