Creating the habit of exercise?

Motivation and consistency are struggles I see constantly - and the success of MFP is really the number of days of logging (and hopefully paying attention to calories, etc. that go along with it).

So I have a question: How do you create the habit of exercise?

Personally, I have good periods and others that are weak. I may go for months at a time and follow a steady plan and then poof, I fall off and struggle to return to it.

I'm reading a book - called The Power of Habits that touches on a few points that might make sense. I'm sharing them here as they might feed the conversation. This book suggests that we can build habits by setting up a feedback loop of cue/routine/rewards.

The simple cue might be: gym clothes are ready, a scheduled exercise time, lacing up your sneakers before breakfast...

And whatever your routine might then be, it is followed by a reward: perhaps it is the enjoyment of being outside, the endorphins, or "rush", the sense of accomplishment. But without some sense of success or feeling of good, we won't just stick to things long term. tracking performance, the miles out, steps, getting cheered all seem to help. This type of self-reward seems, according to the research cited, to make the physical activity become a habit.

Apparently, in many ways, we are like monkeys reaching out for that reward.

So what are your cues and rewards?

My cues: sports bag, exercise stuff (oh, the stuff I own from bikes, to climbing gear, to that little fitbit dongle). my daughters - we do things together, friends, mfp...

My rewards: I track miles, lifts and steps. I keep my eyes on the prize of participating in sporting events. I get to eat more. I love feeling better, stronger, etc.

Do you actively try to make the cues and rewards more apparent and relevant?