Dear oldschool! Why I believe my stomach more than a Fitbit
The new year was not even a day old when I received an e-mail from Runtastics, which should motivate me to optimize my training plan. I have neither Runtastics installed on my phone, nor a training plan. And I have no plan at all, as Runtastics comes to my e-mail address? but that's another topic (Note to self: make me think about "privacy"!)
Measurable, calculable, planable? Goals are the new intentions
The turn of the year is the classic reason for intentions to optimize our lives. Eating healthier, exercising more, drinking less, going to bed earlier, more often speaking our mind? There are no limits to how we can do it better. However, as man somehow tends to fail as soon as he has made up his mind, many now choose a more modern, smarter approach: set goals!
Goals are the new intentions, only better. To reach a goal, all I have to do is follow a path. Step by step, I just take one step at a time. My Fitbit counts the steps and calculates what pace I have to show in order to reach my goal later this year.
Okay, I admit: I have no Fitbit. And my goals usually arise only on the way.
"Fitbit motivated me to achieve goals"
I fully understand when people make diet, exercise or mental health training to make them feel better, fitter, more beautiful, more confident or whatever. What I sometimes find somewhat strange, however, is that more and more people put on the smart way and dictated by bracelets and apps, how much they should eat and move. Because I could not build self-confidence while getting into the habit of trusting a Fitbit.
I certainly believe that self-trackers and fitness apps are effective ways to achieve a variety of goals as directly as possible. For example, on the homepage Fitbit introduces New Zealander Rachel W., who has reduced her weight with the help of the bracelet and learned to better deal with her diabetes type-2. By changing her lifestyle and improving her fitness and health, she could even finally have a baby. "Fitbit has motivated me to achieve goals," the company quotes its customer.
Why can not we motivate ourselves anymore?
The only question that comes to my mind is why could not Rachel W. motivate herself? Why does she seem to have forgotten how to look after herself and reach her goals on her own? I can imagine so many reasons: stress, quarrels, bad feedback, frustration, because everyone else has a better grip on their lives, delicious food, bad weather, pressure, high expectations, disappointments? I could go on like this endlessly.
There is so much in our world that can rob us of strength and motivation. But do we want to accept that in the future, more and more people MUST leave their health and fitness to any self-trackers and live their lives remotely?
Please do not! We have created the world in which we live. Times, streets, apartments, punch lines, professions, cooking recipes, hobbies, meaning and meaning? It's all thanks to man. How strange is it that in a world we control, we control ourselves? That we leave decisions about our way of life and our body to a bracelet that optimizes our lives?
Life is not programmable
Fortunately, every human being can still decide for himself which way to go. No one is forced on a Fitbit or a Runtastic app. As long as Self-Tracker self-confidently and self-determined decide to organize certain areas of life with a Fitbit, that's a fine thing.
The important thing is that the goals they want to achieve always remain their own. And one more thing we should always make clear: we are people, not machines. Our optimal life is neither programmable nor measurable. It is noticeable, and different for everyone.
