Between her work in tech and taking care of her daughter, exercise can (understandably) become an afterthought for my client B. Yet, she’s managed to bent yoga into a solid habit. Strength training though, is still relatively new for her.
It’s not uncommon for B to slam shut the laptop late at night and then have a willpower-depleted, tiredness-infused battle between Apple TV and a strength workout. A battle that doesn’t always end with a workout.
A systematical thinker that she is, B looked at what’s worked with the yoga habit and whether she could copy/paste it for her strength workouts.
What she dug out was a trigger. Every morning, when her daughter heads off to school, B’s trigger for yoga kicks in:
The kid leaves for school (trigger) -> I do yoga (habit)
So, she came up with a trigger for her strength session around her daughter’s bedtime:
The kid’s about to go to bed (trigger) –> I do a strength workout
The benefit of this trigger goes way beyond just B’s health. B also sets an excellent example for her daughter. When her daughter comes to say good night, she sees mum doing a workout. Instead of going to bed watching mum slay on the computer.
For me, as someone who grew up watching my dad do ab crunches and push ups on the bedroom floor, this shit matters.
-J