You can hear about all the latest and greatest cutting edge exercise programs out there and be seriously thinking about giving it a go.

But, you’re thinking you don’t have the time, you’re too tired, and you’re not terribly motivated (yet!).  You can come up with every excuse in the book, not to exercise.

Maybe you are exercising, but feeling like your losing interest and your motivation is diminishing. There are simple solutions to getting you in the right frame of mind and getting you motivated to actually get to it or simply step things up.

Here’s 10 tips to do just that:

1. Set Goals: Let’s face it, you have to be clear on what it is you want to achieve in fitness or in anything.  Setting clear actionable, attainable goals is great way to get you motivated to achieve them.  You don’t have to get fancy here, you can simply write down your top 3 goals for the month or the quarter, like lose 5-10 pounds in 60 days, exercise 3 week no matter what, or improve eating habits by always eating breakfast and preparing healthy snacks everyday in advance.  Get them down on paper and review them every day or every week to ensure you are following through.
2. Challenge Yourself: Set a challenge for yourself.  Set an objective that will push you to work hard to achieve.  For example, you may select “get back into your skinny jeans”, or “be able to workout for 30 minutes, 3 to 4 times per week”, or “develop lean abdominals and get rid of that belly fat.”  Whatever would be a stretch for you to work on, challenge yourself with it and use it as your primary motivation for accomplishment.
3. Commit: Now that you know your plan, you’ve got to commit to it.  Commit to yourself first, that you are going to get started and exercise, no exceptions.  You won’t let anything disrupt you from this commitment for the next 30 days, period.
4. Schedule Your Workouts Like Appointments: A great tip I learned about exercising, writing, planning, or virtually anything productive you want to achieve is this:  Schedule your time.  Use time blocks.  The day before, plan your day thoroughly and schedule your time for your workout, whether that’s at 6 AM or 7 PM, put it in your calendar and don’t deviate.  Schedule your workout, just like you schedule a Dr’s appointment or a meeting with a client.  Book it!
5. Form a New Habit: So, you’ve already committed to exercising for the next 30 days.  Well, if you do that, you’ve formed a new habit.  It has been reported (as you may know from my Podcast, episode 3) that it takes about 30 days to form a new habit and the first 10 days are the hardest.  The point here is that once you get to day 30, you’re good to go.  This should be a habit like brushing your teeth in some sense, meaning you just do it naturally.  When you make it to day 30, just keep it going with your new habit and makes sure to celebrate and reward yourself.
6. Tell Others and Gather Support: This will motivate you to keep true to yourself and your promise.  Tell others what you are doing.  I mean tell your family and those close to you, even ask them to keep you accountable.  By telling others, you’ll be motivated to follow through with your intentions.  The external motivation will do you good and push you with your public commitments.
7. Participate in a Forum: I thought a little about this one.  Overall, I think it’s a good idea.  Why? It’s another method of outside support systems.  Participating in an online health and fitness forum will help you learn and be motivated by others. There’s something magical about being active in a positive environment.  You’ll find support when you need it and motivation to push you.  There are plenty of great online support communities and plans to have one right here, in the future.
8. Associate with Role Models: Just like other means for success, you have to have the right role models.  If you don’t know someone already, find someone who is doing what you want to.  Find someone that is living a healthy and fit lifestyle, a good role model for you.  Someone that lives the lifestyle you want.  Sometimes, this is easier said than done though, right?  Well, try to find one good person for you to model from.  If you can find a good person who is open to mentoring or even just for some encouragement, this can be the key to your success.  This will be extremely motivating for you.
9. Educate Yourself as Much as Possible: If you’re reading this, you’re educating yourself right now and you are taking your health very seriously.  I have to believe that you are highly motivated.  I want you to continue and feed your brain (as well as your muscles).  Get all the education you can in the area of health, fitness, nutrition, and mindset.  There’s a lot to learn, things are constantly changing, and there are many different philosophies out there. Keep educated, your confidence will grow, and you’ll be highly motivated to achieve your goals.
10. Just Start: Here’s the key, just begin.  Once you finally start a program, you’ll be much more motivated to follow through with it.  You’ll start to build confidence, improve your energy, and form your new healthy lifestyle habit that will have so much impact in virtually every area of your life.  So go to it!!!