These tips can motivate you to walk every day!
We all know that the daily habit of walking is worth following for its physical and mental health benefits. You’ve probably heard the advice to schedule your walks on your calendar or to take off your sneakers the night before. Maybe you’ve tried sleeping in your walking clothes, so you have no excuse to skip the morning walk. But sometimes, despite all our good intentions, walking out the door for a walk can seem close to impossible. To boost motivation when you’re not feeling it, try changing your mindset with these expert-approved hacks.
BARGAIN WITH YOURSELF
- The only 10 minute rule
“Tell yourself you only need to walk for 10 minutes,” says psychotherapist Amy Morin. “If you don’t want to continue, you can quit. Most of the time, you’ll choose to continue. Getting started is often the hardest part.”
- Try the mini challenge
“Set a small challenge for yourself each week, such as walking 5 minutes more than the previous day,” says psychotherapist Kelly Keck. You can also try adding 1000 more steps to your day.
Another great option: “Challenge your friends to see who can take more daily steps, as responsibility is such a huge motivator. When you start small with achievable earnings, you’ll feel more empowered to reach bigger goals.”
- Encourage action
Instead of thinking of your walking as a workout, think of it as moving your body. “Telling yourself to move today seems like less pressure than telling yourself to take a long walk,” explains psychologist Susan Masterson. “Only ‘acting’ is something you can build on and does not have the connotation of success-failure.” she says.
MAKE YOUR WALK A REWARD
- Your reward should be walking
Instead of thinking of walking as something you have to do, change your language and think of it as a reward. “Try ‘I’m going for a walk’ instead of ‘I have to go for a walk,'” says Karin Cleary, PhD, a licensed psychologist.
This works especially well if you use walking as a way to reward yourself for a productive block of work. Plan to work for a certain amount of time, then take a break and go for a walk. Doing so can help boost your creativity and productivity at work later on.
- Combine with another reward
“One of the things that gets me on a long walk is combining it with an activity I really want to do, especially when I’m not in the mood and just want to eat on the couch,” says personal trainer Jonathan Jordan. says .
“For example, I will use it as an opportunity to talk to my best friend or my mother on the phone, or I will make my destination a place I love.” This could be your favorite coffee shop or bookstore, for example.
MAKE IT PERMANENT
- Benefit from your regular habits
Just combine it with a regular habit of 20 days. The rest will come automatically. If you’re constantly struggling to go for a walk, it may help to make your walking another habit that you don’t struggle with.
“If you’re doing the same thing every day, like eating breakfast, try walking right before or right after,” says health coach Leeann Rybakov. “Pairing it with something you already do will make the habit stick.”
- remember
Remind yourself what happened the last time you felt this way, but decided to move on and take a walk, says Evan Lawrence, a certified personal trainer. “How did you feel afterwards? You finally felt great! And you were so happy you did it. You’ve done it before, you can do it again.”
