Personal Exercise Plan: 5 Strategies for Making Fitness Fun

You know that regular exercise is a must for optimal health and longevity. It not only strengthens our bodies, but helps reduce the stress created by our hectic lifestyle.

But if exercise hasn’t been a part of your daily routine since junior high PE class, you may find it difficult to make it a top priority.

Luckily, adding regular fitness to your daily life can be easy and fun, especially when designing an exercise plan tailored specifically for you. When choosing activities, keep the following in mind:

Keep an Open Mind

Getting fit doesn’t mean you need to hit the gym to run on the treadmill and pump iron like the big boys. Fitness comes in many different guises, and a lot of them are pretty darn fun. Get the neighbors together for a game of flag football or get your groove on at a Zumba class. Feeling frisky? Take a pole dancing class.

Do What You Like

If you’re new to fitness, you’ll be more motivated to stick with a routine if you’re doing something you enjoy. When choosing, consider your preferences. Do you like team activities or do you like going solo? Do you like outdoor activities or indoor? Machines or mat work?

Make it Quick and Easy

If your activity of choice requires a lot of preparation, like changing into special clothing or putting on a lot of equipment, you’re likely to forgo it most days. Also, consider the time involved. If it takes you twenty minutes to get to the gym, chances are you won’t make it a habit to go regularly.

Just Add Friends

When we hold ourselves accountable for our fitness goals, we tend to be a little lax. It’s easy to find an exuse to skip the workout. But when someone else is counting on us,we are more likely to show up. So ask a buddy to join you in your exercise plan.

The Spirit of Competition

Not only do friends provide support, but they can certainly put some fun into your workouts, too. A little friendly competition with your workout buddy can spice up a stale routine. Challenging each other can have great benefits by pushing you a little further in your fitness goals, so throw down the gauntlet. Go ahead, I double-dog dare you!

By taking these strategies into account when creating a plan of action for your fitness goals, you can easily incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

SMART Goal Setting

It’s that time of year when many of us resolve to make sweeping changes in our lives. And in a month or so, it will be that time of year when many of us say, “I give up!” Why is it that we can’t stick to our goals? Are we just too lazy or lack motivation to make lasting changes in our lives? I don’t think so.

The problem may be that we aren’t setting the right kind of goals, ones that you can actually reach. We tend to dream big and want immediate results. Dreaming big is great, but as the saying goes, there is only one way to eat an elephant and that is one bite at a time.

Successful goals tend to have several aspects in common, charactersitics that make it easier for you to succeed. Often, you’ll see the acronym SMART to describe this way of setting goals. SMART can have many different meanings, but a common one is:

SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ACHIEVABLE
RISKY
TIMELY

Get Specific

Intentions that are too general are difficult to achieve. If you say you want to be a better person, what does that mean? Does it mean you want to tell your spouse you love them more often, or you want to stop yelling at other motorists driving on the interstate? Make sure your intention targets one single aspect of change.

Measure It

Ensure that you can see the results of the changes you are making. If you intend to cut back on spending, then set up systems to track purchases and save money. If you don’t see the small, incremental steps that you are taking toward your goal, you won’t feel successful.

Reality Check

Remember the elephant? When we set goals that are way too big, they are difficult to achieve. We get overwhelmed and give up. So instead of eating the elephant in one big bite, resolve to eat just his foot, then his other foot, and so on. By breaking it down into smaller, more realistic, achievable steps, you’ll feel that sense of accomplishment much quicker, and it will fuel the next step.

Take a Risk

When a goal is too easy, we don’t put much effort into it, if any at all. Goals that make us stretch a little, that make us a bit uncomfortable, are more meaningful. If you’re uncomfortable speaking in front of large crowds, join Toastmasters. Always wanted to earn your Masters, but think you’ve missed the opportunity? Take a class. These are the goals that are life-changing. So step outside your comfort zone.

The Right Time

Ask yourself, is it the right time for this goal? Are you truly ready to make the change you are committing to? If the answer to that question is yes, then set a deadline for achieving the goal. This puts it at the top of your To Do List and makes it a priority.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to make your goals SMART. They can be Snack-sized, Meaningful, Actionable, Realistic, Top-priority, etc. Find a combination that fits you and your goal best and get started making SMART Goals!

Get Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan for FREE

I don’t know about you, but I think Suze knows what she’s talking about when it comes to finances. I have relied on her advice for years, with amazing results.

So imagine how excited I was when I came across a free copy of her brand new book 2009 Action Plan. It’s only available until tomorrow at midnight so hurry and get your copy.

And if you miss the free download, you can get a copy of the book here for a very good price.

The Company You Keep

I attended a great seminar this morning over at Mom Masterminds that got me thinking about motivation and what it is that gets us and keeps us moving toward our goals. Or away from them as the case may be.

Sharing your goals with others is a good way to garner support and keep you motivated, but it can sometimes backfire.

Have you ever been excited about something awesome you had in the works and wanted to tell everyone you knew, but a few of your friends or colleagues were less than enthusiastic? Well, you might be hanging with the wrong crowd. Do these people look like anyone you know?

Superior Sally – she thinks your idea for a new home-based business is a little pie-in-the-sky. She questions whether you have the know-how to start a business and suspects you are getting a little big for your britches.

Blame-Game Gary – he thinks starting a business is great but warns that you’ll be lucky to succeed. In fact, he once thought of doing the same thing, but he couldn’t get his idea off the ground because the loan officer at the bank didn’t tell him about an issue with his credit report, so the start-up loan wasn’t approved. And the black mark on his credit was because his accountant forgot to pay a bill. And let’s not even talk about what his attorney did, or rather didn’t do. 

Control Freak Fran – she loves your idea. In fact, she wants to help you! She has lots of suggestions. So many, in fact, that your original idea is barely recognizable.

There are lots of reasons why some people are negative – - they don’t want you to succeed, they think no one can succeed, or they think the best way is their way. When you share your plans with these Negative Neds, your goal loses its sparkle, its shine. Unfortunately, this can lead you to abandoning your plan all together.

Instead, be choosy about who you share your dreams with. Seek friends and family that will positively support you through your successes, as well as your failures.

Time to Declutter Those Home Office Files

I don’t know about you, but for me, tax time is a perfect time to purge my home office files. It seems like all those receipts and statements multiply like rabbits over the course of the year, and my desk drawer is stuffed full by December. 

So in January, while going through my files to locate all those tax-related items, I like to take the opportunity to throw out anything that is no longer needed.

I made this a habit several years ago after reading a book by Suze Orman that included a checklist of what to keep and for how long. Now I keep a copy of this list in the front of my file cabinet, so I don’t have to go searching for it every year. The list is more comprehensive than what I share here, but I mainly focus on two groups of files in January: Files that needing purging and files that need updating.

Purge the following files each year.

This ensures you have only the papers needed to file taxes for the previous year and you can find them quickly. You’ll be amazed at how much time this saves come tax time, not to mention how much room you’ll have in that file cabinet after you get rid of stuff from five years ago.

• Pay stubs – these can be thrown out after you double-check them against your W-2 and Social Security statement
• Medical bills – if you don’t have enough for a deduction, chuck ‘em. If you do have enough for a deduction, keep them with your tax record.
• Bank statements – again, only keep them if they are part of your tax record.
• Credit card receipts – again, only keep them if they are part of your tax record.

While I’m digging around in my files for the necessary info to file my taxes, I also take the opportunity to go through some other things. Insurance policies may change frequently during the year, and each time they change, you get a new copy of the policy. If you’re like me and you just file the new policy without pulling the old one, at the end of the year, your insurance folder will look about as thick as a copy of War and Peace.

Review the following files.

 This ensures you have only the current copy of al policies in effect.

• Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance
• Auto insurance for all vehicles in the household
• Medical insurance for all family members (often, family members are on different policies)

This is certainly by no means a comprehensive list, but it is a good starting point for clearing out the clutter in your file cabinet. Also, bear in mind that your situation may be different, so please consult your tax attorney or accountant before throwing anything out if you have any doubt.