1 a day
Here’s my challenge to you…Start with doing one new exercise a day. Create a new habit with something that is doable to create the habit. If you know you need to add in weights or resistance activity, this can be a great way to train your mind and start a habit.
I love this quote by Paula White-Cain, “Your future is found in your daily routine. Successful people do daily what others do occasionally.” Paula is a dynamic preacher and teaches the uncompromising Word of God. She helps people search for answers to some of life’s most important questions.
May times we fail to start a new habit, ‘cause we set to high of a goal. For example: I will workout 30-60 minutes and do all the circuit machines at the gym. Or I will lift weights for 30-60 minutes 4 times a week, when you haven’t done resistance work in years. The goal is too lofty to make it happen. If you start small, do 1 new exercise a day for 3-4 days a week, it’s a small and more manageable goal that you can feel 90% confident that you can complete it. The instant reward of doing the exercise will help build the new habit.
Once you have built the habit, you can increase the time or duration of the habit because you have laid the foundation. You are used to doing an exercise a day. Maybe then you add a stretch to that after 3 weeks of doing 3-4 days a week of the resistance work. This goes on for another 3 weeks and then you add in another exercise, and another.
You may want to make a list of action items to do that support your goal. For example, if you desire to do a resistance exercise each day, get the tools needed ready. An action step might be purchasing a resistance tube or band. Getting the free weights dusted off, making a list of exercises you have done before that are familiar to pick from, or researching videos on YouTube/creating a board on Pinterest of exercises you feel you could do. These action steps support your goal of doing 1 exercise a day for 3-4 days a week.
There are sooo many great exercises you can do, just pick a few to get you started and ready to transition to more outdoor activities this spring and summer. Keep it simple. There are sooo many great exercises you can do, just pick a few to get you started and ready to transition to more outdoor activities this spring and summer. Keep it simple. Why?
As James Clear says, “Of course, wanting to make exercise a habit and actually doing it are two different things. Changing your behavior is difficult. Living a new type of lifestyle is hard.”
Here are 3 simple ways to get you motivated to exercise and make activity a habit.
1. Stack the new habit of exercise onto something you currently due for a cue. This helps you develop the new habit because the cue is already built into your day. It makes starting mindless and more automatic to begin with and then it is much easier to follow through with your goal.
One research study “Too Much of a Good Thing: The benefits of Implementation Intentions Depends on the Number of Goals” by Amy N. Dalton and Stephen A. Spiller. In the Journal of Consumer Research, showed that people who filled out this sentence:
“During the next week, I will exercise on (day) at (time of day) at/in (place). “ This appeals to the concept of implementation intentions. There are many studies to back up intentions.
2. Start simple and small. Pick an exercise you can do, that you have done before so it is familiar. You will have confidence that you can do this exercise which helps when you feel “lazy” or lack motivation. As Leo Babauta author of Zen Habits would say, “Start with something that is so easy you can’t say no.” It's about clearing the clutter in your life so you can focus on what's important and create something amazing. We’ll cover some of his “rules” for a simpler day in a future blog post.
Another way to approach simple and small is to use the 2-minute rule. Make a goal to do something for 2 minutes, verses starting with a 20–30-minute workout. In 2 minutes, you fill up your water bottle, and grab your list of exercises. You have just motivated yourself by completing these tasks.
3. Keep your focus in the present verses the results. Focus on the goal, doing a new exercise 3-4 day s a week, verses I want to complete this 45 minute workout. What matters is building the new routine of 1 exercise a day. If you stick to that, you will get results. This habit formation will pay off in time, you will not see a change day to day. It may feel like nothing is happening. Look at is this way, if you set ice cubes out on a table, they look the same for a while, at 28 degrees, at 29 degrees, at 30 degrees, at 31 degrees, at 32 degrees you do not see the ice-cube melt. It is only after the ice cube warms to 33 degrees that you see it start to melt. You need to stick with the habit even if you do not see immediate results, this happens over time. 6 months into the future you will see what the small habit of doing 1 exercise a day started. What matters most is sticking with the habit even if you don’t see the results. Once you are the person who does not miss doing an exercise or workout, you can then focus on progressing and improving that habit.
This is a great quote from an article James Clear wrote that I recently read: “You might be thinking, “But you don’t understand, I have so many things I need to change in my life.” Consider this: solving deep life issues often requires some space to sit, think, and figure out a better solution. If you feel like you’re drowning and can barely keep your head above water, then you will almost never find the time to figure out a better approach. By picking one habit and mastering it you not only make progress, but also free up the mental space you need to think through deeper issues. Sometimes you need a good tactic so you can make enough room to figure out a better strategy.”
Chew on that for a while…pick one habit and master that.