Balancing health and fitness with work and life is as important as drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. But how many of us actually drink that much water? How many of us keep ourselves in check when we don’t? Same goes for including fitness as an active ingredient to a happy and successful work-life balance.
Step 1, finding the Inspiration that will keep you motivated through the trials and tribulations of exchanging the bag of chips for a dumbbell.
Inspirations come in all shapes and sizes, but it’s important to find what works for you – after all, you are the one who will see the benefits.
Some of the short and long term inspirations that have worked for me:
Short Term
- Special event – Although the event will come and go, using a special day as inspiration will get you started. The hardest part is taking the leap and sticking with it. What’s important here is that you started and to many that’s the hardest part.
- Vacation – Probably the ultimate motivation, especially if you are beach bound. I must admit, this works for me, and it some cases elevates my workouts. My advice is to start a few months before your trip because once you see changes in yourself, you’ll get addicted and may want to continue even after your vacation.
Long Term
- Routine – This has made the biggest impact on my journey through health. Having to wake up early, get off of work early, or even skip a happy hour to workout seems like a burden. For those who work out in the morning, dreading the early AM alarm clock to put on those gym clothes is a big burden…
- Imagine the alarm signifying a new daily routine of: 1) coffee, 2) catching up on latest news, 3) checking out the latest family posts on facebook, and then 4) changing into your gym clothes
- Now, waking up is to get an early start on the day, not just to work out, and you get a lot done while doing it
- Before & After Photos – I’m not a huge fan of talking selfies, but in this case, I’m a huge supporter of taking a photo at the beginning and taking photos throughout each stage of your journey. Even a bigger bonus if you post those photos on social media!
- Again, I hate posting selfies or social media posts just looking for attention, but in this case, you posting a before & after will get some comments about how great you look, BUT it will also serve as a permanent reminder of what you can accomplish
- This is a journey and sometimes you will drift off, but guess what won’t drift? You coming across your before & after photo on social. Yup, it will be a humble reminder of where you were/can be, and how great you felt. Then you’ll quickly jump right back in.
- OR if you never fell off, it will give you a pat on the back that now you look even better.
Here’s something that really spoke to me at various stages of my journey:
It takes 4 weeks for you to see your body changing,
It takes 8 weeks for your family & friends
It takes 12 weeks for the rest of the world
KEEP GOING