For week2 of Motivate2ACTION! (Exercise) we have a special guest.  He is currently training for a marathon so this subject is particularly fresh on his mind.  So let me hand this over to him as he shares some of his own insight into the great challenges of exercise motivation.

This is a guest post from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.

My life right now is focused on training for the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 14, and while my training has been more intense than ever before, I am having a ton of fun.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 2 a.m. to start running at 3 a.m., so that I could complete a 20-mile long run before the brutal Guam sun got too high in the sky. That in itself was quite an accomplishment — and while I’ve come a long way as a runner and fitness enthusiast, it was just a few short years ago that I couldn’t run half a mile.

The Leo Babauta of three years ago would never have believed he could do a 20-mile training run, much less be training to complete his third marathon. Life was too busy, with two jobs and six kids, and such discipline seemed beyond me at the time.

But today, I exercise almost every day of the week (I force myself to rest once a week), and what’s more, I can’t imagine ever doing otherwise. I love it too much. I know that’s not the case with everyone, so I’d like to share some tips that have helped me to motivate myself to exercise:

1. Start small. As I said, I started by trying to run half a mile. That was hard enough for me. If you start out too ambitious (and believe me, I’ve tried it many times), you’ll likely fail. But if you start small and only increase gradually, you can do it. Baby steps.  Start out REALLY easy.

2. Focus on one goal. If you are trying to quit smoking, eat healthy, start running, begin lifting weights, get organized, and so on, all at the same time, you will spread your energies out too much. Trust me –

I’ve done this over and over again. Instead, pick one goal, and focus on that for at least a month. If you want to start running, or walking, or whatever, do just that. The other stuff can come later. And if you do one goal at a time, you’ll be amazed at how many goals you can tackle this way. I tackled all of the goals listed above, and many more, in the last few years with this method.

3. Enjoy yourself. If exercise is a huge pain, you won’t be able to do it for very long. No matter how disciplined you try to be. Instead, have fun. Set little challenges for yourself. Listen to great music.

Have great conversation with a friend. Play games. Have competitions. Join a race. Exercise doesn’t have to be a chore — it can be a blast!

4. Get a partner. While it can be tough to have a partner for every workout, it can be a great motivator to have someone to talk to while you run or do some other workout. And on those days when you would

have skipped the workout by yourself, you’ll make sure to make an appointment if you have a partner to meet.

5. Just start. I like to tell myself that all I have to do is lace up my shoes and get out the door. That’s all. And that isn’t very hard. Once I’ve done that, the rest is easy. But if you let yourself get stalled before you get started, it seems too difficult. Just get out the door.

6. Celebrate your progress. If you keep a log, you can see your progress over time. You have to be patient, because progress doesn’t always come quickly, but if you look back over several weeks or

months, you can see how far you’ve come. And that can be an amazing feeling. Celebrate! Congratulate yourself. Appreciate how wonderful this is.

7. Mix it up. Don’t always do the same thing all the time. Try new workouts you find in magazines or blogs. Try a training plan with a variety of workouts. Set new challenges. Try a new route. Vary your

pace and distance. Do intervals. Do hills. Whatever it takes to shake things up and make things interesting. Boredom is the enemy of motivation.

Above all, have fun out there. A good workout can be a world of joy.

For more from Leo Babauta, check out his blog, Zen Habits

Sponsor Leo and support a great cause!

As you may already know, Leo is working with Train for Humanity to help in “Raising funds for orphans & refugees who have been affected by genocide and civil war.”

Right now he is training for the Honolulu Marathon for his ‘Train for Humanity’ event.  You can support him and this great cause by going to his Sponsor Page and making a donation.  You can also help out by spreading the word and encouraging others to do the same.

Now I want to encourage you to apply some of these great tips as you strive for better health by finding an exercise routine (or not so routine) that works for you.  This week, test out some new ideas and be ready to share the results with us in ‘M2A! Week3′. I look forward to hearing all about it!

If you found this post to be helpful in your exercise pursuits and/or you think others may be able to benefit from Leo’s personal insight, please don’t hesitate to share it using your favorite social media.