Find Time to Exercise

Posted on October 07, 2010 by Staci Rosenberg, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

http://www.apogeewellness.com/blog/index.php/2010/03/653find-time-to-exercise/

Find Time to Exercise
If you never seem to have enough time to exercise, perhaps hours and minutes aren’t the issue. Instead, examine why you want to work out regularly. If your reasons aren’t truly important to you, then you are unlikely to make the changes in your schedule to allow the time you need.

The key word is passion, says APOGEE life coach Staci Rosenberg. “Lack of passion and uncertainty about what it is you want—those two things combined lead to lack of success.” says Rosenberg.

For example, you might consider that exercise is a route to a shapely body, especially at this time of year when bathing suit season is right around the corner. But if you never put on a suit, then it may be hard to truly care about how you look in this year’s bikini. Likewise, it would be hard to make time to train for a marathon when you don’t have one on your schedule.

Instead, dig deep to discover what it is you truly desire. “Ask yourself: what will this mean to me? You have to identify the personal meaning for you—through writing or dialogue with another person,” says Rosenberg. Look at the other benefits you get from exercise: People who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep better than those who don’t. Exercise is also as effective as antidepressants in lifting mood and can help you moderate stress. Those benefits may be more meaningful to you.

Then, says Rosenberg, create a personal statement that includes your passion and the steps you will take to attain it. Here’s how.

1. Connect your goal to your passion. Create a statment; here’s a sample: “When I exercise regularly, I sleep better and can handle stress during the day.”
2. Identify the specific steps to get to your goal. “I go to Zumba class on Monday and Wednesday; cardio on Thursday; and take a long walk on Sunday.”
3. Put your goal statement in front of you. You might write it on a sticky note and put it on the visor of your car or make it the wallpaper on your cellphone, Blackberry or laptop—put it wherever you will see it several times a day. Then it gets absorbed, Rosenberg says.

Of course, you may want to make time for more than exercise: Painting, writing, reading, playing a sport, hiking, traveling, or playing music may be your passion. “When people make time for something they really love, it affects their entire life,” says Rosenberg. Inserting passion into your life creates balance and makes every hour of every day more enjoyable.