How to Make Exercise A Lifelong Habit

We’ve all been there — setting ambitious goals, with the best intentions to exercise regularly, only to find ourselves back to our old habits after a few days.

We know that we should be moving our body consistently, but the only consistent thing seems to be our inconsistency — the track record of starting, quitting then starting again.

Exercise is just one of those healthy habits that is often quite difficult to master.

Extensive research shows the importance of regular physical activity and the benefits that exercise has to our overall well-being including a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes.

However, if we already know the benefits of exercise, why is it still so difficult to stick with the habit?

Most people face two main problems when it comes to making exercise a part of their lifestyle:

1. Failing to start

2. Struggling to stay consistent once they start

Some of the most common reasons that people give for failing to start include not having enough time, not having enough motivation, or not even knowing where to start.

However, the biggest barrier to mastering this habit seems to be more mental than physical.

The truth is, starting any new habit, especially one that’s beneficial to your health, is really difficult. This is because it requires effort and energy.

When learning something new, the brain has to form new neural pathways (this is how cells communicate with each other). The more the action is repeated, the stronger the pathway becomes, and learning occurs. This process requires a lot of energy.

However, it’s also the brain’s job to conserve the overall energy that the body uses for tasks that it considers more critical like digestion and fighting off disease-causing organisms.

Therefore, when you start a new habit, the brain will try to conserve that energy required to form those new neural pathways by sticking to the old pathways that it has already formed.

This is why it’s very easy to slip back to the old, more comfortable routines that feel more automatic and effortless.

However, with a well-laid out strategy, there are a few things that you can do to set yourself up for success and make sure that you reap the benefits of making exercise a lifetime habit.

Step 1: Reframe your mindset

For most of us growing up, there was a mandatory “P.E lesson” or “Games Day” in school. If you’re anything like me, those cross-country runs were not something I used to look forward to.

To me, all those activities felt more like punishment. As a result, I attached exercise to something that was hard and awful, something that I wouldn’t do voluntarily.

However, my view on exercise changed once I made this mindset shift: Exercise isn’t punishment, it is a form of self-care.

Being able to move my body is a gift, and regularly exercising is one of the key things that promotes my health so I’m able to do everything else that matters to me.

Therefore, exercise is in fact not punishment to my body, but it’s the exact thing that helps me thrive.

Once I got rid of this mental block, it became easier for me to adopt the habit of regularly exercising.

What’s your current mindset on exercise? If it’s restrictive, how can you reframe it in a positive way?

Step 2: Be very clear on your why

You already know the benefits of exercise and that having some form of active life is good for your health.

But just knowing this sometimes isn’t enough motivation to get you started or stay consistent with your habit.

This study showed that although people were told that exercising would reduce their chances of developing heart disease, that information alone wasn’t enough reason for them to start exercising.

Just because you know that something is good for you doesn’t make it automatic to start doing the thing and be consistent with it.

What makes the difference is having a strong internal force that pushes you into action. This is known as intrinsic motivation.

You can attain this by figuring out exactly why you want to make exercise a part of your lifestyle. Maybe you want to increase your strength, or improve your mental health, or even to feel more confident in your body.

Whatever your reason, it should be something that’s very important to you. It’s only when something is important to you that you find the willpower to see it through.

Starting to exercise because you feel like that’s what you’re supposed to do may be a good reason to get you through the door, but it’s rarely a sustainable reason to get you to stick with the habit.

Being clear on your why is what will not only prompt you into action, but it will be your reminder of why you started the habit on those days when motivation is fleeting.

Step 3: Set the right goals

In this article, the author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, talks about the advantage of setting identity-based goals rather than outcome-based goals.

Outcome-based goals are often the tangible results that we seek to achieve. For example, “I want to lose 10kgs” or “I want to have 6-pack abs”.

Identity-based goals are based on what kind of person you want to become. For example, “I want to be a person who takes care of my health by moving my body regularly”.

Behind this new identity is a belief that you’re a person who exercises regularly. When you start to believe you’re this kind of person, you start to develop the habits and behaviors that reflect that new identity.

Both types of goals do work to get you started with exercising, but since outcome-based goals are tied to a specific result, they only serve you until you attain that goal.

In order to make exercise a lifetime habit, thinking of yourself as a person who exercises regularly is a much more sustainable approach that will ensure you stick to the habit long after you have achieved your desired result.

And the good news is, with regular exercise, you’ll still get to achieve your desired outcome anyway, so win-win!

Step 4: Choose a workout you enjoy

Exercising doesn’t have to feel like torture. If you dread doing something, there’s no way you’re going to stick with it long-term.

Exercise doesn’t have to be lifting weights in the gym, if that’s something you don’t fancy doing.

There are many forms of exercise that you can do: swimming, bike riding, walking, hiking, dancing, even going up and down the stairs in your apartment complex.

The important thing is you start with something you find enjoyable.

You can also pair your workouts with something fun like listening to music, or taking a walk with a friend.

Step 5: Start ridiculously small

Often times at the beginning when motivation is high, it’s easy to set ambitious goals like “I’ll be exercising for 1 hour 5 times a week”.

However, you might find that this soon becomes overwhelming and when that initial motivation dips you start to miss a few workouts.

This then leads to beating yourself up over not following through with your initial goal, feeling disappointed, and eventually you give up.

A couple of weeks later when motivation kicks in again, you set another ambitious goal and the same cycle starts again.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but to break this cycle, it’s best to aim to achieve less at the beginning.

If your goal is to exercise for 1 hour, start with exercising for only 10 minutes.

Make your starting point so small that it feels ridiculous. It’s easier to convince yourself to do something for 10 minutes than 1 hour.

At the beginning, the goal is to train your brain that you’re capable of doing something. Remember, your brain will try to trick you into taking the path of least resistance.

So, every time you exercise for those 10 minutes, your brain registers that as a success, and the new pathway that is being formed becomes reinforced. The more you do that, the stronger that pathway becomes.

Do this consistently until you don’t have to use a lot of effort to convince yourself to exercise. At that point, you can then increase the amount of time you exercise by 5 or 10 minutes, then do that until it becomes easy.

Repeat this process until you’re able to reach your goal of exercising for 1 hour.

Before diving into the deep end, it’s better to dip your toes in first.

Step 6: Plan and Prioritize

As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail.

When making a plan for your exercise goals, it’s important to first be as specific as possible, and second, to pick a time that’s right for you according to your daily schedule.

This study showed that what made the difference between people who had the intention of exercising and those who actually went through with their plan to exercise was making a detailed plan about when and where they’d exercise.

To make a strategic plan, answer these questions: When will you be exercising? Where will you be exercising? What will you be doing? How many times per week will you be exercising?

So, instead of saying “I’ll be exercising for 30 minutes every day”, it could look something like this: “I will be walking for 30 minutes around my neighborhood every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5PM”.

This way, you know exactly what days you’ll be exercising, at what time and exactly what you will be doing. So when that time comes, you don’t have to think about what to do, you just do it.

It’s also important to have a back-up plan for when you slip up. Life is unpredictable and sometimes something happens that prevents you from going through with your plans.

James Clear suggests to have a “If [interruption] happens, then I will [action]” back-up plan. For example, If it rains on Monday, then I will take my walk on Tuesday instead. Or, if it rains on Monday, then I’ll do a 15-minute at-home workout instead.

Step 7: Celebrate your wins

The reason why video games are addictive is because they offer the thrill of progressing through the levels, with different prizes to be won at every level.

The excitement comes from knowing that when you conquer one level, you’re one step closer to the ultimate prize. Winning each level gives you a dopamine boost that wants you to keep playing.

Treat your new exercise habit like a video game. Celebrate every win, no matter how small. This will help you build confidence and momentum to keep going.

Celebrating doesn’t always have to be with something external either. Even that small tap on your back congratulating yourself for doing what you said you’d do, is enough to produce that feel-good hormone.

Bonus Tip: Check your expectations

• Don’t expect too much too soon

It might be tempting to rush to the mirror to check for changes after your first week of exercising, and you might feel disappointed if you don’t see results right away — we’ve all been there.

But it often takes time for the desired results to appear.

However, just because you can’t see the progress that you’re making at the start doesn’t mean that you’re not making progress.

Just keep going. With time, you’ll see the results.

• It will be difficult at first

We’ve seen that the brain is resistant to learning something new. So, when you face this resistance at the beginning, know that it’s normal, but with the right strategy, you can overcome this barrier.

Contrary to popular belief that it takes 21 days for a new habit to feel automatic, the actual period it takes varies form person to person — some take a few weeks and others may take months.

Making a long-lasting lifestyle change is difficult. But with repetition and consistency, it will become easier.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found something valuable :)

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