Enthusiasm - Is it hurting you?

Enthusiasm is defined as an intense or eager interest in something. As a parent or friend, you might wish others around you were enthusiastic.

But can it end up hurting you?

Recently, I was at an event in Hyderabad. As part of the event, a physical trainer had been invited to explain the benefits of training.

You know that I am a big fan of physical activity and training.

The trainer, as part of her routine, asked the entire crowd to join in and do fifty squats. You would have to be a wet blanket to not participate.

So what is wrong with this story? With the enthusiasm of the crowd?

Humans in general and Asians in particular find it harder to say no.

But your current fitness level could easily be at odds with you suddenly standing and doing fifty squats.

Your enthusiasm would propel you to try. It might end up damaging muscle, tissue, or tendons, or worse, leave you feeling like you can't do this.

Sure, the enthusiasm made you, or, should I say, forced you to try. But you were not really ready and wowed to simply stay away from such events in the future.

What you needed instead was a slow, calibrated, systemic process that would train you to do fifty. Anyone can. You can too.

It was just that enthusiasm would not magically build capacity.

Enthusiasm is a wonderful tool. It propels us to do more, to push. When enthusiasm meets the right process, magic can follow.

But often, we find ourselves in situations where we are doing things simply because others are.

We have a limited understanding of the journey that those around us are on. We do not know what they do once they go home.

So use your motivation from watching others, but marry it with a deep process unique to you. There is no shame in doing two squats because that is your current capacity.

Consistent effort done the right way, I promise, will get you to five hundred faster than enthusiasm ever will.

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