MY LIFE

CO-EDITORS RACHEL MITCHELL & GLORIA DARGATZ

Staying Motivated

BY THOMAS HEATHWAITE

CREATE A WEEKLY HABIT:

Having a habit is vital to ensuring you have the motivation to do the exercise and to continue it during times of stress. Therefore, decide which days you want to do exercise on and at what time. Repeat the exercise on each of these days and use a habit tracker to log if you do or do not meet your goals. Try to build up a habit over 4 weeks, doing exercise on the same day at the same time each week, and a habit will form before you know it!

SET YOURSELF A TARGET THAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE:

Having a target to work towards is one of the best ways to continue to stay motivated to do that exercise, even through times of stress. To make this really work, ensure your target is not too ambitious as this can demotivate you, or too easy – a Goldilocks’s target. I have found this to be one of the best strategies for staying motivated to continue to exercise even when I have a mountain of university work to do.

IF YOU’RE HAVING ONE OF THOSE DAYS WHERE YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO EXERCISE, THINK TO YOURSELF “IT WILL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY AND WILL HELP RELIEVE STRESS”:

Reminding yourself of the benefits of exercise can really help you to stay motivated. Trust me! I have experienced days before where I could not be bothered to go running, but I told myself the benefits and when I got back, I felt so happy and so much better mentally!

YOU CAN REGRET BEING LAZY AND NOT DOING EXERCISE, BUT YOU WILL NOT REGRET DOING EXERCISE:

I know I have regretted not doing exercise and giving the excuse that “it is too wet outside” when, I was just too lazy to do it, but I also know I will not regret doing exercise as I will feel so much better for it. Furthermore, by not doing the exercise, you are not helping to relieve stress, and so you will become more stressed – a vicious cycle; whereas if you exercise, you will relieve that stress.