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Monday Motivation: A Simple Way to Stick to Your Yearly Goals.

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How to Make Exercise a Habit

Let’s say that — like many people — you want to make a habit of exercising consistently. Researchers have discovered that while many people are motivated to workout (i.e. they have the desire to workout and get fit), the people who actually stick to their goals do one thing very differently from everyone else.

The Surprising Results: Motivation vs. Intention

Two weeks later, the researchers were surprised by what had happened in the three groups.

  • In the motivation group, 35% of participants exercised at least once per week.
  • In the intention group, an incredible 91% of participants exercised at least once per week.
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A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that 91% people who planned their intention to exercise by writing down when and where they would exercise each week ended up following through. Meanwhile, people who read motivational material about exercise, but did not plan when and where they would exercise, showed no increase compared to the control group. (Graphic by James Clear.)

How to Follow Through With Your Goals

  • Dieters who formulated a plan for when and how they would eat healthier were significantly more likely to eat healthy than those who did not.2
  • People who wrote down when and where they would take their vitamins each day were less likely to miss a day over a five week span than those who did not.3

What to Do When Plans Fall Apart

  • If I haven’t called my mom back by 7pm, then I won’t turn on the TV until I do.
  • If my meeting runs over and I don’t have time to workout this afternoon, then I’ll wake up early tomorrow and run.

Use This Strategy to Achieve Your Goals

If you don’t plan out your behaviors, then you rely on your willpower and motivation to inspire you to act. But if you do plan out when and where you are going to perform a new behavior, your goal has a time and a space to live in the real world. This shift in perspective allows your environment to act as a cue for your new behavior.

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