Check out these five excuse-busting tips for when you hear yourself say, “I don’t have time to exercise”.
1. Know your why
We often procrastinate when we haven’t connected to the reason we’re exercising in the first place. Ask yourself: “What is the goal I’m looking for with my exercise and why is this important for me now?” Think about how your life will be different when you achieve it. What feelings will you have? What will your energy be like? Write out your why and put it somewhere you can see it everyday as a gentle reminder.
2. Adjust your happiness thermostat
We all have a level of happiness that we’re accustomed to. We have ups and downs but inevitably we return to our unique level. But if the hard work of exercising and being fit and healthy makes our thermostat plummet, we may find ways to sabotage our efforts. To adjust your thermostat, practice gratitude by writing down five things you’re grateful for every day that are boosted by being fit and healthy and focus on why they’re so great. This simple activity will crank up that happiness thermostat and you’ll begin to believe that you deserve to be fit and healthy.
3. Make a date
It’s easy to put energy and time into other people, things or work. We put ourselves last only to end up drained, stressed and resentful. Make yourself a priority by scheduling all your workouts at the beginning of the month – block out all your workouts in your calendar and book your appointment around them. Tell your colleagues and clients not to call you’re likely to be training. Make a date with that very special person, you!
4. Foolproof your environment
Minimise pretty excuses like not having your gym bag or forgetting your towel. Want to hit the gym afterword? Have a gym bag in the car. Want to move first thing in the morning? Have your exercise gear of choice next to the bed and get into it before you have time to make an excuse!
5. Keep it short and sweet
Forget hours of treadmill dread! If you think you have to spend hours of torturing yourself, you’ll put your workout into the “too hard basket”. Shorter bouts of high-intensity exercise have been proven to get great results. Check out HIIT or Tabata training. You’ll see that indeed less is more!