What you tell yourself can be very powerful.

You can talk yourself out of being active, or you can talk yourself into it.

"Ugh, the stairs."

"This class looks too hard."

"I just can't play tag with them. Not with these knees."

You can talk yourself out of doing almost anything ... if you put your mind to it.

Even good things like being active.

But there's something you can do to turn those can't dos into can dos.

You can train yourself to think about being active in a more positive way ...

just stop, ask, and choose your thoughts.

So, when you have a negative thought ... like "I can't keep up," "I have no time,"

or "I'm too tired to exercise" ... stop the thought in its tracks.

Then ask yourself if this is a real reason why you can't be active.

Or if it's an excuse you make to not exercise ... or a fear of failing.

If it's an excuse or fear, choose a positive thought to replace the negative one.

You can tell yourself things like "I can find some time to be active" ...

"I'll have more energy if I exercise" ... "It never hurts to try."

"One step at a time."

"This is fun."

"This I can do!"

Think about what things may be getting in your way and keeping you from being active.

Then think of ways you can get around them.

You don't have to do formal exercise to improve your fitness.

You just need to move more.

So find something you enjoy.

If you like what you're doing, you're more likely to stay with it.

Remember, anything is possible if you put your mind to it.