Tips for motivation

I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation to exercise recently, especially when it gets colder and darker in the evenings. I’m asked about maintaining motivation by most of my clients, and I always say the same thing: there’s no quick fix or mindset transplant, but these ideas and tips can help:
 

1. Set yourself some achievable exercise-related goals. Try not to make your goals nearly impossible to achieve. Instead, set small, possible goals and achieve them regularly. This will help maintain your motivation.
2. Make your goals a bit more fun! Rather than plodding through things you don’t enjoy, add a bit of levity. (I don’t offer anything further here, as each to their own…)
3. Do a little bit every day, or at least fairly often. Keep chipping away and you’ll notice the benefits.
4. Get others involved to help with motivation and collaborate, perhaps a walking buddy or an exercise class. If others know that you’re working towards something, they can help when things get tough and offer encouragement and support.
5. Write down your challenge and how you are going to get there. Tick off the small steps that you have achieved so you can see that you’re able to make progress, even if it feels like the main goal is far in the distance.
6. Reward yourself for every small gain. Take a few minutes to consider how far you have come and congratulate yourself for your achievements. Bear in mind that rewards don’t have to be food or drink.
7. Be realistic. Some days don’t lend themselves to doing much, and some goals might need to be changed mid-way through. Keep moving forwards regardless. And drop anything that really isn’t working well. It’s not failure – it’s realism.
8. Could music help motivate you to move more? I have some go-to tracks that always get me moving. Things like Titanium by Sia usually work.
9. And finally, rest and relax when you need to. Often, we don’t need to give up, we just need to rest.

 
What works well for you? Can you add anything to this list? I’d love to hear from you.