1. Set Goals

Start with some small goals and work your way toward achieving them. Just make sure to keep your goals realistic and achievable, so you won’t get so easily discouraged. When your goals are too ambitious, it’s easier to get frustrated more quickly and to abandon your objectives. Just start with a short-term goal and then work towards turning it into a long-term one.

2. Make It Fun

Just find activities or sports that you enjoy doing and then vary your routine, so you won’t get bored easily. If you don’t like to go to the gym, you can take a ballroom dancing class or you could join a volleyball team. Just discover your hidden athletic talent and do something you like, because this way, you’re more likely to stick to an exercise program that’s fun and that you’ll enjoy doing.

3. Write down How You Feel after Every Workout

Make a habit out of writing down how you feel after every workout. This way, when you feel low on motivation, you can simply read what you wrote about how amazing you felt after running for five miles and this will motivate you to get out of bed, put on your exercise clothes and go to the gym.

4. Try Group Fitness

Group fitness classes will help you stay motivated and work hard in order to reach all your fitness goals. The energy of the group will keep you going in those moments that you might want to quit. It’s fun too and you’ll look forward to seeing your instructor and the other participants.

5. Surround Yourself with Motivation

If you want to stay motivated in order to reach all your fitness goals, then simply surround yourself with motivation. You could hang up motivational pictures on your walls or even on your mirror, so you can be reminded that you can achieve anything as long as you don’t give up.

6. Reward Yourself

Rewards will motivate you to keep going when you don’t feel like it. After each workout, just take a few minutes to enjoy that post-exercise endorphin rush that can make you smile like an idiot for hours afterwards. This type of internal reward can really help you make a long-term commitment to regular exercise and it will improve your “sweattitude.”

7. Be Flexible

If you really are too busy sometimes to work out, then just take a day or two off. Don’t be so hard on yourself; be gentle if you really need a break. Just get back on the track as soon as possible and don’t forget about your fitness goals.

There are a lot of smart ways to motivate yourself to work out. I just mentioned a few in this little article, but I’m sure that there are a lot of other helpful things I could add to this list. How do you motivate yourself to exercise? Do tell!

Sources:
dailyburn.com
buzzfeed.com
mayoclinic.org
fitnessmagazine.com