8 strategic steps to create consistency with exercise
Lost your motivation to work out?
We can set well-intentioned health goals, but if we don't have a strategy in place it can be very difficult to reach them.
In this blog post, I will share the 8 strategic steps to create consistency with exercises that you need to follow for long-term success. These are the same steps that I used when I saw my physical shape plummet after pivoting from a life as a dancer to a life as an office worker.
Some of the most common reasons we aren't able to reach our fitness goals typically are:
We lack motivation and an individual reason to prioritize working out (covered in step 1)
We don't have a direction (covered in step 2)
We have a hard time believing that we will be able to reach our goals because we haven't been able to in the past (covered in step 3)
We start off way too ambitious and get discouraged when we can´t keep up (covered in step 4)
We lack commitment (covered in step 5)
We compare ourselves to others and think it will be easy (covered in step 6)
We haven't created a backup plan when life gets busy (covered in step 7)
We don't have anyone to give us support and accountability (covered in step 8)
The 8 step guide below will give you a strategy to tackle each one of these reasons. So let's dive right in!
Step 1 - Brainstorm the main reasons you want to prioritize more exercise
If we don't have a reason to prioritize working out, then finding our motivation to start working out can be very challenging. On the other hand, if we can solve one of our pain points by doing regular workouts, the motivation can come to us a lot easier.
So how do you find this pain point or reason for you?
Sit down with a piece of paper or get your notes up on your phone and reflect on how your days look like now compared to how your ideal day would look like. Think about what your ideal day would look like from the time you wake up until you go to bed. Consider which areas you want to improve, f.ex:
Do you want to wake up with more energy?
Do you want to feel better in your body when you go out to dinner with friends?
Do you want to reduce the amount of stress you are feeling throughout the day?
Do you want to build physical strength to make it easier to get through all the to-dos on your list?
Do you want to feel more joy and happiness throughout the day?
Once you have found your reasons, write them down. You have now found your "why" when it comes to reaching your health goals.
Step 2 - Create a goal based on your main motivation for exercise consistency
You now want to connect your "why" to your goal by using the SMART method. A SMART goal is:
Specific - so that you know exactly what it is you have to do
Measurable - so that you make it easier to track your goal progress (time/amount)
Attainable - so that you can and will accomplish your goal
Relevant - so that you can connect it to your "why"
Time-bound - so that you have a deadline and create urgency
Examples can be:
"I want to crave at least 20 minutes of movement four days a week within 6 months so that I get more energy in my everyday life"
or
"I want to run 5 km in under an hour by February so that I feel lighter in my body"
or
"I want to lift 10 kg for 10 reps in two months so that I can feel strong and confident in my body."
When you create a goal unique to your reason to prioritize exercise, it increases the likelihood of you following it through. So take your "why" into consideration, check off all the letters in SMART, and brainstorm a suitable goal that you can reach within your desired time frame.
FlikliTV has an illustrative 1 minute Youtube video on SMART goals that you can check out below.
Step 3 - Associate yourself with your new identity
The next step is finding an affirmation that is closely connected to the goal you just made. It is important to do this because we want to start associating ourselves with our new identity asap. The affirmation needs to be in the present tense and illustrate who you are when you have reached your goal. The trick is to think about yourself as the person you want to be in the future - right away. An example might be: "I am an active, energetic person who enjoys moving my body."
To have an affirmation is especially important on days when you most need some extra motivation. You can then ask yourself “what would the new me do facing this challenge?” What happens when you start associating yourself with the new you is that subconsciously you now look for every opportunity to be that person.
Step 4 - Build confidence by starting with small, achievable commitments you´ll enjoy
What often happens when we find ourselves "yo-yo exercising" is that we push ourselves way too hard and way too often in the beginning to get quick results. This often leads to overwhelm and adapting to an all-or-nothing mindset. Quitting the commitment altogether often becomes the solution. This can lead to losing faith in your ability to succeed with your exercise goals and to a lack of confidence and belief in yourself.
You are more likely to achieve your goals and create long-lasting results if you take one step at a time and set smaller, but more attainable commitments that you can implement and then build on later when you are ready to take it to the next level. Starting small is the key to success.
So based on activities you have enjoyed in the past or workouts you have been wanting to try, decide on a small commitment so that you can start working out. An example might be doing a Youtube workout for 20 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays or a 30 min run on Mondays and doing a 30 min session at the gym on Wednesdays. The commitment should be closely connected to, and preferably part of, your SMART goal.
If you need some inspo on activities you might enjoy, Psychologies have a 10-question quiz you can take to determine what the best workout for you is.
Step 5 - Set yourself up for success by planning
When we get busy with work and everyday life, we often put our dreams and goals at the bottom of our to-do list. Many times that free time doesn't come, or we feel overwhelmed because we don´t know the exact thing we need to do or when to do it.
This is why, especially in the beginning when the commitment has not become a habit yet, it needs to be planned. Even if you might not be the biggest fan of planning, having the workout scheduled in your calendar is essential if you are going to be able to build a new habit.
So write the commitment you decided on into your weekly calendar and choose which days and which time of the day you will do the activity.
Step 6 - Honor your commitment, but develop a flexible mindset because life happens
It is very important not to beat yourself up or compare yourself to others if you for some reason one day don't manage to follow through on your commitment. The fact is that lifestyle changes take time to implement.
Our mind needs to repeat a commitment or new habit over and over again until it becomes the natural choice. Implementing a new habit isn´t easy, so remembering that you are making a consistent effort to reach your goal can be helpful.
This is why it is important to be kind to yourself and accept that you will experience times where you will not be able to follow through on a commitment, but that it is ok, as long as you pick yourself up and follow through the next time.
Step 7 - Create a backup plan for consistency in exercise
Canceling on yourself once is fine, canceling a second or third time is when you make it harder and harder for yourself to keep the momentum going. So how can you make exercise a habit and stop procrastinating?
Forming a habit doesn't come without a bit of effort early on. Arming yourself with an "if-then plan" will help you when this happens. Developing a "flexible mindset" is key to success because by being flexible with how we think about training, we can build our workouts into our lives, instead of having the workouts feel like yet another task we have to do in addition to everything else.
Having a "flexible mindset" combined with having a backup plan, so you know when you will be able to go through with your commitment when your original plan didn't work, is therefore key. So what would be an if-then plan example?
If your commitment is doing a Youtube workout for 20 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but you aren't able to go through with your Thursday workout, an if-then plan could be scheduling it for the weekend. The most important thing is to either find a new time to follow through on your commitment or make sure you follow through the next time.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS 🔑 Keep your "why", your SMART goal, your commitment, and your backup plan in a visible place like as your phone background or on your fridge.
〰️
THE KEY TO SUCCESS 🔑 Keep your "why", your SMART goal, your commitment, and your backup plan in a visible place like as your phone background or on your fridge. 〰️
Consistency requires dedication, and dedication requires a strong desire to change. When we are dedicated we find a way to do what we have to do. In this short Youtube video Simon Sinek explains how consistency helps in achieving our goals:
Step 8 - Get accountability and support for staying consistent with working out
Sometimes skipping your workout commitment will be tempting. The reason for this is that there might not be any short-term consequences if you skip it. The problem isn't skipping a workout once, but rather when you keep skipping it again and again.
This is where the importance of accountability comes in. If you have been struggling with being able to prioritize moving your body consistently for a long time, investing in a coach can be life-changing.
The unique benefit of 1:1 coaching is that it provides individualized support and accountability, which are two of the most important factors to succeed in creating lasting change.
So if this 8-step guide felt a little overwhelming to go through on your own, I would love nothing more than to be your support and guide through this process. My mission is to set you up for success in finally being able to reach your health goals through forming an exercise habit. I know you can create the changes you have been dreaming of even if you might not at this point.
To give you an insight into what it would look like to work with me, this is what my clients say:
Through working with Solveig I realized how important it actually is to take time for myself. She helped me to build a consistent habit of working out through her coaching.
If you want more energy and reduce your stress levels, and want to become healthier, Solveig will help you start moving your body, get a healthier mindset and remind you that you have the power to change. Her positive energy and her knowledge help you feel strong in your journey.By knowing that every two weeks she was checking up on my development I managed to keep working on the goal that we set at the beginning of the program. I recommend Solveig to people who are tired of starting from scratch every time they have given up on themselves and that feel alone in their health journey.
This coaching program is not the same as buying self-led online courses or watching free videos. You will not regret investing in this 1:1 program, because it actually works!
-Tuba Ardic
Conclusion on how to be consistent with exercise
So what are the key takeaways from this 8 step guide to creating consistency with exercise?
Figure out which of your pain points you desperately wanna solve - your "why" - which could be anything from having no energy, struggling with low self-esteem, or feeling tired all the time.
Create a SMART goal that refers back to your paint point, f.ex. "I want to crave at least 20 minutes of movement four days a week within 6 months so that I get more energy in my everyday life."
Find an affirmation that is closely connected to the goal you just made so that you can start associating yourself with your new identity right away. An affirmation might be "I am an active, energetic person who enjoys moving my body."
Based on activities you have enjoyed in the past or workouts you have been wanting to try, decide on a small commitment. An example might be doing a Youtube workout for 20 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The commitment should be closely connected to, and preferably part of, your SMART goal.
Schedule your commitment into your calendar.
Come up with your "backup plan" for when life gets in the way.
Keep your "why", your SMART goal, your commitment, and your backup plan in a visible place like as your phone background or on your fridge.
Make sure to have support and accountability to keep you on track when the going gets tough so that you can stick to your goals.
I'm here to support you in any way I can and you can always reach out with questions if you have any.
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