In need of non-vomit-inducing insprational quotation

May 29, 2014 7:24 AM

I need your ideas for sayings/quotations/an awesome slogan you just came up with yourself that conveys the idea that you should just get up and do your workout. It's part of a gift (for a very willing participant), but because that thinspiration stuff makes me want to hurl and because the quotation will be visible to other people, I don't want a "you will love your body more" or even "I really regret that workout said nobody ever" type thing.

My mid-day-at-work run/workout buddy and I have the same conversation every day. She sticks her head in my office, and tells me she won't be able to do that workout we planned for 3pm. I tell her I'm going anyway, but we can do it now. Now? YES, now. She whines, we go, kick butt, and half way through she thanks me for making her go because she feels awesome.
I'm leaving this office and want to make a sign/art project that will remind her to go even though I'm not here. She'll like it. Don't worry.
It could be a famous [or not] quotation from literature, song, whatever that doesn't explicitly name check going on a run or exercise, but is perhaps about not procrastinating or not coming up with excuses or.....something like that?

posted by atomicstone to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (26 answers total)

Check out this Oatmeal comic for the context, and then use "Down With The Blerch."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:27 AM on May 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
posted by bfranklin at 7:29 AM on May 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

It sounds like your support has made a difference. "The disembodied spirit of Atomicstone says: Now!" Now? "yes, now!"
posted by Jesse the K at 7:33 AM on May 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Why not just:

Now?
YES, now.

Maybe in a blank clock face or something, but just those words.
posted by dilettante at 7:46 AM on May 29, 2014 [4 favorites]

The following quote is probably too long for your purposes, and I'm not even sure if it's totally relevant to the use you have in mind, but I still like it:

Most of us live with the stubborn idea that we'll always have tomorrow to do our most important and valuable work. We fill our days with frantic activity, bouncing from task to task, scrambling to make deadlines and chase the next promotion. But by the end of each day we're often left asking ourselves, "Did the work I do today really matters?" We feel the ticking of the clock, but we're stuck in first gear, unsure of the path forward and without a road map to guide us.

Here's the hard truth: sooner or later all of our tomorrows will run out, so how we choose to spend today is significant. Each day that we postpone difficult tasks and succumb to the clutter that chokes creativity, discipline, and innovation results in a net deficit to the world, our organizations, and ourselves.

— From the introduction to, Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day, by Todd Henry

Note: I have the book. It's actually not very good, and I can't recommend it (though it does seem to have good reviews on Amazon). The introduction is the best part.

posted by alex1965 at 7:58 AM on May 29, 2014

Not workout-specific, but I like the song "Do It Anyway" by Ben Folds Five.

And if you're paralyzed by a voice in your head
It's the standing still that should be scaring you instead
Go on and
Do it anyway
posted by inertia at 8:23 AM on May 29, 2014 [7 favorites]

Maybe you can come up with a more artful way of saying this, but a motivational thing for me is the saying that the hardest part of the workout is putting on your shoes.
posted by lakeroon at 8:28 AM on May 29, 2014

Lester Bangs said: "Lower your expectations and get to work!"
posted by JohnLewis at 8:39 AM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Quotes from Jack LaLanne

-If you lose a couple of inches off your stomach, your business down there will look an inch longer.

-Forget about what you used to do. This is the moment you've been waiting for.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:40 AM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Just tie your shoes.

Once you've done that, you might as well get the dang thing over with.
posted by John Kennedy Toole Box at 8:44 AM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Light tomorrow with today": Amelia Earhart
posted by Salamander at 8:44 AM on May 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Mahatma Gandhi:

“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”
posted by sockpup at 8:53 AM on May 29, 2014 [4 favorites]

You almost always feel better after a run than before it. (credit Runner's World 101 Kicks in the Butt)
posted by janey47 at 9:52 AM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Or Anne Lamott: How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

I take this to mean: Do I want to think of myself as a lifetime slacker/lazybum? It's not just today, after all.
posted by janey47 at 9:53 AM on May 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Do the work.
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:57 AM on May 29, 2014

YOU CAN DO IT, PUT YOUR ASS INTO IT!
posted by floweredfish at 12:01 PM on May 29, 2014

My go-to in this situation, or really any situation where short-term unpleasantness leads to longer-term happiness/improvement is:

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
posted by milqman at 12:52 PM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Mine popped into my head years ago but it still works: "Be like Bush, not like Cheney."

NOTE: I mean this only in terms of fitness; don't be like them politically. It's supposed to be ridiculous, that's the appeal. Plus it's chantable while jogging.

Cheney's only a few years older than Bush but looked so much more aged back when they were in the news all the time. You'd have to find a photo of Cheney at his unhealthiest -- it looks like he's slimmed down -- but this would be a simple poster to make.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:06 PM on May 29, 2014

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." - Epictetus
posted by 517 at 3:48 PM on May 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

I like this motivator, courtesy of Unfuck Your Habitat: "Excuses are boring."
posted by prewar lemonade at 4:41 PM on May 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

"Go forth and conquer!"

But on preview, I really like prewar lemonade's "Excuses are boring."
posted by ninazer0 at 7:02 PM on May 29, 2014

You can have results or excuses, never both.
posted by cynicalidealist at 7:10 PM on May 29, 2014

The will to win means nothing if you haven't the will to prepare-from reddit, running.
posted by cynicalidealist at 7:12 PM on May 29, 2014

"No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from"

- Jewel, "Life Uncommon"
posted by batonthefueltank at 1:01 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]

I couldn't find clear attributions for some of these:

Don't give up what you want most for what you want now.

Start today, and you'll achieve your goal a day earlier than if you start tomorrow.

Don't think, just go.

Today is my tomorrow.

It always seems impossible until it's done. (Nelson Mandela)

If you did it when you were first thinking about it, you'd be done by now.

The best way to get something done is to begin.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao-Tsu)

Similarly: Every journey needs a first step. (Sidewalk Prophets)

Suffer the pain of discipline, or suffer the pain of regret. (Jim Rohn paraphrase)

If you wait for the perfect conditions, you will never start. (Ecclesiastes 11:4, slightly changed.)
posted by moira at 2:48 AM on May 30, 2014

Two from the world of ultrarunning:

Relentless Forward Motion [the point being, the speed of type of motion is less important than that it is constant.]

When I run, I pass rocks and trees like they're standing still.
posted by JohnLewis at 5:04 AM on May 30, 2014