How can you finally manage to integrate exercise into your life on a permanent basis?

You're always chasing short-term promises. New trends, crash diets, quick fitness hacks - and yet you end up back where you started. Why? Because you don't build habits that really stick.

The mistake: You think the work will be done at some point

Maybe you set yourself a big goal: lose 10 kilos, run a marathon, finally reach that one number on the scales. But when you get there, what then? Without long-term habits, sooner or later you will slip back into old patterns.

Or an injury, an illness, a stressful phase. If you only see exercise as a short-term project, you will give up in frustration at such moments instead of adapting and sticking with it.

Progress is only small if you zoom in too close

You lose half a kilo every week and think: "That's nothing!" But when you change your perspective, you see: 26 kilos in one year. Sustainable progress is often quiet, but extremely powerful - if you have the staying power.

The key: change your perspective

There is no end point. Exercise and health are not a project that you complete, but a way of life. Think long term. See your big picture. Instead of clinging to the latest trends, build routines that you'll still be doing ten years from now.

I myself have never stopped exercising - even after heart surgery. If I had only thought about short-term goals, I would have stopped there. But exercise is part of my life. And that's exactly what I wish for you.

Stop pecking at the ground for quick fixes - become an eagle!

The fitness industry has trained you to look for the easiest, quickest way - like a turkey pecking for grit on the ground. But you can fly higher. Think bigger. See the whole picture. Instead of chasing trends, build a routine that really fits your life.

Start now. This week. And don't just think about today - think about the next ten years.

Sources:

• Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin.

• Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.

• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.

• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.