I normally go for runs when I get home from work in the evening. This morning was supposed to be different: I decided to wake up early and go for a quick 2km run before work started. According to my careful planning, the run would take about 9 – 10 minutes, getting ready for it would take 5 minutes, and a shower after the run would take 5 minutes. So in total I’d have to wake up 20 minutes early. Not too bad, right? Wrong.

I ended up going to sleep at 2am and could not force myself to get out of bed at my designated time this morning. Needless to say I now feel very disappointed.

It’s important to remember that when you make a plan to exercise with your dog or even by yourself, you need to hold yourself responsible for sticking to it. That means forcing yourself to go to bed sooner if you plan to exercise early. Needless to say I feel very disappointed with myself right now – I set a goal for myself and didn’t stick to it and I know that just going to bed earlier would have ensured an easy wake-up this morning (I know because just last week I woke up at 5am to cycle 30km to work).

So lesson learned: set goals, stick to them, plan ahead.