Dealing with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, or things like compulsive overeating, can make it especially difficult to add or maintain fitness as a regular part of everyday living.
There are little steps you can take to start incorporating motivation and fitness into your life even while struggling with these issues.
The first steps you take will lead to better feelings and more motivation: 1.
Find inspiration around you.
It might sound dull or even simple, but it can be the best first baby step you take.
You can find just about anything inspiring to lift your mood.
Perhaps you admire someone famous and like listening to what they have to say.
Maybe you like watching birds outside your window or looking at them outside.
Or you may even find something on the internet that spurs you to be happier and brightens your day.
Inspiration can come from anything, anywhere, at any time- you simply have to look for it.
2.
Reach for that next happy moment.
Happiness produces more happiness, so each step you take towards it gets easier.
You don't have to start happy to be happy.
You can reach for the next best feeling you can get to, whatever that may be.
Maybe you feel just okay at the moment, or maybe you're near suicidal- whatever state you are in at any given moment, you can reach to that very next feeling and go there.
You can get from that dark place to a bright place simply by allowing yourself to feel something a tiny bit better than before.
3.
Make steps 1 and 2 a daily habit.
Repetition makes things stick in our lives for better or worse.
We can choose to repeat horrible habits that keep us stuck in a rut just as much as we can choose to incorporate healthier habits to keep us happy.
It is that simple.
Even if all you can do is find one inspiring thing per day and find one happier moment per day, that is one more step closer to what you might ultimately like your life to be like.
One step, even a baby step, counts to you gaining motivation and better perspective for your health.
The next steps take you to incorporating exercise into your life with fitness as a life goal: 4.
Realize that not starting today is holding you back from living fully.
Unfortunately, poor consequences often motivate people.
More people hear and pay attention to the "no"'s and negatives than anything else in their lives, as programmed from childhood on.
Every single day you delay is another day out of your life that won't come back, but you can make a decision to start now.
Decisions mean you are in control and empowered.
You have control over your own life and can make changes.
Use your motivation and happiness factor to get yourself to take a first step towards health.
We'll discuss some of those steps next.
5.
Doing some exercise is better than no exercise.
Maybe when you first start exercising it is only 5 minutes per day.
I know, you're saying "Why even bother?" and to that I say "Why not?".
That 5 minutes of exercise gets you that much closer to maybe 6, or 10, or eventually even 20.
These are baby steps, so take the baby step of committing to five minutes per day of some form of physical activity.
The great thing about 5 minutes is that you can rationalize with yourself that 5 minutes out of 24 hours in a day is so small that it's hilarious not to do it each day.
Make yourself laugh out loud if you even think for one moment about not doing your daily 5 minutes of exercise.
6.
Allow yourself the compassion to nurture, like, and even love yourself.
This may be the toughest baby step of all, but the process can be done in many, many baby steps over time.
Making fitness part of your life goals means caring enough about you to give that gift to yourself.
People void of self-love and full of self-loathing on some level often indulge in self-destructive behaviors, slip into a depression cycle, or continue a path of behavior that reinforces feeling bad about themselves.
You deserve to allow yourself the understanding and nurturing that liking and loving yourself brings.
The only opinion of yourself that should count is your own and taking steps to ensure your opinion is beneficial is key.
Think of exercise as a way to treat your body to what it deserves- the right to operate at optimal efficiency so you can live the like you want.
So let's recap.
The 6 little steps beyond depression to better health are: 1.
Find inspiration everywhere.
2.
Reach for your next best feeling.
3.
Make those 2 steps a daily habit.
4.
Start things now.
5.
5 Minutes of exercise daily.
6.
Nurture, like and love yourself- you deserve it! Follow these 6 little steps and begin to see changes happen over time, one step at a time is key.
Don't concern yourself with what others are doing for their fitness only and unless it inspires you to keep going.
Guilt and unhappiness are not part of your journey when you incorporate these steps into your life.
Live your happiest life and be well with these little daily steps.
Any opinions expressed in this article are from a layperson and are meant as a spiritual approach to health concerns.
Nothing contained in this article is meant to be used as medical advice or to replace any medical treatment.
You should always seek the attention of a qualified medical doctor for your medical needs.
(c) 2010 Andrea Mucci.
All Rights Reserved.