Mantras

I'm a big fan of mantras and like to repeat them over and over again in my head for clarity and motivation. Mantras help me stay on track throughout the day and also as it relates to the bigger picture.

The latest mantra in my head is short and sweet and quite unoriginal, but very easy to remember.

Don't. Be. Lazy.

I've been repeating this to myself over and over again this past week. It's silly, really. But it stuck in my head after spending at least an hour pouring through Mr. Money Mustache's blog the other day. (Shoutout to CB-F for introducing this to me!)

Mr. Money Mustache ("MMM") notes how addicted we have become to modern convenience. Real-life examples for me: hopping in my car to drive less than 0.5 miles to pick up coffee in the morning, or driving to Whole Foods (1-mile away) every single night to purchase pre-made dinner foods. MMM urges us to focus on happiness itself over convenience and luxury. To learn to mock convenience. To stop being lazy.

Over the last week, I've started making tweaks to my daily life per MMM's suggestions, all while repeating my new mantra. Don't be lazy, girlfraand! (Yes, that's actually how I talk to myself in my head sometimes).

Last night I incorporated a stop at Safeway into my evening run to pick up rice and avocados. Last week I biked to the grocery store and purchased $75 worth of groceries, less $13 thanks to my coupons. Granted, I had to walk my bike home because the backpack was too heavy for me. I have not driven our car in over a week and we have eaten homemade meals the last 8 nights in a row. All of the above is a huge accomplishment considering the fact that we ate out every single night the week before last.

Learning to ride my bike again

Naturally, I've also been trying to apply "don't be lazy" to my running. On Saturday, I ran to and from the SFRC group run. This added 4 miles to my run and helped me reach my goal of running 70 miles last week. Normally, I drive. I also convinced myself to run 5 miles at marathon pace, solo, last Friday after work. Pretty tough to get myself to run on Friday afternoons, let alone do a workout! But in the spirit of not being lazy and staying committed to my sub-3 hour marathon goal, I got it done.

They key is to stay consistent with all of the above and not let myself fall prey to laziness. I consider myself to be inherently more lazy than I let on, so this is a true challenge. Of course I won't be perfect in the coming days, weeks, and months, and I'll certainly find good reasons to be "lazy" in the name of fun! But I think that's A-OK. So long as I run a sub-3 hour marathon :)