The Science Behind Why You Don’t Stick to Exercise & The Stuff That Is Good for You

It’s fascinating in the treatment room understanding what makes people tick and motivates them to do the hard stuff in life, like doing the exercises or self-care we recommend in our treatment sessions. We all have a rough idea of the things that are good for us in life yet why do we constantly do stuff that makes us feels worse and life harder?

Very few clients we see are really disciplined with doing their exercise and self-help daily. Most easily off the wagon when things feel a bit better, or life gets busy. But you can guarantee the problem will return and you repeat the same cycle. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn't need to have recurring problems with your body like back, neck or knee pain? What if there was a way to reduce your daily stress levels and start having more time for fun stuff?

The Science Facts Behind Why This Happens

Research has shown that the number one trait that predicts anyone’s success is…

SELF-CONTROL.

This has been shown time and again in many areas of research to do with any topic. Getting fit, weight loss, achieving a task, learning a new skill, improving long term health conditions like pain, learning a new skill etc, all come down to your self-control.

Your ability to resist temptation and do what is best for you in the long run, is what you need to keep clear on to override any unwanted thought, feeling or impulse. Your ability to withstand temporary emotions and urges in the short term to ensure you get your long-term outcome is dictated by self-control or will power.

Will Power - The Limited Resource

The problem with self-control and will power is it’s a limited resource, capable of being depleted. Like a tank of petrol, it will run out. So when those big urges comes to distract you, you need to know you’ve got enough left in the tank to resist the impulse that will sabotage your efforts to help yourself.

Even simple decisions like what to wear, what to do with your day, what to cook for dinner, use precious will power. “Decision fatigue” is a real thing that occurs when you’ve used up all our self-control / will power tanks. At this point you will struggle to make good decisions on what is best for you long term, like doing your exercises or eating a healthy meal.

When will power is low it’s harder to stay focused and on task like fitting in your exercises, or doing self-care, or meeting a deadline. Deciding what exercise to do, what to wear, how long and where to do it, eat into your will power by using up your decision-making tanks making you less likely to do it. That’s why I have to have it written in my diary and get told to do it by someone. Left to my own devises at the end of the day, I will more likely sit down and watch tv!

A Very Simple Solution

The easiest way to increase your success in anything you want to do involves time planning. There are many ways to do this, today I share the one I’ve found most successful.

By planning your day, the night before, you will set yourself up to achieve those daily, weekly, monthly and yearly priorities. Provided you are clear on them it makes the job easier. If you aren’t clear, that’s what my special workshop is all about, Time 4 Life! Click here for more information.

Write in when and where you will do your biggest priority in the day and week. Then add second level priorities – things that matter to you but aren’t a priority. Finally add the minutia of life. There’s a great story that explains this about filling a jar with rocks, pebbles and sand.

If you put in the sand first, there won’t be room for your rocks and pebbles. However, if you put in the rocks first, then the pebbles, you can then fit the sand around all the little gaps. It’s so obvious and simple yet most of us get this the wrong way around. We do the sand first and then get stressed and burnt out trying and failing to fit the rocks and pebbles in.

Here's a lovely YouTube video explaining it

OR use this…..

Planning out your day, week, months and year like this, stops you burning through your precious will power and self-control. But there is even more that can help.

How to Give you Will Power a Helping Hand

Did you know that writing stuff down statistically increases your chances of it happening? Adding the place you will do it helps even more. Also make sure you are clear how long you’ve got to do a particular activity or task and stick to it. Otherwise, it will take as long as it takes, leaving you little time for other fun things. Finally, minimise the distractions that are around you so you can stay focused on the task at hand.

Want to Learn More?

If you’ve been a bit inspired by all this and want to learn more, I’m running a special one-off workshop on February 8th, 2023, at the HealthHub. I will share some great strategies and help you figure out what you want to achieve with your year and health and together we will figure out a fab plan that will be easy to stick to. So, if you want to make your life simpler, clearer, more peaceful, healthier and happier, email [email protected] for more information, or call 01548 852 355 to book now. I’m excited for you! These simple principles have transformed my life and I can’t wait to share them with you. Find Time 4 Life!