Starting at 6:30 in the morning, the scratching starts at my bedroom door. After a few minutes, someone gets up and heads to the kitchen with 4 fur kids in tow. The cats are hungry and have an established routine/habit of eating between 6:30 and 7 every morning. After breakfast, they usually head off to their favorite sleeping place and start their morning nap. This happens every single day pretty much without fail. They are creatures of habit.
Being a creature of habit is a good thing… if your habits are healthy. Are you a creature of the couch or the track? I know which one I want to be!
People are nature’s number 1 creature of habit. We tend to get comfortable, stuck in our ways in fear of change. We like to hold on to old things in order to hold on to old memories… when usually they keep us from making new ones. Sometimes you got to bite the bullet and make a clean break from the past to start a new beginning.
-TwitQuotes.com
Your Habits Rule You!
In the moment, you don’t think to make a choice. Your brain and body rely on the habits you’ve created to know what to do next. Now, if this is true, you better make sure that your habits are good habits – as opposed to eating potato chips in bed every night. That would fall under the “Bad Habits” category.
It’s understandable that we stick to our habits. Change activates fear, and fear triggers negative emotions that will stop us in our tracks never moving forward!
What Are Your Non-Negotiables?
Make your good habits non-negotiable. Even if they’re not fully part of your life yet, live them, feel them, dream them, and with consistent activity, you will be owning them!
At home, I exercise regularly, but I have to make a definitive, non-negotiable schedule for my exercise time. This appointment is like all others – it does not get canceled. How can you schedule exercise into your day? If it’s important to you, you will find the way. If it’s not important to you, you will find an excuse. It really is that simple!
Gotta Cancel?
If you have to cancel your exercise appointment, you have to look yourself in the mirror and explain why. Feel free to debate yourself. Here’s an example.
“Hi, Kim, it’s Kim! I can’t work out today because…- I am really sore! or – I don’t have time- I have a big deadline!” or my kid is sick!
“Oh, really, you don’t have time? Well, while you’re talking to me, couldn’t you be doing squats? Can you get a 20min walk done instead of scrolling on Facebook tonight when you get home from work? How many leg lifts could you do while you’re cooking dinner?”
It’s so easy to incorporate fitness into your life if you’re willing to try that there really is no excuse.
*NOTE: don’t let your neighbor see you debating yourself, or the men with white coats may come running!
A Final Thought on Exercise…
People ask me all the time about the best time to exercise, and the answer is so simple: the best time to exercise is when you’ll actually do it.
Some people like exercising in the morning and some people feel better in the evening or during lunch. It doesn’t matter. Schedule it when you’ll actually do it.
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