The Hardest Rep Is the First One

Most people don’t know this about me, but before I ever worked in Human Resources, I worked in fitness.

My undergraduate degree is in Human Performance and Health Promotion, which is basically a really long way of saying Kinesiology. After graduation, I spent about eight years working in fitness environments. I worked in clinical fitness, commercial fitness, and corporate wellness. At one point, I was teaching upwards of 10 group exercise classes a week.

And it was no big deal. I worked out all the time. I was in great shape. Exercise was just part of my life.

Of course it was. It was literally my job.

Then I left the fitness world and moved into an office environment. And suddenly, I owed a whole lot of former clients an apology.

For years, I had helped people figure out how to fit exercise into their busy lives. I encouraged them to make time, prioritize their health, schedule their workouts, and stop making excuses. Then I got a sedentary but mentally demanding job and thought: "Ohhhhhhh. So THIS is what y’all were talking about!"

By the end of a long day, the idea of going to the gym felt completely different. I wasn't physically exhausted from teaching classes anymore. I was mentally exhausted from decisions, meetings, problems, emails, deadlines, and the thousand other things that compete for our attention.

Since leaving fitness, my weight has fluctuated quite a bit. Actually, if I’m being honest, “fluctuated” is generous. It has been a roller coaster. I would start working out. Stop. Start eating better. Stop. Lose weight. Gain some back. Decide that this time I was really going to get serious. You know the routine.

And food? Listen. I’m from New Orleans. I eat what I like. And usually a lot of it. I’m not sitting at a restaurant calculating macros. I’m calculating whether I have enough room left for dessert. Nutrition matters. I know that. Remember, I actually went to school for this stuff. But knowing something and consistently doing something are two very different things.

Recently, I stepped on the scale and realized I was only seven pounds away from the heaviest weight I have ever recorded.

That got my attention. I knew something needed to change.

But knowing something needs to change has never actually changed anything. Eventually, you have to start.

So Monday morning, I did.

I got up at an absolutely ridiculous hour and made my way to the new SportsPark Center in Greenville during the employee friends-and-family preview. And because of my position, I knew the employees would recognize me, but something else happened that I wasn’t expecting.

One employee greeted me by name and asked what I was working on that day. Another asked about my goals. Someone else asked how many days a week I planned to come. It may have been intentional or they may have had no idea what they were doing in that moment, but with every question, they were creating accountability.

Suddenly, this wasn't just, “I really need to start working out again.” I had to answer questions. What am I trying to accomplish? What am I doing today? How often am I going to do it? In other words, I had to create a plan.

And anybody who knows me knows one thing: If I have a plan, I WILL execute it.

My plan was four days a week: Monday through Thursday. Today is Friday. And I worked out today, too. Five days. Friday was bonus. And this weekend, I will rest. Because apparently somewhere along the way I also acquired some wisdom.

So, what's the leadership lesson here? As I finished my workout this morning, I realized how much this first week reminded me of leadership.

There are things in our organizations right now that we know need to change. Maybe there’s a process in your department that everyone complains about but no one has fixed. Maybe there’s a conversation with an employee you’ve been avoiding. Maybe your team needs clearer expectations. Maybe there’s a project you’ve been talking about for six months. Maybe you know your culture needs work. Maybe there’s an employee with tremendous potential who needs someone to invest in them. Maybe you need to change something about the way you lead.

We can recognize the problem and even know what “better” looks like. We may even know exactly what we need to do.

And still… We wait. And what exactly are we waiting for? The right time? Things to slow down? Having more resources? The perfect plan?

Sometimes the biggest obstacle standing between where we are and where we want to be is simply getting started.

Monday morning, I didn't need to lose all the weight or suddenly become the woman who exercises five days a week. I didn't even need to undo years of inconsistency. I just needed to get out of bed and complete one workout.

Then I needed to do it again Tuesday. And Wednesday. And Thursday. And somewhere in that process, I began remembering how good this feels.

That's the part we sometimes forget about progress. Progress creates its own motivation.

The first step requires discipline because there isn't much evidence yet that what you're doing is working. But then you begin to see things like a small win or a little momentum. In leadership, that may look like a problem that isn't quite as bad as it used to be, an employee who responds differently than before, or a team beginning to communicate more effectively.

And suddenly you're not just working toward the outcome anymore. You start finding satisfaction in the process of getting there. That's leadership.

Great leaders don't just envision better departments, better teams, better organizations, and better outcomes for the people they serve. They start building them. One decision, conversation, improvement, or uncomfortable first step at a time.

I have no dramatic before-and-after picture to share with you. It's Week One. There shouldn't be one. But I do have something I didn't have last Sunday. Momentum!

And right now, that's enough.

Whether you're trying to transform your health, your team, your department, or yourself as a leader, the finish line isn't always the most important thing to focus on.

Sometimes the most important thing you can do is stop staring at how far you have to go…

and just take the first step.

So, leader: What have you known you needed to do for a while now?

Maybe this is your Monday.