The environment you work in has an amazing level of impact on how effective your work is. Google has been doing this for years with their offices while other corporate giants find unique and different ways to make their employees enjoy doing work. Mostly though, small and mid-sized companies stick to what is the norm and have stereotypical offices with employees who have stereotypical work lives. No wonder so many people want to work for Google. What I hadn’t realized before, is that this aspect of environment can apply to anything. In my case, it’s the gym. I wish I could show you what it looked like previously, but unfortunately I don’t have any pictures. I can however, describe it to you. White walls, basic equipment, white lights. And that’s it. You went in there, did what you had to do and went back out. So when my dad mentioned ideas to switch up the gym’s appearance, I didn’t pay much attention. “Doesn’t matter what it looks like”, I said. “I have to workout. I’ll workout either way.”
A week later I walked into the gym and I suddenly had more equipment. A week after that, the walls had been repainted with a palette consisting of a beautiful burgundy, two shades of yellow and grey to match all the equipment. I like this color scheme so much I want to repaint my house to this. A wall sized mirror was also added, which I use to admire myself when I’m not using it to criticize myself, and a water cooler and dispenser for those times when you run out of water. There were plants too. Lots of them. And automatic air fresheners for those times when the whiff of compressed armpits got to you. So overall, it looked nice. Smelled nice. And had better equipment. There are talks to add a universal sound system too I hear. Not that it would make any difference to me because I can’t necessarily play my music out loud. But the idea of it is still nice.
What I couldn’t have prepared for is the boost in self-esteem and ego I got just because of the repainted walls and the equipment. Don’t get me wrong, my performance didn’t suddenly skyrocket to body-building levels, but I felt more powerful and enjoyed a smug snicker to myself every time I would get off a cable fly machine and the man after me couldn’t lift as heavy as me. It’s of no immediate use to me of course, but I enjoy the knowledge of being powerful. Anyways, the environment. It brought about this second wind in me just when I thought I was plateauing and gave me motivation to work harder and faster. This has also led to various other changes in my body, all of them being good. In fact, I think I may be over-stressing here and there. I’m in desperate need of a massage to reset all my limbs and turn me into, effectively, a sack of skin. It hasn’t been all sugar, spice, and everything nice however. The air fresheners were initially positioned right above the bench, meaning that every time you attempted to perform a bench press, you would go home to questions like “Why does your face smell like lemon?” More importantly you would ask yourself “Why are my EYES BURNING?” And then there are the people. Most of them are okay but a few wouldn’t know how to use the equipment provided, resulting in you having to stop whatever you’re doing and assist them before they, I don’t know, chop their limbs off.
Part of my initial plan of committing to the gym was that I’d stay in it for about 6 months, getting used to training, before jumping into a professional gym and getting myself a trainer. The plan has still remained the same, however it has now been 8 months and I honestly don’t feel like switching anymore, simply because of how nice the private gym is now. I’ve heard rumors that the pool and sauna are being worked on too. The next steps to fitness are evident to me. I’m in a cutting phase right now, which means I eat way lesser calories than my body burns, effectively trimming the fat around the edges and clearing myself for more muscle building. I will do this in cycles. Building and cutting. Again and again. Till I’m in the ideal shape for myself. It’s a bit like tailoring a bespoke suit. It takes time. But when it’s ready, it’s perfect. I hope that you will stick around and follow through on this journey with me, as I continue to update this blog.
The Brick Journal 