Finding invisible barriers to new habits

When I started physical therapy for my neck this spring, the therapist asked why I had stopped weight training five years ago. I gave him a pat answer: “I’m lazy.” But the question nagged at me. As far as exercise goes, I actually like weight training. So why had I quit? Was it really just laziness? I’m trying to apply some of what I learned from working with health coaches in the past and approach problems like this without self-judgment*. There’s a reason (or many) I’m doing what I’m doing, it just might not be immediately apparent. Telling myself it’s a dumb reason won’t make it go away, and bullying myself to “just suck it up” blows. (This is part of a larger practice of learning to listen to and honor my feelings.) *(A small example: a couple years ago I noticed that I would load the dishwasher but not start it. I realized it was because my hands are seemingly always wet when cleaning up, so I didn’t like touching the detergent pods. I bought a pair of tongs that lives in the…