This morning, I was browsing around Lifehacker and saw a post inspired by one at Greatist (I know, six degrees of Internet sourcing…). The big idea was that we should all create a sort of personal “fitness” mantra—just one word to focus on when we’re tempted to late-cancel a workout because it’s only a half hour before a dinner date or skip cool-down so we can get a jump on traffic.

But one word? That seems… hard. 

The articles suggest using a process of steps to get yourself down to the one word, progressing through evaluating your biggest accomplishments, selecting one that makes you feel strongest and most confident, and then squeezing it down to one word you can summon—mustering motivation as you bring your mind back to focus on it, time and time again.

Lifehacker’s author chose “Zelda,” realizing that being able to haul her nearly bodyweight luggage through cities as she’s globe-trotting makes her feel as powerful as the videogame character. Now, when she thinks of skipping a morning run, she thinks, “Zelda!” If you’ve ever been to the North Shore of Oahu, it might make you think of the ubiquitous bumper stickers and t-shirts, “Eddie would go.” But if thinking “Eddie” or “Zelda” is what relights your fire, why not? For the record, Greatist’s writer highlights one person who chose “Manhattan”—he’d overcome huge odds to make it in Manhattan, even when no one thought he could. His mantra was about proving he could do things that seemed out of reach.

It’ll take me a while to think through what my own mantra might be, particularly how to turn what could be thought of as a negative motivation into a positive one. I suffer chronic pain, severe enough that I’ve been told by many specialists that my body is a “use it or lose it” situation. If I stop overcoming pain long enough to get moving, eventually, I won’t be able to move. So I work out so that later I’ll be able to work out (and climb stairs and all that other good stuff). Maybe something future oriented will be the ticket: Onward!

I also think about the first time I rode in the MS150—a 150-mile, two-day bike ride from outside Duluth to just outside Minneapolis. I was on a one-speed bike, and coming down the home stretch when we turned a corner and realized it would be up the home stretch—a giant hill loomed, I had no gears, and the finish line was in sight. I heard a teammate say from behind me, “You got this!” Somehow my brain went, “Well, if Mikey says I’ve got this…”. Maybe I can draw something from that experience.

In the meantime, I’ll see you in the studio, as always!