Dawn Behm

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Need to Approach Movement in a NEW Way?

Dawn Behm

Ten steps to create the habit of exercise from a supportive growth mindset.

  1. Check in with where you ARE.  Notice, get curious.  What feels off?  What small shift might benefit right now? Is the body feeling sluggish, lethargic and less than strong?  

  2. Recognize that movement and strength building would be a helpful healthy habit to FEEL BETTER.

  3. Ask more questions.  What sounds delicious in terms of movement?   What have you been interested in doing and have been putting off?  Is it biking?  Yoga? Dancing? Rowing? Hiking? Running?

  4. Decide what you want to add to your life to increase movement and strength.

  5. Create space and time for baby steps toward more movement.  

  6. As you get going, celebrate the small stuff.  The baby steps.  Take a pulse each week on how you’ve succeeded.  Then you will get excited to continue and add a bit more.  

  7. Wondering what you do if you had a “failure” week and didn’t do your movement!?

  8. Get curious and ask: “What can I learn from this?”  “Why didn’t it work out?”

  9. Then you can Tweak it and THAT becomes your success.  

  10. Rinse and repeat frequently. :)

A few thoughts to encourage you as you step out.

  1. Do not use the word exercise if it’s a dirty word for you!  What is the PURPOSE of the exercise?  FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO FEEL AND CREATE. It’s not about doing exercise because we should exercise and can check off that box.  

  2. Toss out all-or-nothing thinking.  It’s not super helpful.  Instead, embrace curiosity, interest and creativity.  

  3. Baby steps MEAN baby steps.  I am dead serious when I tell you that 3 minutes is long enough to start any new habit.  You may not feel like it’s enough, but it IS.  It creates muscle memory and is easier to say YES to.  The more successes you have, the more you look forward to doing more next time. The more you BELIEVE YOU CAN.  

  4. Doing a habit daily is a great long-term goal.  The mindset shift is in what you say to yourself after a day when you DIDN’T do it.  Recognize you got off the wagon without judging yourself.  Choose to get up and do it the next opportunity.  Always begin again, begin anew. Fresh starts are awesome. And get curious about what derailed you. Is it something you can learn from and shift bit by bit?