Day Two: Establishing Structure

I'm a full time student.

Every semester, my entire world changes. The schedule that I keep revolves around when classes are offered and my personal responsibilities for the care of our children. What that means is that every four months or so, I go through a huge adjustment of trying to figure out where my workout will be, when I'll study, when I attend class, when I work, and when I'm just good-old-mommy.

Some of you are just like me.

Before my return to school, I was in the professional workforce. Twelve hours away from home daily was not uncommon, and therefore there were lots of demands on my time when I got home. I worked out each night after my children went to sleep, because then it worked the best for my schedule.

Some of you travel. Others are single parents. Every single one of us has responsibilities that require our attention and priority.

Establishing a structure that works for you is critical to whether or not you'll be successful in the new year. So many times, we leave our workout for our leftover time. We give everything else the attention that it deserves. If other activities run over into the time we have set aside for exercise, we justify and accept that it's going to happen and resolve to work out on our day off.

That works for one who's seasoned, one who's fit and has maintained priority in their life for exercise for a significant period of time. Someone who's been doing this for a long time understands that flexibility is important. They actually work out on their day off instead of going out on a pizza and beer date to watch the game. They sacrifice, they change up their schedule. They make appropriate adjustments.

For someone who hasn't exercised regularly in a long time, this is one of the biggest causes of becoming derailed.

I challenge you to establish structure, placing your daily workout at the top of your list. Actually write down your daily routine, thinking through when you'll have enough time for the workout, including the hot shower afterwards. Place this somewhere where you'll see it until you've gotten the hang of it. When things come up, I challenge you to NOT diminish your workout time, but find other ways each day of incorporating the activity while still getting-in every minute of your workout.

Flexibility will come later. For now, in the beginning, it's all about establishing structure.