Do you ever have mornings where you just can’t motivate yourself to do anything? You just feel mentally and emotionally drained but nothing seems to get you out of it. When I get in those moods I can find myself scrolling through Facebook or BBC news or other pointless activities, which, more often than not makes me less motivated then before.

Yet not all of those times are fruitless, instead of scouring through endless videos of ‘cats do the funniest things’ or ‘when sport goes wrong’ I stumbled across a video that had been posted of a graduation speech by a well known speaker ‘Rick Rigsby” wow, I don’t want to ruin the speech as I recommend you hear it for yourself but it was powerful stuff, inspiring, motivational and a kick up the back side.

There are often times when a good story of success is all we need to get us moving, it helps us realize that we need to snap out of self pity and just get on with it.

So before we go on here’s a little story to put some meaning to your fitness journey:

“Today marks a full year that I’ve been eating right and working out daily.  This time last year I weighed 301 pounds.  When I saw my weight on the scale at the doctor’s office I knew it was time for a change.  Now, after a year of exercising my will power, and using no dieting pills or gastric bands, or anything artificial, I went back to the doctor’s office for my annual check-up. “172 pounds,” my doctor said.  “You know, your positive lifestyle changes just added roughly 10 years to your life expectancy.”  My 11-year-old daughter, who came with me, grabbed my hand and said, “I look forward to spending those extra years with you, mommy.

Back to square one

Even a small story like this is enough to get you motivated but after that what next? Its not enough to keep you going because if you’re like me you make goals… but then you procrastinate, you write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through.

And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem?

We can’t ignore our emotions. Because of the way our brains are structured, when thought and feelings compete, feelings almost always win.

And we can’t fight our feelings. Research shows this just makes them stronger.

Do you need an attitude adjustment?

If you start looking through some websites on ‘How to be successful’ or ‘How to motivate yourself’ you begin to notice some common themes.

Here are a few ways these people changed their thinking before they changed their life:

Ask yourself ‘Why’

Before you start any new workout routine, ask yourself why you are starting this journey in the first place.

Maybe you are recovering from an injury or sickness. The lady in the story above had a pretty good reason to stick with it, if she didn’t then her life expectancy was shorter! That’s a big wake up call.

Taking a step back to think about what makes your goal important to you is a good place to start. It is important to remind yourself what matters to you.

Believe you can

Self-Efficacy - This can be defined as your personal belief that you are in fact capable of performing the behaviour or achieving your goal.

For example, someone with high self-efficacy would have confidence in himself or herself that they will be able to run for 30 minutes if this is what they decide to do. A person scoring low on self-efficacy on the other hand would not believe they were capable of doing this and therefore would most likely not put in the effort to even try.

Believing in yourself and your abilities is a huge component in sticking with your exercise program.

Remain Positive

Having a positive attitude about your workout program will go along way to helping you stay motivated and committed.

When you have positive thoughts regarding exercise, it makes it seem like less of a chore and more of an enjoyable experience to you. If you remain positive at all times, even when you may not be seeing all the results you dreamed of, you will still be able to stay focused and look at how far you have come.

Being able to look at the big picture is a large step in achieving success, as many of the results you gain from exercise are not noticeable right away, therefore this requires a great deal of patience. By staying positive so that you will see results eventually, you won’t get discouraged as quickly and drop out.

Quit negative thoughts

Very similar to having a positive attitude is to make sure you quit being hard on yourself. Chances are, you’re harder on yourself than anyone else in your life.

But it’s time to reframe those negative thoughts. If you slipped up and had a Danish pastry for breakfast, don’t think, “I’m a failure.” Acknowledge that while you may have gone slightly off course today, you will do so much better tomorrow.

Reward Yourself

Knowing that there is a reward or treat for your efforts can help you stay motivated. Yes, it works on dogs but guess what, it works on  you too.

Rewards feel good. Penalties feel bad. And that’s why they both can work well for motivating you.

Research shows that rewards are responsible for three-quarters of why you do things.

So treat yourself whenever you complete something on your to-do list.

Face Forward

Don’t fall back into your old patterns of living just because they’re more comfortable and easier to access.  Remember, you left certain habits and situations behind for a reason: to improve your life.  And right now, you can’t move forward if you keep going back.

Buddy up

If you’re struggling with your motivation, or you simply want to squeeze more out of every workout you do, then one of the smartest moves you can make is to get a workout buddy. In fact, having the right workout buddy can often be the difference between failure and success, mediocre results and incredible results. Even if you find you work better on your own, the right workout partner can force you to tap into those extra reserves of strength and energy so that you push through a few extra reps. The right workout buddy helps you give it your all, and if you want great results then you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got: you get out, what you put in. - http://www.fitbodyhq.com