Summer Bodies are Made in the Winter

Halfway through a grueling workout last week the instructor said, “Summer bodies are made in the winter.” As I write this, it’s the start of December. My mind is not oriented towards pool parties and bikinis. Right now it’s all about Christmas cookies, chunky sweaters, and eggnog (does anyone actually drink that stuff?). No, a summer body is something I don’t have to think about until later. Much later. 

This off the cuff comment from the fitness instructor with rather impressive biceps really stuck with me. Maybe it was only because my brain was buzzing with serotonin from intensive cardio, but in that moment I heard depth in the statement. It made me realize I underestimate how early I need to start working on goals. It’s easy to disconnect what I want to achieve in the future from the effort that needs to take place right now. 

Too many times I have been taken by surprise by a sneaky deadline just around the corner. I rarely seem to be as far along as I imagined I would be when the time came. Have you ever had that feeling when you looked at your calendar and realized that thing you believed was so far away was actually next week?

This is the season to work on goals, not postponing until the deadline is too close for comfort. You can greet next week, next month, next new year with progress made instead of just getting started. What do you want to achieve? “Summer bodies” is a metaphor for any goal. It could be that you want to learn a new skill, earn a professional certificate, or start saving for retirement. Speaker and author Jon Acuff put it best with this profound insight, “Today is earlier than tomorrow.” ^[1]Quote from Jon Acuff’s book, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters, chapter 4.