Whether we like it or not, our bodies need regular vigorous exercise, and when we don't get enough of it, it makes us feel less well and less happy. It is our natural state to be active and energetic and we should feel really good. Inactivity or a sedentary lifestyle prevents that along with a flabby, weak, out of shape body.

The bottom line is that somehow you will have to learn how to love exercise and look forward to it rather than dreading it. If you don't you will always be having a constant battle with yourself and then there is no winner. It takes some people longer than others to get to the point where it is an important part of your life. All good things take time and as exercise becomes more of a regular habit, you will start to reap the benefits and feel fitter, more energetic and you will enjoy the fact that exercise "makes you feel good". You might even feel bad if you should miss an exercise session and when you reach that point you are "there".

You will gradually feel like being more active every day even wanting to be more active on your weekends or on holidays instead of lazing around. Can you see yourself as this active energetic person? Is it possible to unleash the inner athlete that is waiting inside you waiting to bust out?

It is well known that vigorous activity results in many physical benefits, increased strength, improved metabolism, weight loss, improved stamina, increased lifespan and improvement in the operating efficiency of every system and body process. Less known is the fact that a proper exercise program not only strengthens the body but also strengthens the mind, preparing it to accept and overcome the ups, downs and challenges of our busy stressful modern day lives.

So, why does exercise seem great until we actually have to get stuck in and do it?

Perhaps you think it is lack of your personal motivation that makes it so hard to get started. Some of us think that if we wait long enough someday we will wake up and finally want to exercise and that it will be easy to get ourselves going.

Rather than believe in that fantasy, the reality is that motivation is something we create for ourselves, not something that we wait for to appear. What motivates each of us changes from day to day - what got us moving today may not have any effect tomorrow.

It can mean we have to dig deep, to find that thing, maybe a thought, a mood, a feeling, a goal or reward that gets us going. And this can change throughout our lives as our needs, desires and wants change along with the number of years we clock up.

When you persevere and exercise consistently it does get easier as you gradually fill your motivational stores. As you begin to understand what makes you tick, what gets you moving and what works for you. The more you practice, the better you will get until suddenly you realize that it is your actions are what generates that feeling you have been searching for - motivation. And it all falls into place.

The secret is the habit you have formed as you have slowly added week by week a consistent and regular exercise session that makes you feel good inside. Hang on to this feeling as it is an opportunity to distress and re-center yourself a couple of times per week. A chance to calm and soothe yourself inside, letting the "feel good" hormones wash away the challenges of our busy, sometimes stressful lives.

Every bit of your focus should be on establishing this habit. Forget weight loss and forget any results. If you are successful in forming the habit of exercise you will receive all the results you could every wish for this year, next year and all of the years after that. Without this habit, you have nothing, no results, no rewards, no pleasure, just failure and frustration and the thought of having to start over again.

Just as we can end up with a habit of being inactive, we can also end up with a habit of being a healthy, vibrant energetic person. Which one do you choose?