Know thyself

I was reading an article this weekend on developing an exercise routine and was struck the 11 simple questions it directed the reader to ask themselves:

1. Are you a morning person or a night person?

2. Would you like to spend more time in nature?

3. Would you like more time in solitude; or more time with friends; or more time to meet new people?

4. Are you motivated by competition?

5. Do you enjoy loud music?

6. Do you do better with some form of external accountability, or does that just annoy you?

7. Would you like to challenge yourself with exercise (whether by learning a new skill or pushing yourself physically)–or not?

8. Do you like sports and games?

9. Would you like more meditative time, or more time to watch TV, read newspapers, etc?

10. Do you have a lot of control over your time?

11. Are you sensitive to weather?

Want an Exercise Routine You'll Stick To? Ask Yourself These 11 Questions | The Happiness Project

Asking these simple questions helped me understand why many of my best intended exercise scenarios never last.  I have a couple of friends that have succeeded at adding fitness into their lives.  One is motivated by the outcome, a longer healthy life. She seems to vary her routine so that she can get snatches of exercise wherever she is. Sometimes she works with a trainer, sometimes she does Zumba, and whenever possible she takes long hikes alone in nature. The other friend seems to be motivated to be more social. She seems to truly enjoy the relationship she has with her trainer. I often hear her gathering people together for a hike, ski, or bike ride. Both friends have an autonomy over their schedule that I lack.

Last summer I bought myself a Striiv pedometer and committed to walk 10,000 steps a day. It was easy at first because my summer lifestyle allowed for a time to walk the dog in the morning and at night, my kid-related driving is much reduced, and I enjoyed walking to work. This worked well for me for almost seven months. When everyone returned to school, I was able to park my car far from my office and also walked mid-day.  In January, my community experienced one of the worst bad air inversions of my time living here. I found that the only way I could keep myself indoors was to take off my pedometer and put my routine on a hiatus.

This led me to try out a “No Dumbbell Required” required workout in my office, purchase a $15 rower at the thrift store, and do some cross-country skiing. None of this worked quite as well as my beloved walks. I found that the rower and exercises were hard on my knees.  And, while I liked the skiing, my boots still gave me blisters.  As March nears, I hope that the bad air clears and that I can return to my normal routine. 

So, how does all of this lead to knowing thyself? I think the point of the questions from the Happiness Project was to be realistic. Finding a routine involves fitting it into an already established lifestyle, not the other way around.  Small changes are much easier to adopt and live with. I can’t make myself into something I’m not, but I can work with what I have.