There will never be a perfect time to start.
Life never really slows down or gets less stressful. There’s always another obstacle, another crisis, another emergency, another obligation.
In order to change long-term, we have to figure out how to do it in the midst of everything else going on in our lives. Of course, there are some exceptions, like losing a loved one or going through some major life upheaval such as having a baby, when we may have to dial things back.
But there will always be obstacles to overcome and busy schedules to work around. Our desired goal and the steps needed to get there have to be a priority to make it work.
Try a mindset shift. Consider these challenges as simply tests to show yourself you really mean it, you really want this goal enough to do it despite the difficulties.
And get rid of the barriers to begin — make it as easy as possible to just get going each day.
- Lay out your clothing and shoes ahead of time for workouts
- Plan your workouts ahead of time and pencil it in your schedule on specific days/times
- Purchase pre-cut produce and pre-cooked meats for easy meal prep
- Hire a coach or recruit a workout buddy to hold you accountable for showing up
- Put together a kickass playlist of songs that get you in a great mood and ready to move (I’ll actually start listening to mine *before* I even feel motivated to work out to get me in the mood, kinda like when I would listen to my special mix CD before soccer games in college)
The important thing is to just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect, or optimal, or ideal. You just need to take some small action in the right direction. And then another and another.