Just what is motivation? We all want it and many of us think we need more of it. Is it a mix of discipline and desire that we draw upon whenever needed? A lot of us wonder exactly how to motivate ourselves to exercise regularly. What is this special motivation thing you need to propel yourself out of bed or out the door and straight to your workouts?

Motivation is derived from a Latin word motive – meaning “to move” and is the catalyst to action or energy for motion. It propels you to do something. Without motivation you have no forward motion in life; your life stands still.

The problem with motivation is that many of us believe it is something that will come to us if we wait long enough…that someday we will wake up and finally want to become fitter and stronger. Rather than believe in that fairy tale, maybe we would all be better off by realizing that motivation is something we create for ourselves, not something we wait for.

What motivates each of us changes from day to day – what got us fired up yesterday may not work today. That means digging deep inside to find that thing – that thought, feeling, goal or reward – that will keep us moving forwards. Your decision to become fitter and stronger is not a decision you make once – it is one you make every single day for the rest of your life.

You will always be at a crossroads. Will you continue to choose a life of increased strength and fitness or will you allow it to fade away? This challenge awaits you – the challenge of going the distance, sustaining your drive and motivation and continuing on the path to a higher quality of life.

Learning how you can take control of the energy that moves you, that force that propels you into action is the key to effortless sustainability. More so than any other factor, more than knowledge, even more than the perfect exercise program, your ability to create, sustain and renew your motivation determines your success in fitness and in life.

The perfect plan for guaranteed success is of no use in the absence of the drive to take action. It is through motivation that things get done. You may be asking yourself “Will I stick to my exercise program?” We all know that getting started and sticking with a new habit such as an exercise program for the first few weeks is the hard part. But turning it into a habit and a permanent part of your life is just a matter of sorting out your priorities.

Think about what reasons/excuses could possibly derail you and plan a strategy to stop them happening. The more we can counter these challenges the better we get at working around them as everybody gets them. Nobody has it easy all of the time.

Surely being healthy, strong and disease proofing your body is high on your list of important things in your life, having a huge positive impact on day-to-day quality of life as well as overall quality of life. Your zest for living increases, you will feel better than you would without exercise and you will look better too.

A lifetime of fitness is not the product of rock solid discipline. When you first take on a new challenge in any area of life, it does take some discipline to get going. But this is a short term strategy, it helps to get you started, but only motivation can keep you going for the long haul.

When it comes sustaining a lifetime of strength and fitness, it is a steady stream of ever evolving motivation from within that will carry you to new heights. Make your own personal motivation level your very first health and fitness goal to work on.