You set a goal to improve you fitness level and to exercise regularly. You set up a training program and buy new running shoes. Than you let personal trainer give you his secret tips how to have a flat stomach in few months.
Than you start. You have pretty good plan; doing cardiovascular exercise 4 times per week and strength training 2 times per week. Exercise is your priority; you are feeling great about yourself.
Than after a week, you decide to skip your workout, because your friend has birthday party. Than, you skip another workout. Than you realize that you skipped 2 in the row and you stop. Time flies, you tell yourself as you flip the calendar to the next month. You kept your fitness promise only for 2 weeks. Sounds familiar? A lot of people give up on their quest to great fitness too soon.
Where is the problem? How come other people already reached their fitness goals and stick with it? They stay on track by using few simple principles, you can use too.
Don’t let your past destroy your future.
Do not allow yourself to dwell on unfair things that happened to you in the past. Discard your unfit and unhealthy past and move on. Don’t think about your past failures, because that is paralyzing you. Don’t think about it ever again and start all over today.
Just start now.
If you want anything, you have to act. The best way to motivate yourself is to realize what you want and than start as quickly as you can. Write that goal on the paper and than do little bit to start going toward that goal now.
I have a friend, who said the other day: “From next week, my life is going to change. I am getting my paycheck so I can buy new tennis shoes, some comfortable running shorts and I will start my serious fitness program. Milan can you design me a workout plan from next week?” He just seems to be stuck in preparation phase and is probably just satisfied with the thought that he will start next week.
Don’t wait until you buy new running shoes or a new gym outfit to look good. Do it now! Start now! Buy new shoes, or whatever you want latter. Just start. Go for your run today with whatever you have.
Avoid extreme challenges.
Part of your motivation is derived from matching your skill level with a task that’s doable. You can stretch your limits a little bit, but if you put yourself in a situation that’s extremely stressful, that’s way beyond your ability, you aren’t going to be encouraged by the rough experience and that will kill your motivation.
Start slowly. Stretch yourself a little. This will be motivating. But, if you push too hard too fast, the experience is going to diminish your self-confidence and thus your motivation.
Minimize outside stresses.
If you really want to do well in getting to the gym every afternoon, part of preparing for that is to make certain that most of your life is in order. If you have lots of catch up in the afternoon you forgot to do day before you won’t make it to the gym or to the running track.
In life, it’s almost impossible to arrange everything to go perfectly, but you need to at least try. Do everything you can to bring order to your personal life. When you are setting that particular exercise goal, don’t pile on unnecessary additional social, family and work obligations and stressors. Being too busy and stressed will result in lost motivation.
Realize, that you can change other people lives with you fitness lifestyle.
When you exercise and stay healthy and fit, your kids and other family members will notice. They will want to do it too. Especially kids are the fist ones to fallow. This is one of the best things you can do to show your lowed ones great example. You can be a great influence in their overall fitness and wellness development.
Learn to say “no.”
To get fit and stay fit takes time. You need some time blocks, at least about 15 – 45 minutes. When your friend asks you to watch his kids or help him move, or just listen some negative talk about unfair word, say no and explain why – I am sorry I can’t, I finally committed myself to exercise regularly and I don’t want to break the commitment with myself. They will understand. If not, that’s ok. Your health is more important.
Surround yourself with successful fit people.
Stop spending time with lazy couch potatoes that always find an excuse to protect their comfort zone. Let yourself be pulled in by that fresh, fit mind set of fit and successful. One way to do that is to join the closest health club or sign up for a marathon and join the group that trains for it. Make a commitment to show up regularly. If you stick long enough, soon you will become one of them. Just don’t quit!
Get fit persons mind set.
What happens to the super fit person, if you give him 150 pounds of fat over night to total weight of 310 pounds? He will wake up in the morning breathing heavily, looking in the mirror, seeing his over sized body, feeling bad and unhealthy. After a quick thought about what happened over night he gets to work immediately to get back where he was before – fit, lean, strong, feeling great.
He will be applying everything he can to get back to his lean 160 pounds. He will use huge force of fit persons mind set. That force, focus and persistence will get him back to the shape in very short time.
What if you used the same principle? Imagine that you were a very fit person yesterday and some fat loving aliens injected you with extra 70 pounds of fat now you have. What are you going to do now? You are going to work on loosing that fat and that’s going to become your N#1 priority.
Cultivate your enthusiasm.
If you are like most people, you can get yourself motivated to exercise once in a while, but than you sink back down to your lover level of mood and you find it hard to continue.
How easy is to start new thing, like exercising or eating healthy foods when your motivation is high? And how difficult is it to continue once your enthusiasm fades? I know, it seams almost painful to do your 3 mile run if you are not motivated. When you are highly motivated though, that run will feel like a play.
Read inspiring books like biographies and other, articles or listen some inspiring audio program at least 20 minutes every day. Don’t watch TV news and skip the main section of newspapers. They feed your mind with terrible and negative stuff.
Write few of your favorite quotes or phrases on the small paper. Keep them in your valet and read them several times a day. I personally carry these always with me:
“Everything you want is just outside of your comfort zone”.
“You have to go after what you are afraid off.”
“Blame no one, expect nothing, do something!!!”
“There is anything worst than ordinary.”
Unless you are naturally hyper person, your enthusiasm is going to need daily reinforcement. Constantly feeding your mind with positive material can maintain your enthusiasm for all day.
Get motivated by fear.
What people fear the most? It’s public speaking. I don’t think that, that’s going to kill you. You should fear other really scary things like – cancer, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, broken hips.
I don’t want to scare anybody, but it is healthy and sometimes very helpful to realize that we are all not invincible to these kinds of illnesses. What if I told you, that you are surely going to have a heart attack in 1 year if you don’t loose 50 pounds of fat in 7 months? It’s set, if you don’t loose it, you’re dead. You will be in the gym tonight if not sooner. And I am pretty sure, that you will be 50 pounds lighter in probably shorter time than 7 months.
Fear can be a great motivator. I am not trying to say, that you should live in a fear. But keeping somewhere in the back of your mind, that we can prevent all kinds of life threatening conditions with regular exercise is a great way to stay motivated.
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