When someone said to me that “it would take at least 3 weeks to paint” the gym I smiled and thought “give me 3 days. 4 max”.

I wasn’t smiling on Sunday morning when I was facing into day 4.

I reckon a strength of mine is also a big weakness. If I decide to go and do something taking a step back to figure out how hard it is going to be and how long it may take is not something I DO.

Another weakness is my lack of focus at times. Someone who once knew me quite well used to (kind of joking!) tell me I had ADD.

I started the painting with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement towards getting the gym done and at first enjoyed it, but I’m no Michelangelo and at times I found the endless stroking of the brush mind numbing.

I’ve read that playing a song on repeat can help keep focus when doing things like writing. For me it is hugely effective and was part of my strategy for getting through the paint job.

So I had my earphones in throughout and listened to a load of an audio book, some mind-set videos on You Tube and my 2 go to songs for repeat were “The Piano Man” and “This Sex is on Fire”.

I can explain “The Piano Man” because I heard it one morning on my way to the gym and it brings back good memories about a bar that I was in on holiday’s years ago. Unfortunately “This Sex is on Fire” doesn’t bring the spectacular memories that its title would suggest;)

Main thing is that the above were effective enough to keep me focused on doing a job I didn’t really want to be doing until I got enough momentum to start liking the results that were happening and I was becoming more motivated by the work. If you get me.

On one of the YouTube videos I listened to Tony Robbins explains how around 95% of people will give up on their New Year’s goals by the 15th of January.

Thus not giving them any sort of a chance to get some momentum towards hitting them.

If you are not someone who loves like training and think you may struggle with motivation and developing momentum this year, why not look at ways similar to mine you can distract yourself away from the fact that you would prefer to be doing anything but exercise.

First of all, as I was listening to the songs I kept imagining what the gym would be like with the paint job done and how excited I would be to get it finished. Surely people can get themselves excited about an improved body with more energy and confidence?

Secondly I had someone helping me. When I wasn’t being anti-social with my earphones in, the fun was good and it felt like we were working hard towards a common goal. I cannot recommend making sure that you are part of a community of like-minded people and contributing to said community to help you on the way to hit your targets.

At the times I thought I was going to start hallucinating looking at the walls I went for a coffee. Strategic rest is also so important when it comes to fitness. Try and get past the fact that you need recovery and you will definitely burn out.

You could also try listening to music, doing shorter workouts initially, starting a new sport or joining a new gym with classes (if you’re looking for somewhere, I’ll point you in the right direction!) to help keep you distracted enough until you get momentum and start enjoying your results enough to keep you going.

Or else you could just quit on or before the 15th of January…