It’s easier than you think.
In high school track, I was a jumper and an on-the-slower-side sprinter, which meant the majority of my workouts involved fast(ish) speeds and short distances. Our “long run” maxed out at four miles (while the distance runners went on and on–suckers!). I remember saying then that I never wanted to run more than four miles at a time.
But here’s the thing: when there’s no gym, when you’re short on time, running is there. All it takes is a pair of shoes. I can go from normal to exhausted in as little as 20 minutes. I realized I had to learn to love running. So I did, and this is how:
I told myself I loved running.
Every day, I told myself it was the awesomest and I was the awesomest for doing it.
I told other people I loved running.
I said it was my go-to workout, I said it was, you know, the awesomest. If anyone asked if I loved running, the answer was yes, Yes, YES.
I surrounded myself with running.
I cut out pictures of runners and put them on my wall. I read Runner’s World. I let myself get swept away by the romance of running: the speed, the strength, the guts, the lean, lean legs.
I ran.
I started with what I was used to: up to four miles as a “long run”. I remember the first time I did six. I remember the first time eight didn’t feel like enough. (That’s a rare occurrence.) I remember the one and only time I ran 15 with my sister. Nowadays, three is a minimum. (And 15 seems like overkill, but still.)
FYI, I applied this same tactic to broccoli (minus pictures of broccoli on my wall).
“I hate _______” is not a life sentence. Not that we all have to love doing everything–I have no interest in making myself like swimming. But. If you find yourself with a strong dislike for something that could actually be good for you, consider changing your own mind about it.
Over to you: Have you ever gone from disliking something to really enjoying it? How did you do it? What do you currently dislike that you wish you could love?