What can 21 days of committing to a routine teach you? A lot! On this episode of the Routine and Things Podcast I’m sharing what I learned from doing my exercise routine for 21 entire days. Tune in!
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Ashley Brown 00:00
[Intro] Routines my absolute favorite word, but you either love them or you hate them. And either way, I strongly believe that routines can be a springboard for improving your home, yourself and your life. I'm Ashley Brown, and this is the Routine and Things Podcast. In each episode, we'll dive into a specific routine or point of view that will move you closer to enjoy life more and more each day. Trust me, you're gonna want to keep listening, because you're well on your way to getting and staying happy.
Ashley Brown 00:46
Hey, and welcome back for another episode of the Routine and Things Podcast. In today's episode, I am going to be sharing what I learned from a 21 day exercise routine. But I want to give you a little bit of a background story as to why I actually wanted to talk about this. I started an exercise routine, probably about some months back. But I wasn't able to stick with it. And it was because of timing. And I realized that I was working out with my girls because I did not want to work in the morning and I didn't want to work at night. So I decided to work out in the afternoon. This was not a very smart idea, because I eventually ended up realizing that it was very difficult, not even very difficult, but it was challenging, a bit challenging to work out with my girls because they want to climb all over me. They're like running around like a hot mess, being kids and so with that being the case, I did not have an effective exercise at the end of it and I started to get really, really frustrated.
Ashley Brown 02:00
So that routine went out the window. When I got back into it and I realized that I wanted to create an exercise routine again and create a different exercise routine with a different time because I knew that this was something that I wanted to do for myself. I love exercising like it's something that helps me be the best version of myself and when I don't exercise I really don't feel like myself because I don't have the energy that I would like. I feel stronger when I exercise. And the really big goal that I want to meet in terms of exercising, why I started the exercise routine was because I wanted to get rid of this kangaroo pouch. Can I be real with you? So I need the stomach to go down because I want to be able to fit into my clothes and look good and so that is why I started exercise routine. But of course like I said the bigger overarching why is because I want to feel more like myself and be the best version of me.
Ashley Brown 02:59
So I started this exercise routine, and I'm super proud of myself. Let me give myself a round of applause because I'm super proud of myself for committing to 21 days of exercise. And you know what, I crushed it. I did my thing, and I made it happen. So, this is something that I want to talk about because I learned some lessons from doing this 21 day exercise routine that I would love to share with you. Because some of the lessons that came out of this really, you know, sparked something in me and really helped to teach me some things about life in general. So, today I want to share those with you.
Ashley Brown 03:39
[Short break] If right now you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, I want you to know you are not alone. Life shows up at times right and in ways that we either were or weren't expecting, that can sometimes throw us into a storm of stress. But I want you to know there is a way out. There are ways to remove the layers of stress in your life that have you weighed down and stuck. If you are feeling paralyzed by the overwhelm, and you don't know where to start, I have something that can help. The Rock Your Routine Training™ is my signature program that teaches you how to create lasting routines step by step so you consistently remove stress from your life and invite in the happiness and peace you desire. This training takes you back to the basics so you build a strong foundation that can weather any storm. Get The Rock Your Routine Training™ today to begin to overcome the overwhelm and get back to enjoying life. To learn more, and to sign up for the training, head to the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 04:41
Alright, so let's get into what I learned from the 21 day exercise routine. So the first thing that I learned is releasing the pressure to be perfect propels you towards your goal. And what I mean by this is I knew going into this routine that it wasn't high stakes, and I was going to do the best I could. So I already knew that, that just do the best you can. And that's going to help, right? Just thinking about it in that way thinking about my routine is something that didn't pose so much pressure for me, but more so, which is something that I was committed to, and I was gonna just do my best with it. And by doing this, I found myself more willing and excited to exercise because I didn't put so much pressure on myself. And instead of I have to exercise right, because sometimes we can say that like I have to do this. I would change my lingo to I want to do this, right. This is something that I choose to do. And just having that slight change is pivotal. I promise you. Going from I have to do something to I want to is a game changer because it just reframes your thinking around the point.
Ashley Brown 06:01
And so that's what I did in terms of my exercise routine. And I exercised for 21 days I did, I exercise for 21 days. Now, let me tell you this, I did have two days off. One day was my birthday and the other day was super duper just out of the ordinary. And I had two days off in this entire 21 days. But I still feel like I crushed my goal because I did. Exercising for 21 days in general and just having two days off. That's amazing to me. I don't know about you, but that's super amazing. And so that is what I learned that's one of the first lessons is to release the pressure. Releasing the pressure to be perfect will propel you towards your goal. So don't put so much pressure on yourself. Do the best you can and that will help you think about what you're doing in a different way.
Ashley Brown 06:59
The second lesson that I learned from this 21 day exercise routine is that committing to being the best version of yourself builds immense confidence. When I was exercising every day, I felt so powerful. Like, I felt stronger, I had more energy. I was like, I can do anything. Even before that, I was like, I can do anything but definitely the exercise routine boosted my confidence even more. And I felt like I couldn't do anything because exercising this many days in a row I had never done before. I had never done as many days as I did straight in exercising and so I was like, you know what, I reached a milestone. And so this made me feel so capable. And I knew I was capable before but with this, it boosted my confidence even more. Meeting your goals, let me say this, meeting your goals moves you towards wanting more. It really does. Meeting your goals moves you towards wanting more and even being more than maybe you thought you could be. It makes you want to move closer and closer to being your best self. And so this is what I learned is that committing to being the best version of yourself builds immense confidence. You feel like you are on top of the world, you feel like you can do anything. And it really gives you momentum to do something else. That's what I love about exercise in general is that exercising for me gives me momentum to do the hard things in life. Like even on days where I did my routine when I didn't want to exercise, even on those days, I had other things I needed to do after and so after I finished exercising, I had the energy to do those things. And so boosting your confidence really creates momentum for you. And that is what I learned.
Ashley Brown 08:58
And so the next thing that I learnedfrom doing a 21 day exercise routine is that help from others is essential to reaching your goals. Like you can't do things alone, if you like you can't do everything alone and many times you can't do many things alone. I don't know if I would have been able to do this without help. Like, I got so much help from my husband. He helped a lot with the girls. And so even on nights when the girls were acting a bit crazy, he was able to deal with that and was like just go exercise and I was still able to exercise so I don't know if I would have been able to or I would have just been exercising super late without his help. So help is super important. Any type of help that you can get is really really helpful. Like even supportive help like my friends were rooting me on. I had posted on Instagram and people were like, good job. And they were like go girl, and all of that supportive, like verbal help was so, so beautiful. It helped me to reach my goals. So help from others, whether that's physical help, verbal help, right, like mental emotional help, all of it matters. And it can propel you towards reaching your goals. And so that is another lesson that I learned is like, accept the help, accept help. Because sometimes we can get offered help and don't want to accept it. And you know, if you're that type of person, so if that's you begin to except the help that you are getting because it can really help you in reaching your goals.
Ashley Brown 10:43
But the last thing that I want to share with you that I've learned from doing a 21 day exercise routine, is that you can do hard things. We can do hard things girl, we can. Some days I didn't want to do my routine. Like I said before, some days I was like I definitely don't want to do this. But I always needed to get myself back on track. But some days, I didn't want to do my routine, I was just wanting to throw in the towel. But in those challenging times, I decided to be the best version of myself. Instead of focusing on what was wrong, or what I did not want to do, I decided to be that woman that I know is like committed to exercise because she knows that it is something that is going to help her be stronger and wiser and energetic and just feel more like yourself. So I made sure that kept in mind that woman, the best version of myself. And so this really helped me to do that.
Ashley Brown 11:54
And so in those challenging times, that's what I did. On those days when I did not want to do my routine for whatever reason that was, my highest self won. My highest self won. Right? Like, that's when you know you have crused your goal, when you're like my highest self won. Like who I want to be won over who I am now. Because sometimes when you're in that space of like, I don't want to do this. That's who you are. But if you think about like, your future self being like "girl, if you don't do this, you know you're gonna be feeling crazy and you're gonna be regretting that you didn't do it." And so listen to your future self. Have conversations with your future self, it can really be helpful. But yes, so that is the last lesson that I learned was that you can do hard things. I can do hard things. And I've always known this because we have gone through hard things, and I know you have. So know that you can do hard things when things get hard when things get challenging. push forward, push forward and lean into it.
Ashley Brown 13:03
So those are the lessons that I learned. And these lessons can be applied to so many different areas of life. It's okay to not be perfect or to not do things perfectly. Release some of the pressure that you put on yourself. You have the choice to do this, okay? Always remember that you have the power to decide what you put on yourself as far as pressure or anything. You have that choice to decide that.
Ashley Brown 13:29
Also commit to being the highest version of you. Who do you want to be or become, reach for that? Know that you can get there, set goals that move you towards that. Think of her when things become challenging and when things get hard.
Ashley Brown 13:50
Also, accept the help. Ask for help if you're not great at asking for help, but if someone offers you help accept it.
Ashley Brown 14:00
And then remember that you can do hard things. You can! You have before and you can now. You can do hard things.
Ashley Brown 14:08
Those are some lessons that I learned and that I continue to think about each and every day. So before we wrap up this episode, and do have some routine work for you this week, and that is to commit to one routine for the next five days. Can you do this? Keep track of doing this routine. After the five days you will see many if not all of these lessons show up for you. I promise you that. I'm here to hold you accountable if you need me to so you can tag me at Routine and Things on Instagram to share which routine you will be committing to so that I can help to hold you accountable. Think about which routine that is going to be for you. Think about which routine will help you be the best version of yourself.Which routine do you need right now in order to be the best version of you and commit to that for the next five days.
Ashley Brown 15:05
Okay, well that's it for this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already. And rate and review as well. I always appreciate your support for the show. Getting reviews really helps this show get noticed. This show is to get noticed for women who need what this show offers. Women who need help with routines and with enjoying life more and with reaching that life that they want and getting there day after day and having that day after day. So reviewing the show does such wonderful things for the world. So if you could do that I would truly truly appreciate it.
Ashley Brown 15:47
Also, be sure to share this show if you know someone who needs what this show offers. And do you know someone that's struggling right now, are super stressed and you think this show would help them. Please send it their way. But until next time, I hope that you are enjoying wherever you are and whatever you're doing, girl. I will talk to you later.
Ashley Brown 16:11
[Outro] Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode could you do me a huge favor and take a screenshot and share it on social and for more routine goodness, be sure to visit routineandthings.com Here's to staying happy!