​Funny how we stick to routines. A couple of weeks back I was in training and our trainer took our name tags each night so she could place them in a different location the next day so we’d interact with someone new. She wanted us to break our routines.
 
When you think about attending a regular business meeting, don’t most people gravitate towards the same seat? If you attend church and look where everyone sits on a weekly basis, they are most often seated in the same spot. Routine.
 
The past few weeks at our workout facility, new members filter through the weight machines. They’re finding their niche. For me though, they’re forcing me out of my routine.

Funny how that forces you to adjust. Nothing major. Still, you stop, go, “Hmmm, which machine should I grab next?,” then head over there, and must remember to go back to the one you missed.

Maybe it’s that having to come back later issue which gives you that “ever so slight bit of irritation” when someone forces you to break routine. They’re on your turf. You’ve been there over and over for months, if not years. It’s mine, like a personal possession.
 
If I were a smarter man, I’d appreciate the break in the action. Doesn’t that give you the opportunity to meet someone new? Doesn’t it mean you might choose to add a new workout step to your arsenal?
 
Instead it’s more like, “Damn, now I’ve got to wait” or “why didn’t he choose the leg lift station first instead of coming here first?” I think it’s part of the “me first” us humans have about many things.

Yes, we accommodate others. And no, in situations like this we don’t speak up and complain. We go along with the flow, fitting into the next weight station while waiting our turn for the one we really want. It doesn’t mean we don’t wish the guy had chosen to go do sit-ups in another section of the gym so you can finish your workout on time and in same way you have done it over and over.
 
If I were a better man, this would never bother me. In fact, it never should. One of my mental goals is to breeze along in these situations, whistle a happy tune, strike a positive tone, roll with it, and maybe skip that training cycle if it comes down to it.
 
Maybe that is what is meant to happen: Adjust your routine. We are creatures of habit, and if we do the same thing the same way repeatedly, we get the same results.
 
Responding and changing, however small the action is, forces us out of our little comfort zones. That new series of weights you decide to try because the machine you want is occupied by someone else may be just the bump you need to refine the stomach muscles you’ve worked to tighten. Or strengthen your forearms just the way you wanted. Who knows?
 
Embrace the change in routine. That will be my new motto. “Now finish your reps so I can get in there.”