Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to bribe yourself to exercise by making
Speaker 1: exercise your ticket to an experience you do enjoy. When
Speaker 1: I talk with people about what they'd like to spend
Speaker 1: more time doing, exercise comes up a lot. We know
Speaker 1: we should be doing it, but well, in the moment,
Speaker 1: other things can feel more appealing. Our future selves will
Speaker 1: be happy we exercised. Unfortunately, our current experiencing selves are
Speaker 1: the ones who have to power through the workout, and
Speaker 1: our experiencing selves can resent this division of labor. The
Speaker 1: best way to solve this problem is to bribe your
Speaker 1: current experiencing self as a way to compensate her for
Speaker 1: making the right choice. In a previous episode, I described
Speaker 1: the concept of temptation Bundlett. This means making something you
Speaker 1: should do more attractive by pairing it with something you
Speaker 1: want to do. When researcher Katie Milkman paired going to
Speaker 1: the gym with listening to an engrossing audio book, participants
Speaker 1: in her study suddenly wanted to go to the gym
Speaker 1: a lot more often. Basically, they were bribing themselves. Go exercise,
Speaker 1: and you get to find out what happens next. If
Speaker 1: you've got particular styles of audio books you love, you
Speaker 1: can bribe yourself the same way. You only get to
Speaker 1: listen to your mysteries while you're on the treadmill. As
Speaker 1: I've been doing a research study for my new book,
Speaker 1: Tranquility by Tuesday, a number of participants have reported that
Speaker 1: they listen to podcasts while they exercise. Want to laugh
Speaker 1: along with wait, wait, don't tell me awesome? You just
Speaker 1: need to be walking or running all that happens. If
Speaker 1: you exercise outside, you can listen to an audiobook or
Speaker 1: podcast through just one earbud to leave your other ear
Speaker 1: free to hear traffic or other sounds in your environment. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe you are not a fan of audiobooks. I hope
Speaker 1: you're a fan of podcasts, But maybe you do like
Speaker 1: to watch TV. This suggests a great way to bribe yourself.
Speaker 1: You are not going to watch TV, or at least
Speaker 1: you're not going to watch a certain favorite show except
Speaker 1: while you're exercising. Maybe there's a TV near your treadmill
Speaker 1: at home. Years ago, when I lived in an apartment
Speaker 1: building with a fitness center, I'd time my workouts for
Speaker 1: four PM, when I could go watch the Oprah Winfrey
Speaker 1: Show which was on. Then suddenly running for fifty minutes
Speaker 1: felt a lot more attractive. For many people, the best
Speaker 1: way to bribe yourself to exercise is to get an
Speaker 1: exercise partner. Theoretically, this is for the accountability, but it's
Speaker 1: far more fun if hanging out with your exercise buddy
Speaker 1: would be an actual highlight of your day. Let's put
Speaker 1: it this way, if you don't like to exercise, find
Speaker 1: an exercise buddy you like a lot. You'll be more
Speaker 1: willing to go for a runner a walk if you
Speaker 1: get to chat with a close friend at the same time.
Speaker 1: Just be sure to choose someone with a compatible schedule
Speaker 1: and exercise approach. If you are running eleven minute miles,
Speaker 1: don't go for someone who was a Division one track
Speaker 1: star in college. Common sense here. I like to think
Speaker 1: that I like exercise for its own sake, but as
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this episode, I realized that there
Speaker 1: is a bribe involved for me too. I love quiet,
Speaker 1: and in a house with five kids and a dog,
Speaker 1: quiet can be hard to find. For me. Running is
Speaker 1: a precious opportunity for thought and reflection or just zoning out.
Speaker 1: When I need a break from the bustle of my
Speaker 1: house or want to chew on an idea without interruptions,
Speaker 1: I go run. Trust me, I was a really dedicated
Speaker 1: runner during those early days of the pandemic. When everyone
Speaker 1: was in the house, it was my chance to get out.
Speaker 1: So if you are trying to exercise more, try making
Speaker 1: exercise your ticket to something that is attractive to you,
Speaker 1: like an audiobook or podcast, a TV show, time with
Speaker 1: a friend, or even time alone. When exercise gets you
Speaker 1: something you want, you will be a lot more willing
Speaker 1: to do it. In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
Speaker 1: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast p
Speaker 1: o D. You can also shoot me an email at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. That
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For more
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