"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." — John Lubbock
Over the weekend I sent out a poll to the readers on my mailing list to see what was their biggest struggle with exercise right now.
And, the results are in!
Drum roll please...
Over the coming weeks, I'm going to tackle these challenges head on, starting with what was tied for 2nd place:
👉🏼 Lack of time.
Pre-COVID, the challenge of not having enough time to exercise was one that I heard from clients VERY often.
And despite the fact that now most people are working from home, saving time on things like commuting (and showering...jk?...), many are still finding lack of time to be their primary struggle.
And I get it, but I also have a little tough love that you might not want to hear.
Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has time for some bit of exercise everyday.
But, Amanda, there's... ➡ work ➡ friends ➡ dating ➡ spouses ➡ kids (human or furry) ➡ tiktok I know. We all have A TON of different things vying for our time. And it may be true that you don't have time for a traditional 60 minute workout session on most days but, you can always do something. ✔ You can do 5 push-ups. ✔ You can do 10 squats. ✔ You can do 15 jumping jacks. Do you know how long it takes to complete 1 set of each of the above exercises? Less than 1 minute. Believe me, I timed it. ⌚ If you tell me that you do not have even 1 minute of free time in your day, then we have bigger issues to talk about than exercise. So, is the real issue that you don't have any time?
Or, are you stuck in the mindset that the time you DO have, isn't "good enough"?
Listen, 1 minute of exercise on its own is not going to be life changing. But that doesn't mean that it isn't worth doing. Because small steps add up. And if 1 minute is ALL YOU HAVE right now, then use it. DO WHAT YOU CAN. Even if it's not "good enough".
Do not let perfection be the enemy of good.
Something is always better than nothing. Because just 1 minute of exercise per day adds up... 💪 In a week: 35 push-ups, 70 squats, 105 jumping jacks 💪 In a month: 150 push-ups, 300 squats, 450 jumping jacks 💪 In a year: 1,825 push-ups, 3,650 squats, 5,475 jumping jacks
If you are struggling with not having "enough" time to exercise, chances are you just aren't seeing the opportunities to exercise that you actually have.
👀 If you look for problems, you'll find them. 👀 If you look for opportunities, you'll find them. If you are only looking for reasons why you can't fit exercise into your day, well...that's all that you're going to see.
But, if you train you eyes to look for opportunities, chances are you'll find more of them each day.
Where can you squeeze in just 1 minute of exercise? ✔ While your coffee is brewing? ✔ During a commercial break? ✔ Before checking Twitter? ✔ After walking the dog? ✔ While on a Zoom call (off camera of course! 😜)?
The more you look, the better you'll get at finding opportunities.
And the more opportunities you find, the more minutes you'll add up.
➡ 1 minute becomes 2.
➡ 2 turns into 10.
➡ And before you know it you're running marathons (ok, I may have exaggerated that timeline a bit...but you get my point.)
If you're struggling with lack of time to exercise,
Let go of the idea of perfection and embrace progress.
Even if it's only 1 minute at a time.
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