Fitness motivation is not just for athletes on game day. Staying motivated to train hard or to get to the gym to work on your overall fitness can be challenging with a busy lifestyle. One of the keys to success is to keep smaller goals that guide you to your bigger goals.
As a general rule of thumb – finish today, you can quit tomorrow. Saying it everyday means tomorrow never comes.
Everyone has had those days – “The weather is too cold.”, “I can catch up with a workout tomorrow.”, or “I can’t do one more rep.”
The temptation to think that the pain is not worth it is very real. That is what makes the satisfaction of completing the task that much sweeter.
The real secret? Quit later.
Set a short term goal for the tough parts of your workout or a special incentive for going to the gym that will help to get you through to the end. Quit at the end when you are done for the day, not before.
What causes you to quit early or to not start at all? Fitness motivation starts in your head. Your emotional state at any given time will dictate your actions. Controlling your swings in emotion and working your way through the tough days will develop into a habit. Habits you develop on a daily basis are much easier to keep than doing a constant yo-yo in your life. Once working out or finishing a tough routine becomes common-place, you will feel guilty when you don’t finish and you are far less likely to fail. A large number of decisions all made towards a given goal helps to establish or shape your character.
Be careful, negative fitness motivation can happen when putting off a workout too many times. Bad habits can be just as easy to form. Not finishing a workout or having a “valid” excuse to not get to the gym can collapse your healthy routine very quickly.
This applies to all areas of your life, not just fitness. Healthy eating, a good routine with household chores all have habits associated with them.
The quit later philosophy can be used for tough workouts if you plan your overall fitness goals as smaller pieces. Rotate different workouts over time with a tough one mixed in with the idea that you can “quit” the tough one tomorrow because you are switching to another routine at that time. It is a light at the end of the tunnel where you can quit that one and start another you like better.
Moments of weakness are a reality for the vast majority of people. Dragging yourself to the gym on bad days will give you a sense of accomplishment for having battled through it. In the end, it is just ONE day and it is not that bad. The sum of your habits defines you. It will make you who you are.
Fitness motivation can help you to fight the urge to quit now. Simply “quit later” and do it consistently. Keep meeting your short-term goals and you will be one step closer to your long-term goals and become the person you want to be.
