A new study from the Australian National University (ANU) has found time needed for health and wellbeing is being displaced by working time, and time recovering from work. According to the ANU study, the vast majority of workers have insufficient time for the four protective health activities:
1. Eating well,
2. Restorative sleep,
3. Physical activity, and
4. Social connection.
So what is the secret to getting enough physical activity and actually enjoy doing it?
In a previous business tip, I suggested, a strategy marketers use to sell products: portray physical activity as a way to enhance wellbeing and happiness. We need to make exercise relevant to people's daily lives.
There is a connection between purpose and exercise. When we tap into that wonderful motivator called purpose, it is our "why" that is fueled by an inner source of motivation that drives its reward from the exercise itself. People will not commit to exercise if they see its benefits as distant or theoretical.
The purpose could be to have fun, out live your age group, win a game, win a championship, run a marathon, lose x kilos, walk the dog, mow the lawn, walk the golf course or whatever is your motivation to exercise.
To help people find exercise they'll love for a lifetime, Bob Hopper, author of ‘Stick with Exercise For a Lifetime: How to Enjoy Every Minute of It!’ looks at seven best practices used by the most successful exercisers to identify what physical activities works best for each person and how to incorporate them into their regular routine.
The seven key principles are:
1. Focus on fun, first.
2. Get coaching. A trust-worthy, respectable and likable trainer virtually guarantees success at learning a new activity, and can guide talent development for a lifetime.
3. Join a team. Membership in a club or team generally provides not only fellow participants for camaraderie and encouragement, but also regularly scheduled times and locations for participation, making it easier to commit. It was Woody Allen who said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up."
4. Protect your time. Having fixed times for play and practice will help establish the role of exercise in your life and ensure its priority.
5. Add supplementary fitness. Improvement in your lifetime sport through a supplementary fitness program, e.g yoga, means added motivation to stick with that sport...and how to succeed with exercise!
6. Seek continuous improvement. Goal setting can encourage continuous improvement and build a passion for a lifetime activity.
7. Win at championship moments. Use a set of four mental techniques to get yourself to "just do it" when you are tempted to deviate from your exercise plan.
People need to have time to rest, exercise, connect with people they love, contribute to the community, sleep and eat, and if you don’t manage your life for balance, who will?
