By Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

One of the most commonly made, and most frequently broken, New Year’s resolutions is the resolution to exercise more.

People who exercise are healthier, more energetic, think more clearly, sleep better, have delayed onset of dementia…the list goes on.

There’s also a lot of research into the connection between exercise and happiness - some studies suggest that it provides a real boost, some studies suggest that while correlated, exercise isn’t a factor in making people happier. I’m interested to see what further studies reveal, but I’ve made up my own mind: in my experience, and the experience of everyone I know who exercises, exercise makes me calmer, more cheerful, and more alert.

But even once you’re convinced of the benefits, if you’re not inclined to exercise, it can be hard to adopt the habit. My favorite activity is reading in bed, and I don’t enjoy games of any sort, but over the years I’ve managed to transform myself into a regular exerciser by deploying these strategies:

1. Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the week.

2. If at all possible, exercise first thing in the morning. The longer the day goes on, the more likely you are to get derailed.

3. Never skip exercising for three days in a row. You can skip a day, and you can skip two days, but on the third day, you must exercise no matter how inconvenient. (This rule is more effective than it sounds; it kept me exercising regularly during college.)

4. Give yourself credit for the smallest effort. When my father started running, he said that all he had to do was put on his running shoes and close the door behind him. I never push myself hard, because I know that if I did, I might stop exercising altogether. And don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The fifteen-minute walk you DO take is better than the three-mile run you DON’T take.

5. If you don’t have time both to exercise and take a shower, find an activity that doesn’t require a shower afterward, like yoga or walking. I do an extremely tough weight-training regimen that doesn’t make me sweat (and yes, it is effective, even with no sweat!).

6. Look for affordable ways to make exercising more pleasant or satisfying. Could you upgrade to a nicer gym? Buy yourself a new iPod? Work with a trainer? Get a pedometer? (they’re only $20). A lot of people are feeling a real money crunch right now, but exercise is a high life priority, so if you can afford it, this is a place to spend some money if that helps.

7. Remind yourself of the benefits from exercising. Personally, I’m more motivated by short-term gratifications like “I’ll feel more focused” or “I’ll sleep better” than long-term considerations like “I’ll live longer” or “If I have surgery, I’ll recover quicker.” A trainer told me that, in her experience, men are more motivated by the idea of improving their performance (a better tennis game) or restoring an ability (climbing stairs without getting out of breath); women are more motivated by the promise of improving their appearance.

8. Think about context. If you find it much harder to go running in winter than summer, maybe the real trouble is that you don’t like the cold. Do you hate the loud music in your gym? Is your work-out so exhausting that you can’t face the rest of your day?

9. When choosing an activity, a gym, or an exercise class, make convenience a top priority. You’re much more likely to go to a mediocre gym near your office or home than to a great gym that’s out of your way.

Apart from the happiness gain you’ll get from the exercise, merely the fact that you’ve kept your resolution to yourself will boost your happiness.

Gretchen Rubin

First published @ The Happiness Project

On Sunday, Kerryn, Caroline and myself, three mums, completed our first half marathon.
We ran 21 km from the beach to the city. Only a few months ago, none of us could run further than 5 km. So how did we do it?

It all began one Saturday morning in February. Coach Christine was getting a running group together. Nothing too challenging. We began with a 3 km run and walk, and our goal was to run 10 km to the beach suburb of Glenelg for a coffee. Within 10 weeks, we were sipping lattes by the seaside.

It was time for another goal. A few of us talked about a half marathon. Coach Christine devised another running schedule, but by the time we’d built up to 16 km runs, people were dropping out of the group due to busy schedules, winter rain and sore bodies.

But a few of us kept at it. We kept running 10 or 12 km most Saturdays, and we ran 15 or 16 km a few weeks before the half marathon. And even though our preparation wasn’t ideal, we decided to go for it.

The night before the race, we got the husbands and kids together for a pasta meal. Then on a blustery Sunday morning, we fronted up at the Henley Beach sailing club. We pinned on our numbers, and lined up at the start.

And we ran. And we kept on running for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Until we were greeted by our husbands and children at the finish line. My daughter had drawn a fairy path picture for me. Kerryn’s son had made her a ‘you’re my hero’ card. And Caroline’s kids had made her a trophy out of plastic tubs and toilet rolls.

We were buggered, but we did it. We set ourselves a goal. We started out slowly. We did it together. And it was exhilarating.

In an earlier blog, I talked about challenging ourselves to do something new. And not holding ourselves back by believing that what is possible is impossible.  Read more here.

So this month, as the sun reemerges, the blossoms bloom, and the air warms, what is your half marathon?

Jodie Benveniste
Director and founder of Parent Wellbeing

Fields as diverse as kinesiology, psychology, physiology, medicine, and neuroscience assert that physical activity helps prevent and treat mental health problems, increases subjective well-being, reduces stress, boosts self-esteem, sharpens thinking and improves overall quality of life. Studies have been conducted with populations ranging from children to adolescents to women during PMS, pregnancy, and all the way to menopause!

If any intervention is that effective, there is no reason for anyone to not do it, right?For most of us however, fear of loss is a stronger motivator than the attraction of gain. When it comes to undertaking exercise, the fear of “losing” time, experiencing initial low self-efficacy and dreading physical effort and discomfort may all weigh heavier than the perspective of feeling better, losing weight, and enjoying increased energy. That’s why mustering the motivation to regularly put on one’s sneakers seems an insurmountable challenge for so many.

So if I tell you that exercise has also been found to stimulate brain cell growth, I expect non-exercisers to maintain the status quo. However, if I say that recent progress in the field of neurobiology has found that both physical inactivity and stress shrivel and whither our brain - yes, not exercising actually speeds up aging and decreases the ability of your CPU - are you now tempted to go push a few pounds of iron?

The choice is yours. Usually, though, the difficulty resides not in understanding why we should exercise, but in finding and maintaining the motivation to get it done. If you need extra help committing to an exercise routine, here are my top 10 recommendations, based on positive psychology research, to help you overcome the challenge:

1. Sleep enough and eat nutritiously.
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz demonstrate that sleeping enough and eating nutritious foods including complex carbohydrates that give pre-exercise energy are clearly part of the equation.

2. Get into a good mood.
Sonja Lyubomirsky describes that happy moods help us be more productive, more active, healthier and more resilient. These are all ingredients that facilitate exercising. Before you jump in your sneakers, make sure to add a skip into your step by listening to upbeat music or calling your funniest friend.

3. Other people matter
Says Christopher Peterson. Those who are new to exercise do better when accompanied by a training buddy. My recommendation here is to find more than one: if your usual partner can’t make it tonight, there’s somebody else to keep you motivated and accountable!

4. Use your strengths
States Tom Rath. High on hope? Reach for small, achievable goals that will boost your self-efficacy. Known by your friends for leadership? Focus on the example you are setting for your loved ones. Love to learn? Investigate a new exercise at each visit to the gym. There are endless ways to express your strengths via exercise.

5. Enjoy the burn.
Loehr and Schwartz write that many newcomers to the gym only make a half-hearted effort, hardly break a sweat, and quickly get discouraged because they don’t feel the benefits they signed up for. Unless your doctor advised otherwise, don’t be afraid to feel your heart rate go up and learn to love the burn in your muscles. Just like some people enjoy the burn of spicy foods and others don’t, it’s mainly a question of choice.

6. Involve your mind.
Many people say that training is too repetitive and therefore boring. Keep learning. Once you learn more about all the training areas (cardiovascular, endurance, strength, and flexibility), you’ll be stimulated to find the most effective exercise combinations.

7. Measure.
As Chris Peterson puts it: “What is valued gets measured, but what is measured also gets valued.” Start measuring your training. Mark a calendar with your workout days on it. Keep a journal of your training routine. Build a chart showing your progress. Measure whatever works for you, but keep track of what gets done and congratulate yourself when you are doing well.

8. Get in flow.
Foster flow by breaking down each session into smaller episodes, matching the challenge to your skill set, regularly assessing your progress, and applying your full concentration to the activity, suggests Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. For example, if you aim to run a total three miles, rather than worry about the full distance, think of it as three times one mile and try to achieve your personal best on each.

9. Use the peak-end rule.
Barry Schwartz describes that we remember how much we like an event by how much we liked its peak and its end. By managing your routines so you love their end, you are more likely to remember your sessions favorably and therefore to repeat the experience.

10. Get good mind fuel after exercise.
Exercise facilitates brain cell growth, shows John Ratey, and while your muscles are recuperating after the effort, your brain is actively busy building new synapses. What you do post-exercise is therefore essential to reaping the full benefits of your activity. Capitalize on how potent the next hour is by filling up on what you deem worthwhile - and avoiding what is not.

Next time you’re about to turn on your TV, take a minute to review this list and find something to get you into your gym gear. Most of the excuses for why we don’t exercise - the need to relax, the lack of energy, or the desire to put our children first - are actually reasons why we should.

In the end, if none of what I’ve written here nor anything you’ve ever heard about exercise sufficed to convince you to try it out, I’d like to suggest you give the following a quick thought: “The difference between tenacity and stubbornness is that one comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won’t.” - Anonymous.

Enjoy your workout!

This article was first published at Positive Psychology News Daily.

Marie-Josee Salvas, MAPP, is the lead consultant, coach, and speaker of Optimal Living, an enterprise that offers workshops to help people achieve increased performance, engagement, meaning, fulfillment and balance. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at workshops internationally