Exercising for better parenting and work!!

It can be frustrating and overwhelming to think about fitting exercise into your life.

Especially when your life is already jam packed.

So many of us have been told that we have to exercise for X amount of time or there’s no point in doing it.

Or it must be at the gym or it’s a waste of time.

Which contributes to the overwhelm of “doing it right” or “doing enough”.

No wonder the thought of it is so daunting.

When exercise complements your life, it makes everything else easier, but when it complicates your life, it adds to the stress and overwhelm.

The most successful people know and practice this.

Barack Obama was known to keep a consistent 3-4 workouts per week routine whilst in the white house. Because in his words “It’s just to clear my head and relieve me of stress”.

Oprah Winfrey has said, “It’s not about getting to a number on a scale. Instead, it’s more about a better spiritual and emotional health”.

So, if we can take away the pressure of exercising to look a certain way or for a tangible outcome.

It can be about how we feel and approach day-to-day life.

Sleeping better.

More patience as a parent.

Handling uncertainty better.

Being present.

Which means it doesn’t matter if we train at the gym or at home.

Or if you do strength training or cardio or even both.

The main point is you are moving your body and you are getting the benefits from getting the ball rolling.

So, the excuse isn’t work and family time.

Work and family time is the reason.

I'm not sure about you, but I have a sense of guilt when I’m at a family event and know I’m not mentally present.

Or I’m just going through the motions at work.

Just turning up doesn’t feel right when we know we could be better.

Exercise is a great way to wake us up to being intentional in our behaviours and how we want to live.

If you can only exercise for 15 minutes in the morning do that!

If you can only get to the gym on weekends and walk in the week that’s great.

“Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can!”

And watch how your energy, creativity, and focus improves.

When you are working you become more effective.

Exercise is the solution to the lack of energy you have to exercise.

If we compare exercise and energy to the chicken and egg theory… Exercise comes first.

You don’t have the energy, that might be the reason you need to start exercising.

Routine creates simplicity.

Many of us see routines as restrictive. But in fact, routines make life easy.

It's known that successful people save their mental energy for complex challenges.

Which means the day-to-day repetitive tasks they want to keep simple.

They don’t have to think about what to wear or what days to work out or not.

So they can save mental space for life’s more complex challenges.

Job changes, the actual workout and so on.

Be disciplined not regimented.

Which means do what you need to when you can. But don’t force yourself to do things in a regimented way that isn’t working.

Conclusion…

Lower the barrier of entry for yourself in exercise.

Simply bring it into your life for how it makes you a better you.

That is the foundation to you keeping it up.

Keep it simple and make exercise work for you. Not the other way around.

A high bar for entry means exercise is only worth it if I get this outcome and I do it in this specific way.

That pressure might be the very thing that’s putting you off starting again.

Open your mind and give yourself the chance to experience a simpler solution.

If you want my help in making it simple and effective for you.

Feel free to send me a message or sign up to work with me today 😊

I look forward to hearing from you.

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