A few months ago, Helen Moses, a private client, told me that she committed to her business coach to exercise 60 minutes every day until her 50th birthday, which was sixty days away. When I asked Helen how she was going to accomplish that, she said: “I'll join Planet Fitness, even though I hate the gym.” Here was someone who didn't exercise regularly, who committed to a daily time of 60 minutes, and didn't like going to the gym. I knew she was setting herself up for failure and didn't want to see it happen. We talked through it, and while she couldn't go back on her commitment to go from zero to 60 minutes every single day, we did come up with a plan, and we reframed the situation.
How did Helen do it?
1) She stopped using the word exercise and instead focused on Movement Opportunities. Helen's movement opportunities included:- Making phone calls while walking around her neighborhood.
- Walking to pick up prescriptions.
- Walking to pick up her car when she got an oil change.
- Dancing around her house.
- Aggressive house cleaning.