I travel a lot around the globe for work and pleasure and yet, coming home to Canada is always such a joy. We have the best of everything here! I would not want to live anywhere else in the world. It is so true that Canadians are nice! Everywhere I go, there is always someone to help, a friendly face willing to go out of their way. So what makes Canada so special? It’s YOU. You are AWESOME! Thank you for being in my life! You rock! You make this country beautiful!
Enjoy the Day off / long weekend! I am just coming back from Louisiana today where we spent our 15th Anniversary in the vibrant New Orleans Music scene and enjoying the food in the French Quarter. Oh, and we also went for a dinner-cruise on the Mississippi, I looked for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn who I thought would have been running by the shore as the boat departed. I missed them. I guess they must have been at the coffee shop with Proud Mary waiting at their table.
It’s a long weekend… are you gonna exercise or skip it?
Unless it’s a primary need like going to the bathroom, or an old habit engrained to happen automatically like brushing your teeth in the morning, you may not always feel like exercising. Until you do it on a regular basis and get to the point where nothing can get in the way of you and your next song weat, you may need to have a few tips to set up your environment so that it supports you in your desire to get on a healthy active lifestyle.
Hanging around people that exercise is a crucial element that will motivate you to exercise when the voice in your head is brilliantly trying to get out of it. We can be very good at making excuses. Commit to exercising with others. Set up times in advance to show up to your exercise. Run with friends. Sign up for a fitness class. If you leave it up to the end of the day and “play it by ear” as to whether or not you will feel like it, more likely, the excuses will get the best of you. Know in advance that you will exercise and do it with others.
My strategy to stay fit has been the same forever. I have been teaching fitness for over 30 years. I don’t have a choice. If I don’t show up, no-one is there to teach the class. I am committed. There are no nagging voices that can get the best of me. I have to show up for my participants.
I used to teach six or seven days a week, sometimes over twenty classes per week. In the past ten years, as I have changed my business significantly to do more life coaching – sitting down in my office and more writing and speaking, I am only teaching four to five classes per week, Monday to Thursday. While Saturday is my writing day and I enjoy the break from exercise, I still want to exercise on Friday and Sunday. As I don’t ‘have to’ teach a fitness class on these days, I need to have a plan to make sure that it happens.
I had a workout buddy, and for years, we met once a week for a workout together. We would go for runs even under the worse winter conditions and talked each other through anything. We are both busy entrepreneurs who would more likely not have taken the time to go for coffee every week to catch up, but living an active lifestyle is part of our priorities. We did consider our exercise time seriously and would show up for the other no matter what. If one of us had a short-term injury, we would find a type of workout that suited the inconvenience. A sore ankle would not allow us to run so we would lift weight instead. We would make up some circuits in her garage or my gym or would go to outdoor parks and find ways to challenge each other.
We had long conversations about everything and anything as we exercised together. We would brainstorm on work or personal projects, talk about idealistic concepts and neuroscience or simply share about girl-stuff. I always looked forward to our workouts. It was my social work out of the week! So much fun!
She has now moved to Vancouver Island, and I have yet to find someone who will keep me committed to my Friday exercise. For now, on Friday, I lift weights on my own, and I have to be honest with you: the ‘on my own’ part is making it very easy for me to pull out. I will share with you in the next chapter my tip to make sure the Friday exercise happens.
On Sundays, I run with my husband. That makes it a sure thing. When it is me that doesn’t feel like it, he talks me into it. When it is his turn to make excuses, I am the one that motivates him to tag along. Make sure to commit to something in advance and tell people that you will be there.
It is easy to find ideas. The key is to partner up as it doubles your chances of showing up.