Would you stop brushing your teeth because you’re too busy?
Would you stop paying your bills because you’ve got better things to do?
Are you going to quit working because you hate the commute?
Like it or not, all these things are non-negotiable.
You brush your teeth because they would rot if you neglected them. You pay your bills to keep the lights on. You go to work to earn a living.
Making exercise non-negotiable
I don’t have to tell you about all the amazing benefits of exercise. We all know that exercising on a regular basis will improve our health, physical fitness, and psychological wellbeing.
The opposite is also true—not exercising can lead to fatigue, weight gain, orthopedic problems, cardiorespiratory issues, and accelerated aging.
Exercise is the “magic pill” that makes our lives better.
So why isn’t it a non-negotiable aspect of our lives?
Perhaps the reason we view exercise as optional is that we don’t get immediate negative consequences from not working out. We won't develop high blood pressure tomorrow from skipping today’s workout. We don’t get fat overnight.
The fact that the benefits of exercise show up sometime in the future gives many of us the illusion that it’s ok to put it off.
It’s not.
Knowing what we know about the benefits of exercise, we should all develop our own individual strategy for making it a habit. Making exercise a non-negotiable part of your life will make it much harder for you to talk yourself out of doing it.
Once you’ve set it in your mind that you’re going to exercise no matter what life throws your way, you’ll begin to reap the many incredible benefits of a fit lifestyle.