New Years - Plan to Exercise Consistently

I wish that people would ask me for advice for how to exercise consistently.  I'm actually pretty good at getting exercise.  Eating right is another matter, which is partly why I exercise so much. The following is something I have developed over years and it works for me. I've seen it recommended in other articles about exercise.

1. On Sunday night or Monday morning, I plan my exercise for the week. I try to make a goal for the week, like trying to do X hours of exercise or run Y times and do Z classes. 
2. I then write down what I am planning to do each day of the week to get to that goal. I put it on a calendar or in my planner.
3. When I do what I planned, I circle it (in red) on my calendar and write down how long it was (bike - 30 minutes).  If it didn't get done, I don't do anything.
4. On the following Sunday, I look at what I did and if I reached my  goal.  If not, then I try to determine why not and what could be done the following week to get better results.  Sometimes  I have really bad weeks.   Then  I plan for the following week.

Articles about exercise often tell you to plan your workouts like I do here, but my big difference is circling the workouts that get completed. It's a great visual tool to see what days you have trouble with.    When things go well, its also great to see all the circles on the calendar.

 

I find that having a reasonable weekly goal helps get to the long-term goals.