Are you over-stressed, gaining weight, and have little motivation to exercise? As a busy wife, mom, and/or career woman, it’s understandable how there is very little time for exercise in your life. Pressures of juggling work and family are enormous; and your needs sometimes go unfulfilled. So, how do you fit exercise into this picture?
Make exercise work for you
The best way you can find exercise solutions to a life that works against physical activity is to develop a strong desire to move. This requires a little creativity on your part; maybe even some planning and organization. One way to create desire is by aligning health and fitness with your values.
Assess your Values to Increase Exercise Maintenance
Why should you tie your values to health and fitness?
Typically, you live by your values; your belief system.
- Your values are what’s important to you in life, and because of this you will expend more energy and time on those things.
- When you live by your values, you tend to be more happy and balanced
- Without total fitness, you won’t be able to realize your dreams or live by your values, whatever they may be
- Values provide a sense of purpose and direction; without identifying what those are, you tend to “wander and react” to life, as opposed to overcoming and succeeding
One way you can develop the passion and time to exercise is by matching your values with exercise and movement in general. Follow the steps below:
1. Write down your top five values (what’s important to you, the code you live by). Values guide action; you are more successful when your choices match your values.
2. Then prioritize your values by rating the importance of each one. Example: making money may be your highest priority, while family is your lowest one.
3. Is health and fitness one of the top 3 priorities? If not, that’s OK.
4. If health and fitness are not one of the top 3, what is? Then consider how health and fitness can assist you in living according to your values.
* For instance, it’s hard to make money and live the good life if you are bogged down by heart problems…
5. Consider moving health and fitness second or third on your priority list. After you do this, re-write your top 5 values list and your new rules you would live by if fitness was a priority.
6. Visualize yourself living by your new code. Imagination gives power to reality; so take time to see yourself being an active person and the type of person you could become. How does your life look a year from now? Five years from now? 30 years?
Summary
Creating a shift in priorities is one way to make time and energy for exercise. Stay tuned for the next post, which will present a time management solution that can help you to find time to move.
Pamela
Fitness Success Coach
