How to make working out a habit you'll stick to!

If it were easy to get active and work out regularly, everyone would do it. However, that is not the case. Many people get home from long days at work without the ability to summon the energy to exercise. Other people have problems with managing their time, so they simply feel as though they have too few hours in a day, and it's most often physical exercise that gets cut. Whatever your problem is with making it your habit to work out, this post will help you.

Get into the right mindset:
The most important thing when exercising is your mindset. It's a negative mindset that keeps people from obtaining their new and improved habits. But there are ways to keep thinking positively about working out.

• Don't be too hard on yourself:
• If you set too high expectations for yourself, you might not be able to reach them. That's when it all begins to fall apart.
• Don't think of it as "all or nothing":
• If you think to yourself that doing 2 hours of exercise a day is the only way to improve, you are wrong. Literally any physical activity is better than none, and it's important to remember this. Otherwise you'll end up being too hard on yourself. 
• Make it work your own way:
• A lot of people might tell you how you should get fit, or tell you that you're doing something wrong. However, this is about you, and you must therefore listen to your own mind and body. (But that doesn't mean you can't take advice;)). 

Find motivation: 

The reason as to why many people fail to stick to their new exercise plan is lack of motivation. With the right amount of motivation, you can reach almost any goal you set yourself. Here are some tips to keep yourself motivated:

• Set goals that you know you can accomplish: 
• If you set the bar too high at once, you'll feel demotivated once you fail to reach your goal. This will put your mind in a negative mindset, and you will be more likely to quit. 
• Try to make exercise fun:
• If you're having a good time whilst working out, mistakes feel more like challenges to be overcome and not something that will make you want to give up. Give yourself rewards for accomplishing goals, and stay positive!

Keep track of your success:

An easy way of motivating yourself and making your brain think of exercise as something positive is to keep track of your success, and then rewarding yourself for your victories. 

• Use technology to stick to your plan:
• A good way to keep your habits is to download a calendar app where you can put a mark on the calendar for each day that you work out and stick to your plan. 
• Test yourself:
• This is a way of actually seeing your improvement. For example, if your goal was to reach a higher level of fitness, you could do a 3k run. Then do it again later, after having done interval training. 
• Reward:
• The most important thing when testing your progress is to reward yourself for improvement. However you see fit to do so is up to you, just remember to do it. 

I hope this "how to" has been helpful and that is has given you ways of sticking to your plan. Remember not to be too stick with yourself! As long as you are trying you are doing great!