Crucial Tactic: Don't Wait for the Perfect Moment
Tucson, Arizona
An ancient Chinese proverb says, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
The same applies to Outside 365. If we're constantly waiting for the perfect moment to begin the challenge or waiting for the perfect moment in the day to log our one mile outside, we may just find that the perfect moment never arrives.
Some days the world will give us perfect 75-degree weather, the sun shining on our faces, a cool breeze off the mountains, and boundless energy and time to plunge deep into the mountains, riding or hiking for miles and miles through the most beautiful terrain.
On other days, we aren't nearly so lucky. We wake up sore and stiff from the last adventure, it's rainy and cold outside, we have a long 12-hour day of work in store, chores need to be done, social obligations threaten to take up the rest of the time that we have... sometimes it feels like getting outside for even just a mile is a monumental undertaking of supernatural proportions.
Tucson, Arizona
During these days when it seems like everything is stacked against you, waiting for the perfect break in the workday or your crazy social schedule may mean that you're waiting forever, and you don't get the challenge done. But the thing about committing to Outside 365, the thing about committing to going outside every damn day, is that excuses don't apply. You can tell your excuses to fuck right off. You've said that you'd go outside and cover at least one mile every day, so there's no other option. There's no way around it. There's no backing out. It just has to get done.
To get it done, commit to going outside even when the conditions aren't optimal.
Even when it's 35 degrees and pissing down rain.
Even when you only have 20 minutes on your lunch hour to barely get in that mile.
Even when you're stuck in the middle of the city doing errands and don't have quite the beautiful natural space you long for.
Even when it's midnight, the day is gone, and you've realized that you haven't gotten your mile in yet.
Even when it's 4am and pitch-black outside and the sky happens to be in full-on blizzard mode with five inches of fresh snow on the ground and more coming down... but you know you have an all-day flight later and won't have the time later. (True story.)
When you stop waiting for the perfect moment, you'll find that not only can you readily complete the Outside 365 challenge, but along the way, even in these few minutes squeezed in between the challenges of everyday life, you'll enjoy a reprieve from the chaos and a refreshing of the soul.
Even at 4am in a blizzard.
Even More Crucial Tactics
Check out the other installments in the Crucial Tactics series here:
