TIPS OF MAINTAINING REGULAR EXERCISE
The way we deal with the world and arrange our lives is especially impacted by our Introversion/Extraversion preference and our Perceiving/Judging preference. That is why we can increase our chance of success at an exercise routine by knowing our preferences and personality type.
Extroverts preference derive energy from being around others and being able to express themselves verbally. So they are more likely to be successful at regular exercise by:
- Walking or jogging with a buddy, especially one to think aloud or gossip with!
- Joining a healthclub or sports team.
- Making exercise a social event with others, e.g. hiking and biking with others.
WHAT ABOUT INTROVERTS?!?!? WE HATE THAT FAKE STUFF?
Introverts need some quiet reflection time to regain their energy and prefer to think things through on their own before expressing their ideas to others. So they may derive extra pleasure in and may be more motivated to:
- Walk alone or run on the treadmill so they can have that time to reflect. (especially if they deal with lots of people during the course of their work).
- Participate in activities which involve small groups.
- People with a Perceiving preference like to be spontaneous and like to be flexible and open ended about their schedules and types of activities they engage in. A routine work out schedule is not usually appealing. Instead they are more likely to be attracted to:
- Maintaining a variety of physical activities to choose from.
- Deciding at the last minute which activity suits their mood that day (e.g. basketball instead of swimming, or hiking instead of attending the gym).
- Keeping an eye out for new physical adventures.
- Giving themselves permission to maintain a variable exercise schedule (e.g. mixing mornings and evenings, and different days of the week).
- People with a Judging preference like a more predictable schedule that they can count on. They are more likely to succeed at regular exercise by:
- Maintaining a routine schedule of exercise for specific times and days of the week, such as going to a healthclub at noon each day.
- Participating in a regularly scheduled class or ball game.
now that's more like it ... Nancy meditating on the beach
TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
The way we gather information from the world is affected by whether we have an iNtuitive or Sensing preference. The way we make decisions is impacted by whether we have a Thinking or a Feeling preference. These preferences combined are important in how we learn and what motivates us. And in turn our interactions with health care providers depend on how we learn and what motivates us.
Therefore, knowing your type can help you enhance communication with your doctor or health care provider. You can let your provider know what your preferences are and what best suits your personality and needs. In the current competitive health care environment, the importance of patient satisfaction is gaining momentum, and it's more likely that your provider will listen and be better able to address your needs.
A HEALTHY DIET AND WHAT TO ASK FROM YOUR HEALTH CARE PROIDER
- Intuitives like to see the big picture and how things relate to each other. They need to tell their health care provider that they:
- Like to gather information about and brainstorm all of the possible ways they can promote their health.
- In choosing a healthy diet,, they need to be given lots of choices such as different food substitutions and various ways to prepare the food before they can satisfactorily settle on one.
- Sensors like to focus on information they can gather through their senses and on details of situations. Therefore they need to remind their health care provider that they:
- Like to be given all of the details of a particular recommended diet, such as where to get the food, how to prepare it, and any other step-by-step instructions that may be helpful.
- Thinking types like to make decisions by using logical analyses. So they would be more successful starting and maintaining a healthy diet if they let their health care provider know that they:
- Like to understand the reasons and logic behind a recommended diet and may need reading references or referrals to websites to get more information before they embark on particular diet.
- Feeling types like to make decisions based on their values and are motivated by a sense of harmony and the positive effect they can have on others. Thus they will be more likely to stick to a healthy diet if they tell their health care provider, family and friends that they:
- Like to be acknowledged (more than other types) at the challenges they face at maintaining the healthy diet.
Prefer lots of caring reassurance about their ability to maintain the diet.
- Like to know that they are helping others; for example that they can benefit family members by serving them the healthy diet as well.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A DIET/EXERCISE SELF IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM? please complete the following questionnarie and click SUBMIT
© nancy r. fenn
SEE OTHERS' RESPONSES TO THE SURVEY
Discover the product Nancy has hand picked to promote good preventive health care for introverts. Click here.
