We’re all busy. No one (that I know of) just has a whole bunch of hours free each week to plan out their meals, batch cook healthy foods or get to the gym.

And yet, doing those things is the only way that we’re going to create the health, confidence, energy and happiness that we so desire.

So, since it’s unlikely that some magic team of assistants is going to be showing up any time soon to help us juggle all this stuff, how do we do it? How, in this crazy busy life of ours, do we find the time and stay consistent with eating right, making time for self-care, and exercising?

Well, I wanted to share with you three straight-forward exercises I recommend and do with my clients to help them with exactly this problem:

Exercise #1 – Write down your “why.”

Simon Sinek, in his best-selling book, Start With Why, showed us that almost every big company that has been successful and stood the test of time has had, at the foundation of its success, a clear and compelling “why.”

The truth is that we aren’t motivated by WHAT we need to do, we’re motivated by the reasons WHY we’re doing it. So, remind yourself of those.

Why do you want to lose the weight? Why do you want to have more energy? Why do you want to stay healthy long into your old age? Why do you want to meditate or take time for self-care? What would doing those things mean for your life? Why is any of that important? Sit down with a journal or piece of paper and write out the answers to these questions.

Exercise #2 – Track where you spend your time now.

Make a chart. Days of the week along the top and hours of the day along the side. Spend seven days writing down exactly where you spend your time now. I promise you that (if you’re honest) this will be an eye-opening exercise.

Once you finish the full seven days of tracking, look back and notice where you could cut things or be more efficient with your time.

Figure out where in that schedule of the week you could make time for:

• 30 min a week meal planning
• 3 hours a week batch cooking/prep
• 3 hours a week (six 30min chunks) of movement
• 3 hours a week of self-care (doing something that you love)
• 15 min a day of meditation

Create a new chart and put these new activities in where you’re going to make time for them.

Exercise #3 – Visualize it as already your life

I want to let you in on a little secret: your brain is good at a lot of things, but one area of weakness it has is in discerning the difference between what’s really going on and what you only believe or imagine.

In fact, your brain is so easily convinced by your imagination, that it actually starts to direct your body to respond to what it’s imagining, or what it believes to be true. This is why the placebo effect in drug trials is so powerful, and why we sometimes leap out of our seats with hearts pounding during a scary movie. If you can visualize it and if you can believe that it’s possible, then your brain and body will start acting as if it is.

For this exercise, I want you to sit down and think about this healthy life you’re creating. Imagine that you already live that way. You already make time for planning healthy meals, batch cooking, exercise, meditation and self care and you’re reaping all the benefits that come with living that lifestyle. What does a day in that life look like? How does it feel? Who are you now?

If you work with this powerful practice of visualization on a daily basis for a while (5 – 10 min a day is enough), you’ll start to notice that you feel pulled towards the healthier habits that are more consistent with that vision that you’ve been working with. Your brain will start to direct your body to respond to what it’s imagining, or what it believes to be true.

That’s it! Three simple exercises that you can start playing with today that will help you find the time to create a healthier lifestyle, and stay consistent with it.

Remember, we don’t “find” the time; we MAKE the time.

I hope that you’ll give these exercises a go with a mindset of being open and excited about trying a new approach.

There’s an old saying that goes, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” Give these three exercises a try and let me know how it goes!

If you want even more tips and strategies to help you out, join me for a free 5-day challenge I’m starting on September 21. Each day of the challenge you’ll receive an email with another simple exercise you can experiment with that day to help you magnify your motivation and supercharge your willpower. Sign up here! I’d love to have you join us!