When is the perfect time to start working out?
Most would say January 1st. New Year, New Me.
But it’s cold and dark outside. Most of the time kids are still on break, and everyone is still recovering from the stress of holidays.
What about after the SuperBowl?
A lot of people like that as a kick-off point. It gives you a couple of weeks to ease into the New Year, and have one last “big” weekend before starting up on Monday.
But then you have St. Paddy’s Day and Spring Break on the horizon.
After Spring Break for sure then. Still gives you plenty of time to get ready for summer.
But you need a couple of days/weeks to get back into routine after your trip, and end of school year activities are picking up, and Memorial Day seems like a better starting point.
Memorial Day comes and you realize that now you need to get acclimated to your summer schedule. More activities, parties on the weekend, upcoming vacations. It’s not the perfect time.
That takes us to September as the kids are getting back to school. We tell ourselves once we get this new schedule down, it’s officially time to get moving and groovin’.
But we have Labor Day, juggling fall activities with kid’s pick up and drop-off, and work is still a thing.
November 1st then. We will get a jumpstart on our New Year’s resolutions, and have a ton of momentum already built before starting our resolutions.
But it’s the holiday season. Holiday party after holiday party, vacations, kids on break, and normal work make it impossible.
That takes us back to January 1st…
There will never be a perfect time to start. Even if the stars do align for a short period, something is always on the horizon.
Vacation, work, travel, holidays, parties, events.
There’s always a reason not to start. So why not now?
“I want to make sure I get to the gym (insert amount of times per week)”
Are we letting perfection get in the way of starting?
I guarantee one day a week of some sort of exercise is better than nothing at all. Whatever that is for you, walking, taking a class, going to the gym, you will be better off doing something than nothing.
And that’s your entry point. That’s our starting line.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it better than nothing? Absolutely.
The beauty of that one day a week? It starts building a pattern and routine.
Once that becomes a constant in your life, adding a second doesn’t seem so hard.
Going for an extra walk doesn’t feel like as much of a chore.
6 months from now, you start looking forward to your workouts. It’s your time. You are the priority.
Fitness routines aren’t built in one fell swoop.
They are built when you decide to make one change, however big or small.
Then follow through on that, week after week, until it’s part of your routine. Just like work, picking up the kids, or walking the dog.
The answer to when is the perfect time to start? There isn’t one. Life will always be there.
So if not now, then when?
