The purpose of this quiz is to help you determine if focusing on this area of your health is right for this season of your life. One of the hardest questions clients have tried to answer is “how do I determine what to start with?” because when it comes to getting healthier, there is so much to consider which makes it so easy to become overwhelmed and even start to shut down (and risk never starting at all!) I have come up with a series of questions to answer that will help you decide if exercise, nutrition, maintenance or stress management is the right focus for your current season of life. We’ll use a “red light, green light!” method to determine if that specific focus is where your focus could or should be.  Lots of “green lights” means go for it! Lots of “red lights” means you might want to consider starting somewhere else. And if you get a mix of both, you can choose whether you want to start there or maybe focus on something else. I advise you to pay attention to any feelings of overwhelm and indecisiveness because this can be an indication that you may not feel confident enough yet to tackle that focus. If you are truly unsure of how you want to answer, ditch it and move onto a different focus questionnaire; you may not even be in the headspace to address this area of your health right now and that’s okay!

 

How to score each focus season quiz: 

1 or 2 “Green Lights” = not a recommended focus to start with.

3 “Green Lights” = this is a possible focus to start with. 

4 or 5 “Green Lights” = this is a great focus to start with.

 

You can always take another quiz to see if it scores more green lights. If another quiz scores more, start with that one and place this season as the “runner up” focus (the next one you’ll tackle!)

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QUESTION 1: What will this require of me?

 

Setting aside time each day to exercise. This does not mean you have to plan for hours per day. The amount of time required will depend on where you plan to exercise. If you enjoy being home and can motivate yourself and hold yourself accountable, you can plan for less time because you won’t have to drive to a fitness center, won’t need a sitter, and won’t need to worry about risking someone else using equipment you need. This could look minimally like 20 minutes and take as long as you’d like. Alternatively (if you’re like me), if you need to get out of the house to benefit from other people’s energy, enjoy the social atmosphere or if you know you don’t put in as much effort when you’re home, then you’ll need to plan for more time. This will depend on your commute time plus a minimum of a 20 minute workout. Most beginners underestimate the amount of time and effort it takes to get started; i.e. setting out or changing their clothes, setting up your workout space (for example, exercising at home might require clearing things from treadmills, taking out the dog, occupying the kids, etc. In the gym, it might look like parking, walking in and changing shoes or clothes, waiting for equipment, etc.) So give yourself some “get ready time” and add that to the total workout time. This gives you a better idea of the total amount of time you’ll need to invest.  

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this!) 

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Determining your exercise location: Based on the time commitment you have in this current season of your life, is it more realistic to do at home workouts or go to a fitness center (private studio or bigger gym)? Once you establish where you will exercise, then you can determine how to exercise. 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this.)

• Green light (I can handle this!) 

 

Proper attire: Investing in exercise clothing and supportive shoes if you don’t already own them.

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this!) 

 

Learn about exercises: Learning about muscle groups and how to strengthen each, how to create an effective workout, and what modes of activity are interesting to you. 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to researching my options)

• Green light (I can handle this!) 

 

Possibly going to bed and/or waking up earlier. If your day already seems jam packed, where can you create a boundary that can give you the best of both worlds? Are you able to keep your commitments but take a little time away to fit in some movement? Remember, you won’t always need to get sweaty and you won’t always need to spend a ton of time in one sitting to be successful. We’ll get into the details of this in the “exercise” chapter. 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this) 

 

QUESTION 2: How realistic is this time commitment in my life right now?

 

You can figure this out by looking at places in your life where you can exchange time for something else you’re already doing with exercise. Any downtime you currently have that’s not spent investing in your mental or physical health can be spent in multiple ways. When we want to improve our health, it can be tempting to feel like we “should” do a lot of things and it opens the door to overwhelm. The reality is, you can do a lot for your health in just 10 minute bouts throughout the day. The reason most of us spend those short blocks of time checking emails, texting people or scrolling on our phones is because we didn’t have a simple focus with a plan to better utilize that time. I am by no means suggesting that someone be busy all the time as downtime is important to recovery. The question is if committing to exercising really is important to you right now, is there time in your day that you can fit it in, even if it’s for short periods of time initially? If the answer is yes, then it’s another “green light.” 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this) 

 

QUESTION 3: On a scale of 1-4 (1 being most important, 4 being least important), how important is achieving success in this area of life to me?

• 1-2: Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• 3-4: Green light (I can handle this) 

 

QUESTION 4: Am I ready to dedicate 12 weeks to this being my new focus?

 

Look ahead in your schedule; are there vacations coming up? Big work deadlines that require more of your time? A new baby here or coming? Are you getting ready to move or start a new job? If the answer to any of these questions (or other circumstances) is “yes” then you may need to start in a different season. If you can say that your calendar looks good then you can give a “yes” to committing the time required for this season focus.

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this) 

 

QUESTION 5: Can I financially afford to invest in the help and support I’ll need to accomplish this well?

 

If this is not your first “go” with trying a new exercise routine, or exercise in general, what did you learn from the past? What worked and what needed improvement? The resources to help you can be as simple as a new book to teach you how to structure your workouts or as specific as hiring a personal trainer to meet with. This will all come down to the level of accountability you have to yourself. You’ll need to invest in an exercise provider like subscriptions for home workouts or spending time to research workout routines on YouTube as well as the required equipment for those workouts. This can be as simple as body-weight only workouts (no equipment required) or investing in cardio equipment like a treadmill, indoor cycling bike, rower, etc. 

• Red light (I can’t see myself currently committing to this)

• Green light (I can handle this) 

 

So, is this the right time in your life for you to focus on exercise? If yes, then click here to learn more about our personal training services. If “no”, then go to one of the other focus questionnaires to determine where to start. Each questionnaire contains the same questions with details as to how it pertains to either nutrition, stress management and maintenance.