I work 60+ hours a week between my full-time job, a part-time job and my website. When I first started this hectic schedule, I let myself believe that I had no time to workout regularly anymore.

I was too tired, too sore, and too busy.

Sound familiar?

Well, here’s the good news: You CAN workout regularly. There are just a few things you need to do.

I’ve broken down steps for you, but if you need a little extra help, I gotchu! I made a FREE Motivational Workout Journal that helps you go through my three steps: 1) Finding a clear “Why” 2) Plan ahead 3) Beat your excuses. You can grab that here.

1) Get Clear On Why

When I started working out and eating right, my motivation was because I didn’t like the way I looked. Every time I looked in the mirror, it would bring on a depression that was hard to shake.

So, I started strong! That first week I planned out my workouts, got my outfits picked out and crushed it…

Then the second week came and I gave up completely.

I was doing so great! I couldn’t figure out why I lost motivation. I was tired and it was like I just didn’t care anymore.

My motivation to keep going wasn’t there. My “why” wasn’t strong enough.

It wasn’t until I sat down and actually got DEEP and figured out why I wanted to work out. My surface-level answer was “I want to look skinny so people will compliment me”. But it wasn’t until I got to the root of my “why” that I was truly motivated to keep going.

After going through the steps I share below, I found out my deep “why”.

steps to find your deeper why

1. Write your surface-level answer. Ask yourself “Why do I want to work out?” and write the first reason.
2. After you write your surface-level answer. Ask yourself, “Well why do I want that?”
3. Repeat step two as many times as you need to get to the rawest, and the real reason why you want to workout regularly.

Keep asking yourself “Why?” over and over again until you get to a point where you can’t ask anymore. You may be surprised by what you learn!

Please don’t skip this! This step is SO important to do; it’s the key to start being able to workout regularly.

2) Plan Ahead

Think back to the last doctor’s appointment you had. What happens when you don’t show up for your appointment? It takes forever to reschedule and sometimes you get charged, right?

So what do you do? You go. You don’t let yourself come up with an excuse. You know it’s important and you don’t want to suffer the consequence!.

If you treat working out like an appointment you can’t miss, you’ll be more likely to actually do it!

Since I work so much in different places, I HAVE to make sure it’s planned in advance and in my calendar.

Tips For Planning Your Workouts

1. On Sunday, pull out your calendar and take a look at your week. Decide if working out in the mornings or evenings will be easier. Then plug your workouts in just like you would an appointment. Seeing all of these in this format will be a way to visualize what your week looks like with workouts scheduled.
2. Every night that week, get as much prepped for the next day as possible. Like any meals and lay out your workout clothes. Take time to list out all your to-do’s so you’re not worried about it in the morning.
3. On a monthly calendar, track the workouts you’ve completed. Compare what you’ve done with what you planned for, what went right? What can you make better next week?

You can use the Workout Motivation Journal you just downloaded to plan and track your workouts. Knowing when you’re going to workout will help you do it regularly.

3)Beat the Excuses

I know you know the benefits of workouts and regular exercise. I won’t waste your time by listing out the hundreds of reasons why exercise is vital to a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Even though this is common knowledge, I also know that excuses can be a powerful de-motivator.

Isn’t it interesting how we can convince ourselves over and over that we aren’t able to do something that’s vital for our health?

If you want to beat the excuse, you’ve got to have an action plan

My two main excuses for not working out were almost always: 1) I’m too tired 2) I don’t have enough time.

I let these excuses rule me. But I’m able to get past them because I always do these steps

Steps to Beat Your Excuses

1. List every possible excuse you can come up with.
2. Write two actions that you’ll do at the moment to overcome. (or another option: write down two reasons these are crap excuses)

Here’s what mine looked like:

• “I’m too tired”: 1) This is a crap excuse because working out will actually energize me. 2) My action is to start with extra stretches to wake my body and to prep it for exercise.
• “I don’t have enough time”: 1) This is a crap excuse because if this is a priority, then I will find the time. 2) My action is to plan ahead so I can fit working out into my schedule.

One last thing to remember…

If you’re about to give in to an excuse, I want you to think to yourself, “Will I regret listening to this excuse later? Or will I be happy I didn’t workout?”

This is a great way to think past the in-the-moment excuse. Like, if you said you were too tired to workout, but tomorrow you’d regret not doing it. That’s a good sign that you should.

What about you?

Do you have a hard time trying to workout regularly? What can you implement TODAY to start your new habit? Let me know in the comments below!

And if you want to add working out regularly to your year make sure to download my FREE Plan Your Year Guide. 

This guide will walk you through how to plan your best year yet (even if it’s not January). 💚

xo,

Monica

P.S looking for more workout tips? Check out this and this.

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