Good Morning Friends!!
When my sons Coby and Kaleb were little, around ages 8 and 9, when I would take them with me to workout. My oldest son, Coby, loved to workout and my youngest son, Kaleb, would cry at some point during the workouts. I would get so aggravated when my youngest son would start crying then he and I would have words and be mad at each other.
In all honesty, my boys were too young to be working out with me but I wanted to teach them that exercise was part of a healthy lifestyle. After about 6 months I stopped making them come with me to the gym.
Both were in sports through elementary, jr. high, and high school and played basketball, tennis, football, and baseball. Of course they did a little lifting in athletics but not much and as they started high school I could not convince them to come to the gym because it would only enhance their abilities in their sports.
All through high school Coby was never interested in working out on his own to improve in his sport or to just be healthier. Kaleb during his senior year started to see the value in working out and began to really enjoy the workouts. During Coby’s second year in college he began to find value in strength training not only for baseball but also for aesthetics.
Fast forward to today and those two little boys that I would make come with me to workout now workout on a regular basis. Kaleb, now a senior in college, strength trains and runs 5-6 days per week. Coby, now 22, does cardio and strength trains 5-6 days per week and is a certified personal trainer.
A few years ago I had a friend tell me to “inspire, never require”. I thought about this statement when it came to my sons all those years ago. I would constantly require them to workout and as they got older it just didn’t stick with them. I stopped requiring them and tried to inspire them by watching me as I would tell them each time I was heading to the gym. They didn’t realize it at the time nor did I really that I was inspiring them so when the time came it was just something they became inspired to do.
Are there times in our lives when we require others to do things when really instead of requiring them we should be inspiring them? The act of requiring means that it will be done immediately out of obligation or obedience. The act of inspiring means we are modeling the behavior with the hopes that those around us will see our behavior and be inspired to act in a similar manner.
Are their areas in your life that you are requiring instead of inspiring?
Our challenge this week would be to identify an area or two that hasn’t been making much progress and reevaluate to see if we should try to inspire instead of require.
Who are you going to inspire this week?
Your friend,
Aaron