Why an Exercise Practice Will Change Your Life Forever.

When it comes to exercise, there are generally two kinds of people – those that roll their eyes at the word exercise and those that don't.

This distinction is not a judgement or a character flaw; it is the foundation of what drives human motivation in that we seek to avoid pain and pursue pleasure.

People who roll their eyes at exercise associate it with pain, and people who don't associate it with pleasure.

If you currently associate exercise with pain, guilt and something you know you 'should do', then hear me out. You know all the typical benefits of exercise like better sleep, health, happiness and longevity. Still, like a smoker who continues to smoke despite knowing the downsides, it's not enough to push you into action.

How to change your default association.

What if I told you that building an exercise practice is a shortcut to managing uncertainty and moving from your comfort zone to your courage zone.

Never mind building your physical muscles; you can simultaneously build your courage, resilience and confidence muscles to new levels. The beauty of this is that you get to take these valuable resources and apply them to other areas of your life.

It becomes a redistribution of wealth for all your life and business goals. All of this from an exercise practice? Yes, but let's begin with the basics on how first to create your practice before you can reap the rewards.

Define what would be fun for you.

Here's a news flash, exercise does not need to be painful or unpleasant. It can become an incredible source of joy in your world. What activity would you enjoy doing? Not everyone is a gym person – it could be walking your dog, joining the park-run community, dancing, paddleball, martial arts, cycling, lifting weights, you fill in the blank.

You can even take it a step further and combine your walk with something you enjoy, such as an audiobook, podcast or watching your favourite show. You are making progress on your health goal and your personal development simultaneously.

Set your intention and make it real.

Make a specific decision on something you are willing to commit to by scheduling it into your calendar. It's not enough to think that you will fit in the walk sometime today, but instead on Tuesday at 3 pm at the park. The truth is that you don't lack motivation; you lack clarity. Decide when, where and what you will do, and you have a much higher chance of succeeding.

Of course, it's not this simple. As Derek Sivers says:

"If knowledge were all it took, we would all be billionaires with six-pack abs”.

The art of habit of creation is to know thyself. What could make this challenging to do? You know yourself – if you're prone to the snooze button, put your phone in a different room or pay upfront for a series of sessions with a personal trainer.

Your morning routine begins the night before.

It's a simple process – decide what you will do and schedule it into your calendar, right?

Well, there's a missing step. The meta-habit of creating an exercise habit is showing up to yourself. Showing up means you get up, don't hit snooze, and take the first step towards your goal when your alarm goes off. This first step towards your greater goal is creating a micro win; it is the first Lego brick of your creation.

It could be ten minutes of walking or five jumping jacks in the lounge. It could mean walking with a friend for twenty minutes or merely showing up on the yoga mat and doing one pose.

This unassuming process of setting an intention, scheduling yourself into the calendar, showing up with action, and creating your win has multiple layers.

Scheduling is not about time management but people management.

Scheduling yourself into your calendar means you are saying no to everything else – you value yourself as much as anyone in your calendar or contact list. You are making space for yourself and honouring the commitment.

When should you schedule it? The answer is that the best kind of workout is the one that happens. Know yourself – if you leave it for the end of the day, will you be too tired and default to Netflix and a glass of wine?

I recommend doing it in the morning before your workday begins. The mornings tend to unfold in more predictable ways, and you get to lay down the boundary for when your work day begins. If you start at 8:30, then there is no reason for you not to use your entire morning for yourself guilt-free.

Please don't check your inbox on your phone as you wake up. Checking your messages is the most destructive habit that unravels every good intention. As soon as you check your phone, you won't put yourself first because you're worried about other people's urgencies, despite the time of your workout being outside of working hours.

Change how you label yourself.

Exercising in the morning allows you to shift your label of laziness to someone who, as Glennon Doyle famously said, 'can do hard things'. It's easy to stay in bed and hit snooze for an hour, but the more challenging choice is to get up despite the cold and show yourself that you are the kind of person who is committed to your goals.

It's not about what you do or how long you train for, but the act of showing up to your practice puts you in control of your morning. You take charge of putting yourself into a peak state and win the day before it begins. When you have shown yourself you can do it; then it doesn't matter what the day brings; you know you have the strength and inner resources to handle anything.

You own your day when you can own your morning, even the first fifteen minutes.

The truth is if you are not in charge of triggering yourself, then everyone else is going to, and they don't necessarily have your best interest at heart.

Exercise builds self-trust.

The act of showing up means you are demonstrating through your committed actions that you are worth it. You are proving to yourself that you can be your own best friend and make decisions in your own best interest. Showing up and taking action – even if you do it for fifteen minutes, means you can keep the promises you make to yourself.

When you set an intention and let yourself down, your self-esteem plummets. The broken agreement hurts because you question how you can trust yourself? When you break your agreement, you reinforce the story of being a lazy person. Failing to commit to your exercise filters out into other areas, and the self-doubt is amplified when setting an intention on a big work goal.

Exercise builds resilience.

Before Covid, I used to arrive at the gym at 5 am to meet my trainer. One night before my session, I had a terrible night of sleep. When my alarm went off, I woke up exhausted but still made it to the gym because I knew he was waiting for me, and I didn't want to let him down at the last minute.

I remember walking in feeling awful, but about twenty minutes into it, I found my stride and finished the session way stronger than I expected. A few weeks later, the same thing happened, but this time instead of walking into the gym, I was walking into a conference to present for 90 minutes.

If I never had the gym experience, my self-talk would have been so self-critical and fearful – you'll never get through this; how will you manage? You feel so awful!

However, I have proved that even when it isn't perfect, I always have the choice of how I want to show up and that fatigue doesn't dictate my success.

Exercise is a way to practice discomfort.

Starting a new exercise practice is uncomfortable on all levels. You feel like a beginner and out of your depth. You don't like the feeling of not being proficient at a task – it's overwhelming and feels like it will never change.

A consistent exercise practice proves that if you trust the process of creating micro wins daily – despite not seeing immediate results – but you persevere, eventually you reap the rewards of your micro wins. It's a stacking of progress over time, and eventually, you experience the results – you are stronger, fitter and more confident.

When you apply that insight to other areas of your life, everything changes, and new possibilities open up. If you want to be a writer, trust the process of showing up to writing every day.

Trust the process of showing up to the yoga mat to become less emotionally reactive and mindful. Trust the process that if you persevere in one direction consistently over time, you will move into a new level of competence and confidence.

Discomfort is your ticket to play; it is the consequence of growth.

Exercise is how to manage your state.

An exercise practice lets you take charge of your state and how you want to feel. You need to start with a full cup to show up for your team and loved ones. You need to be able to energise yourself from the inside out, not rely on something or someone to do it for you.

Emotion is created by motion. Movement will shift your physiology and mood when you feel stressed or overwhelmed. Even taking ten deep belly breaths will shift your physiology and state to calm and focus.

Please don't wait to feel like it because this is the great lie. You never feel like doing the activity in question until you're doing it. You don't hear about runners block; they get on the road, and their autopilot takes over. Runners don't focus on how they feel before the run but instead on the reward of how they feel after.

Final thoughts.

You can't wait for life's challenges and external circumstances to prove your strength. Your exercise practice is the mechanism for you to show yourself that you are worth it and that you are the kind of person who can do hard things.

Replace judgement for curiosity if you fall off the wagon and hit the snooze button. What made it difficult to do? Where was there resistance? What was the trigger behind the behaviour?

Were you too exhausted and lacked energy? Then perhaps you need to question your entire self-care routine or lack thereof. Do you need to assess your evening routine – are you getting enough sleep? Once you figure out the real barrier, you can start again because micro wins are the antidote to inaction.

The next time you question your decision about whether to exercise or not, remember to associate the practice with pleasure, not pain.

It's not just about the walk; it is the toolkit you are building in the background. It is the treasure chest of skills you are building for when a real challenge shows up, or you need a little extra confidence for the next presentation or courageous conversation.

Never mind the health benefits of an exercise practice; it is your playground to create resilience, confidence and self-trust.

Here's to day one,

Warm wishes,

Lori