I awoke at 5am to the sound of rain.
Normally that's a peaceful sound to wake up to. Then I realized why I had woken up: my alarm was buzzing, it was time to run.
Out of bed, into shorts & VFF, and through the door I ghosted into warm, wet darkness.
A 10 minute jog later, I was meeting 3 other runners on the corner of a desolate street. A quick hello, then we set off for an hours run through the lingering blackness.
I tell myself that I would have gotten up and out the door no matter what. A smarter part of me knows that instead I would have turned the alarm off and gone back to sleep.
Having a group of people who I was accountable gave me a boost of willpower.
That is the amazing power of people. A sense of social obligation and accountability, that people are depending on you to be where you said you'd be, and do what you said you'd do.
Embracing accountability can really help you stick to your goals.
Exercise, especially running, can be very social.
Make it social. Many people ignore the social aspect of exercise, maybe because they think it’s not necessary. And it’s not, except if you’re having a hard time forming the habit, making it social can work wonders. It does two things: it makes it more fun (the previous item) and it gives you accountability (the next item). So making it social does two things at once. I’ve already mentioned some social exercise ideas, but a few others: take a class, join a team, join a running club, get a workout partner (or several), get friends at work to exercise with you, create challenges for coworkers or family or friends (or all of them!). That’s just the start — there are thousands of possibilities.