Lifestyle: Stay Motivated

By Anita Tar, 

Exercise regularly, eat healthily, try to avoid harmful things, we all know these phrases.  To work out a few times a week and trying to eat good foods is hard work, but the most difficult part is to stay focused and motivated…

 

There are many reasons why we lose our motivation. Maybe it seems easy to start to train and change your diet, but after few weeks or month if we don’t see the results what we expected we tend to stop or completely give it up. I think that this is the most difficult part of a healthy lifestyle to keep motivated and have as much willpower as we had at the beginning.

In this article I would like to give you as many tips as I can and advise you how to stay focused and motivated.

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One Goal. Whenever I’ve been in a slump, I’ve discovered that it’s often because I have too much going on in my life. I’m trying to do too much. And it saps my energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.

 

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Find inspiration. Inspiration, for me, comes from myself, but i have always been sporty since childhood, so exercising a habit for me and a completely daily routine. Once you feel the benefits of working out and that it makes you less stressed and that is the best thing to do to make your mood better you will be addicted to it just as i am.:) .

 

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Get excited. This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal. But how can you do that when you don’t feel motivated? Well, it starts with inspiration from others if u don’t have it on your own but you have to take that excitement and build on it. If you can’t inpire yourself get motivated from your friends or other people. Find a training partner or a trainer… I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going.

 

 

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Build anticipation. This will sound hard, and many people will skip this tip. But it really works. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.

 

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Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (“Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with good abs, for example) also helps.

 

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Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to train for my first fitness model competition, I started to tell everyone about it, so many people knew about my goal, I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. You can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.

 

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Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.

 

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Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal, ask for help and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.

 

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Stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there.

 

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Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do once a week at the beginning. Commit to one work out a week for one week or two. You may want to do more, but just stick to one. It’s so easy, you can’t fail.. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done a work out a week or two or few weeks increase it to 2, and stick with that for a week or few. In a few months, you’ll be doing 3-4 work outs.

 

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Build on small successes. Again, if you start small for a week, you’re going to be successful. You can’t fail if you start with something ridiculously easy. Who can’t exercise once a week? And you’ll feel successful, and good about yourself. Take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step.

 

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Call for help when your motivation ebbs. Having trouble? Ask for help. Get a partner to join you. Call your mum. It doesn’t matter who, just tell them your problems, and talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you overcome your slump. It works.

 

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Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is. Exercise sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how tiring exercise can be, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how you’ll be healthier and slimmer over the work out. The benefits of something will help energize you.

 

 

The most important that you have to learn is how to Squash negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Along those lines, it’s important to start monitoring your thoughts. Recognize negative self-talk, which is really what’s causing your slump. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thoughts. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this!” Good luck!

About Anita Tar 

Originally from Hungary, she has had a passion for health and fitness for eight years since competing as a Fitness Model. From this passion Anita attended Semmelweis University where she qualified as an elite Sports Coach (Fitness) Reps Level 4. Anita specialises in shaping, toning and weight loss.

"Exercise and fitness can be life changing. I am enthusiastic and motivated and will use whatever it takes to encourage clients to achieve their goals."

If you like to train with Anita then email info@morefit.co.uk