There are many people out there who find it hard to stay motivated to workout. They come up with excuses like “I don’t have time,” “I’m too tired,” “it’s not my thing,” “I don’t know what to do, I’m not familiar with the fitness world,” “the gym is too intimidating,” blah blah blah. If you’re one of these people, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Sometimes it’s even hard for me, a person who has a strong passion for fitness, to stay motivated. We all have our little hurdles that keep us from continuing to strive towards our goals, but these tips should help you continue to reach for the stars and achieve your fitness goals.
The first thing you have to do is set a goal. What do you want your final outcome to be? What do you want the end result to look like? It may seem ridiculously unreasonable or unobtainable at the moment, but that’s okay. We’ve all heard the saying, “when eating an elephant, take one bite at a time,” right? So just keep that in mind. After you set a goal, you need to find a drive. Ask yourself why – why do you want your end result to look the way you want it to? Are you tired of being out of shape? Do you want to improve yourself and be the best version of you? Do you want to challenge yourself? Do you just want to be healthy? What is the reason behind why you are starting? Keep this reason in the back of your mind throughout your fitness journey and remember it when you get in a rut. Never forget why you started.
Another important thing to remember is to do it for YOU. Don’t do it for the ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. Don’t do it for “revenge.” Although that can be very motivational, it’s for the wrong reason. I want to see the “revenge body” go away this year. It’s a new year and it’s time to leave pettiness and negative things in the past and move on into a new, happy, positive year – a new, happy, positive life; a new, happy, positive YOU. Because honestly, who has time for the negativity? Don’t do it to be better than others, do it to be better than the person you were yesterday. Sometimes we stray from this, and it’s easy to do. I have a motivational workout picture in my gym with a quote on it that says “I am doing this for me.” I would recommend you to do the same. Put it somewhere where you will see it everyday. It really does help you stay motivated and keeps your mind in the right place. Keeping a positive mind throughout this journey will be a major factor in helping you stay motivated and help you reach your goal. This should be a fun and rewarding experience, not one that builds from your grudges and negative thoughts. Find inspirational quotes that motivate you, print them out and put them where you will see them. Read them everyday. Read them when you wake up, read them when you take a break from working or studying, read them before your workout and even during your workout if you need some extra motivation.
Sometimes we have hard days and we’re tired and motivational quotes just aren’t enough to get us going that day. A little trick of mine is to put your workout clothes on before you decide if you’re going to go to the gym or not. Just about every time I have done this when I didn’t feel like working out, I ended up going to the gym. Seeing ourselves in our workout clothes helps put our mind in the right place. You have to set your mind to it before you do it. If you don’t believe me, try it. I can almost guarantee it will help.
Once you get yourself to the gym, put on some music that pumps you up and give it your all. Always give 100% to your workouts. Even if your all doesn’t seem like much, just do your absolute best. That’s all anyone can ask of you, and you deserve your best. Remember that it is going to take some time to reach your end result. It all depends on where you’re starting from and how much time and effort you’re putting into achieving your end result. The fitness journey can sometimes be a difficult one and one that is so easy to quit, which is why most people fall off the path. I came across a quote that I really liked and it applies here: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” You must be patient throughout this process and remember that reaching your goal will come with time. That is, as long as you are patient and put the time into achieving your goal. You may have heard people say “in two weeks you’ll feel it, in four weeks you’ll see it, in eight weeks you’ll hear it.” And this is true, I have experienced this myself, and there’s no better feeling. Push for that eight weeks, and then start counting again until you get to where you want to be.
In order to speed up this process, here’s a little rule of thumb: Never. Miss. A. Workout… Ever. Unless you physically cannot get to the gym because of an injury or illness, you should never miss a workout. Not only will this keep you on track and get you to your goal faster, it will also become motivation. When we workout, our body releases endorphins which are chemicals our body creates that have a morphine-like effect. These chemicals diminish pain in our body while triggering positive feelings. Once you start working out on a regular basis, and your body starts releasing endorphins, you will LOVE working out. You get hooked and you can’t wait to get back in the gym the next day. Working out really is like a drug, you get addicted and you feel good. Why throw your life away on drugs and medications when you can get the same satisfaction from something that’s actually healthy for you?
Throughout your fitness journey, you will have ups and you will have downs. It can get tough at times. No one ever said it was easy, but it is so worth it. Make a goal, find a drive, remember why you started, stay focused, and be patient. I promise you will love your results if you practice these tips. Celebrate little victories along the way, and use those little victories to continue to push you down the path to achieving your goal. Don’t ever give up. You deserve this.
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