I’ve made a big mistake, and it’s going to cost me: financially, emotionally, and pridefully. Realizing my error seemed to come in a heartbeat, though in hindsight, there were clues along the way. I ignored the clues for all the right reasons: perseverance, tenacity, and a healthy dose of stubbornness – all traits that have served me well in the past. But a behavioral economist would also tell me, gently I hope, that cognitive bias also played a role. It seems that it’s hard for people to walk away from something they have committed to, and they tend to invest more time, money, and effort to avoid the psychological pain of realizing a sunk cost.
Coming to grips with my mistake was hard enough; it was worse telling my long-suffering and patient husband. In hindsight, I had to chuckle about his low-key response to the words, “I have to talk to you about something really important, and I don’t know how to tell you.” That little speech would have scared the daylights out of me, but it didn’t seem to phase him much more than the Mariners losing a close game in the bottom of the ninth. (God, I love that guy. But I digress…)
Now I have to swallow my pride and right the ship. The financial piece is frustrating; the psychological toll is excruciating. I’m not young and hip enough to fail fast like a millennial entrepreneur. I won’t be shaking my head over a laptop in a coffee shop with smart-minded cohorts and chuckling about “failing fast so you can succeed sooner.” And I am not mollified by the sentiment that failing is “an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” I just messed up. Period.
The good news is that there is no failing fast when it comes to working out. Falling off the exercise bandwagon doesn’t significantly impact your overall fitness for quite a while. Research shows it takes a couple of weeks of couch potato-ism before your fitness gains diminish: 14 days for decreased endurance and four weeks for decreased muscular strength.
The other positive news is that fitness success happens immediately. Exercise boosts metabolism right away, and the impacts last for several days. The same is true for reduced blood pressure. Exercise utilizes blood glucose without delay. And aerobic exercise instantly improves your mood, reduces stress, and increases energy.
I suspect I’ll survive this failure, and my relationships, financial bottom line, and ego will remain mostly intact. But I’ll do a lot of whining and fretting in the meantime. I suspect my hands will be too often firmly implanted in a bag of Tim’s potato chips; that is, until I need them to lace up my running shoes.