When I begin doing something new, whether that’s learning a new skill, being required to solve a problem I haven’t encountered yet or implementing a different behavior into my life, I feel nervous. I get anxious about falling, I try to talk myself out of it, my desire for comfort and predictability formulates language to convince me that: I don’t really wanna do anything differently.
Over the past four years, I have become convinced that this experience is widespread.
So, why do we get so nervous when our lives are about to change? (This change can be volitional, or imposed from another source) We get uncomfortable for at least 3 reasons:
1. Evolutionary Psychology teaches us that there is an intrinsic relationship between predictability and survival. Our thinking has evolved, structurally, to be systematically predictable. (To ensure survival)
2. Having predictable systems of behavior, which we all do to some extent, preserves our thinking capacity for unpredictable problems.
3. We experience a very real fear of something new because we “don’t know if it works.” More than this, we may be afraid of it failing altogether.
These three points, when amalgamated, give us a really interesting insight into how and why we behave the way we do: Humans create systems of behavior that create a buffer against the fear of the unpredictable, (chaos) and any threat to that can provoke anxiety. This is an astounding development, but it becomes problematic when we become subservient to our own behaviors. This begins to happen when we deem “not feeling anxious.” as more important than doing what is right for us.
Everyone changes over time, therefore you will need to change what behaviors you engage in over time.
Consider how someone would exercise if they are 18 versus 60? They move their bodies differently, have different goals, expectations, and methodologies. Your goals and expectations should change throughout the course of your life, which means your behaviors should change with them. This means consistently trying new things throughout the course of your life.
This is what it means to pursue health; in every phase of life. It’s being open to changing your routines based upon what your body needs. You cannot lift the same when you’re 45 as you did when you were 16. You cannot run the same amount at 65 as you did when you were 30. Your body is different; therefore you have to strive to accommodate it.
Understandably, this can seem annoying. I wish it were as simply as: Do this workout for the rest of your life, and you will be good to go. This is simply not the case. You have to continually listen to your body’s needs, and adjust what you’re doing to accommodate it.
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington and a regular fitness columnist for the NKyTribune.