How to Stay Disciplined and Motivated When Things Are Not Going Your Way

Life isn’t always a bed of roses. There are times when everything seems to be going against us. Those are the times we need an extra dose of discipline and a renewed surge of motivation to stay on track with our fitness goals.

In this article, we reveal 8 hacks to stay zoned in when things aren’t going your way.

To fuel endless motivation to achieve your fitness goals, you have got to find your emotional driver. To do this, stop and start digging within to discover what is really motivating you to get in shape. Don’t stop at the superficial but keep digging to get the underlying reason.

It could be that you want to look attractive to your partner, that you want to set a healthy, active example for your kids or that you have a deep inner need to prove to yourself that you can take control of your physical self. When you find your emotional driver, cling to it and use it to fuel your drive.

Motivation starts when you first wake up in the morning. Having a morning motivational routine is a great way to stoke your fire for the day. This should include positive reinforcement statements such as ‘What will be is up to me’ and ‘I am the master of my universe.’

It should include your current monthly goals and a positive statement about the completion of your goals. For example, if my goal is to lose weight, I will have a statement such as the following . . .

It is December 31st, 2022 and I am at 13% body fat.

After reading your motivational statements, spend a few minutes in quiet meditation. During that period, run a movie through your mind showing how you are going to advance your goals and your passions over the day.

Music is a fantastic motivator. Of course, we all have different songs that motivate us. So, make a personal playlist of the songs that get you pumped up and energized and that feed your motivation. Most people are pumped by the likes of the Rocky Theme and Eye of the Tiger but for others, Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood is what gets their juices flowing. Make your own list of ten personal favorites and then create a playlist.

Most people tend to overthink things. We often don’t take action until we think all of the conditions are perfect. But if you wait until all the lights are green before heading into town, you will never leave your driveway!

You need to get beyond this mindset and become a person of action. Don’t wait for the ideal conditions because they will never be here. Just Do It and do it now.

Here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

• What is holding me back?
• What is stopping me from just doing it?
• What am I waiting for?

Resilience is all about bouncing back when we get knocked down. It’s a quality that many people lack nowadays but one that is vital for renewed motivation. It is when the chips are down that our character is defined. In fact, it is our perception of our lives rather than the reality which is the key to continued motivation.

So, be the person who sees the cup as half full.

We’ve all got a negative side. In fact, we are inclined toward negativity. Resilience involves overcoming our negative side and accentuating the positive.

Your environment needs to promote your motivational juices. You can create a motivational environment with posters. Put up images of your inspirational heroes along with motivational quotes and images that represent your goals.

In addition, you should write out your goals on post-it notes and stick them in places where you will regularly see them. This should include your bedroom mirror so that you will get that positive reinforcement in the morning.

Make your environment as productivity-inducing as possible. If you are planning to work out first thing in the morning, set out your workout clothes, gym bag and prepare your post-workout drink the evening before.

When it comes to work, try to make it as easy as possible to ease into your workload. Avoid clutter and be as organized as possible.

Here’s a women’s plan to help you stay discipline:

And for men:

Visualization is a technique by which you create movies in your mind about what you want the outcome to be. It is a technique that pro athletes have been using for decades. You can and should use it as a powerful motivating technique in your own life.

Let’s use the example of working out to illustrate the power of visualization. An hour before your workout, sit quietly and close your eyes. Now picture yourself entering the gym. You know exactly what your targets are in terms of weight and reps.

See yourself entering the locker room and getting ready for your session. Then picture yourself going through a perfect workout, hitting your targets effortlessly, and using perfect form. At the end of it, you feel fantastic.

Losing 20 or more pounds is a pretty hard thing to get our heads around. As a result, staying motivated for such a big goal is a real challenge. That’s why you need to break your goals down to a daily level. Rather than focusing on a weight loss goal, concentrate on the actions you need to take every day. Accumulate those days consistently and you will achieve your goal.

So, rather than focusing on losing so many pounds in a week, set your goals around your workouts and your meals. By focusing minutely on these goals you will have a more immediate and realistic target to aim for and this will help you to stay motivated.

Individually each of our motivation hacks will help you to keep moving you toward your goals despite what’s going on around you. Taken together they will transform you into a motivation master. Make use of them to turn your ambitions into reality.