Art Walk Anyone?

Some of us just love running or lifting weights or swimming or dancing or whatever it is that we do for exercise.  The rest of us need a little extra motivation.  One technique that works for some folks is called Premacking (Premack is the guy who made up the term.  Modest fellow.).  Another term for it might be “bribery,” but of a specific kind.  Most of us would work out for cupcakes, but that might not exactly accomplish our goals.

Premacking involves tying something we enjoy, like getting coffee with a friend, to something we need to do, like walking.  We make a deal with ourselves that we can go for coffee as long as we walk there.  Other possible combinations might include podcasts and cardio machines, swimming and hot-tubbing, family time and ice skating.  The key is to piggyback what we need to do on something we want to do anyway without simply canceling out the gain with the reward.

Be creative!  And maybe go stroll down Christmas Tree Lane with a special someone!