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The "I'll start Monday" trap — what to do instead
Have a client right now who has told me "I'm starting Monday" for I think 11 weeks running. Every Friday: "next Monday, for sure." Every Wednesday: "rough week, next Monday."
Here's the thing — Monday-morning starts almost never work for people who've been off for more than a few weeks. Your nervous system has built a strong association between "Monday" and "the new thing I'm about to fail at." You're not lazy. You've trained the start-line into a flinch.
What I have him doing now: 12 minutes, Wednesday afternoon, this Wednesday. Not Monday. The middle of the week. The middle of the day. Lowest possible bar — walk to the gym, do one warmup set of one lift, walk home. That's the whole workout.
He showed up. Did it. Did it again Friday on his own without me asking. We're three weeks in.
Don't start Monday. Start Wednesday. Start small. The Monday-start is a fantasy of being someone you're not — Wednesday is just doing the next thing.
god this is me. been telling myself "starting Monday" for like 2 months now. went out today (Wed) and did 20 min on the rower because of this post. felt dumb but also fine. thanks man.