Great responses all. I would say in general before giving advice to someone one would need to know what that person's goals are. #6 I am trying to get into shape is a vague goal. For instance this could mean losing weight, building muscle, preparing for a specific sport or any variety thereof. The amount of free information out there for all fitness goals is staggering. It seems even here in
this thread there is a lot of good info.
For general advice I would add find something you don't mind doing. Experiment if you have to. And take it slow as in don't go from out of shape to seven days a week. This seems obvious but the post p90 era encourages people to go hardcore very quickly and then burn out just as fast.