How do you stay motivated? This can be especially hard given the weather at the moment and the tempting duvet calling; believe it or not, you can stay on track with your goals despite the conditions!

Don’t you wish that you could bottle it, the inner drive to get things done, and the wind that sets your sails destined for 10,000 steps? That’s called motivation. It’s what enables us to achieve our life goals, overcome set-backs and go further than we ever thought was possible.

If you’ve set your heart on getting fitter, healthier, slimmer, or more productive then motivation is key. So what is it, how can we get it, and, most importantly, how can we hang on to it?

In a nutshell

There are two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic is known as outside motivation and is about reward and punishment – we do things to get something good or avoid something bad. This may seem harmful, however this primal motivation type can burn out quickly through a loss of control. Intrinsic motivation comes from within; passions and priorities. We do things because we like to and genuinely enjoy it, you exercise because you love the feeling; weight loss is a handy side-effect.

Smarten up your goals

Motivation needs management. No matter how passionate you are you need clear, achievable goals or else your motivation will fade away. SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) have been around a while in corporate life, but they can be just as effective in your personal life.

• Specific: Be as clear as you can about what you want to achieve. Write it down. It’s your mission statement.
• Measurable: How are you going to measure your progress? What would success look like? If it’s a long-term thing, set yourself some milestones to tick off on the way. How satisfying is that?
• Achievable: It’s got to be doable. Set the bar too high and chances are you’ll end up miserable. You’re teeing yourself up to fail. Set the bar too low and there’s no challenge.
• Realistic: Can I achieve this with the time and other resources I’ve got? If not, better scale it down. There’s no point trying to do something that can’t be done.
• Time-bound. Set yourself deadlines. An open-ended goal can be put off forever.

Habits are your friend

All too often we throw ourselves into something new with all the vigour of a convert, only to find after a few weeks we are back to where we started. Before we know it those fresh new runner trainers are collecting dust at the bottom of a wardrobe in a galaxy far, far away…

This is where habits come in, it is much easier to maintain a behaviour when it is routinely part of your day.

• Make a schedule: Set yourself a time and place for exercise and you’ll start to function on autopilot.
• Make your day a ritual: If you want to build exercise into your day, turn it into a ritual. 6.45 am is simply the time you do your thing. You don’t need to think about it.
• Push yourself – but not too far: Look for the motivational sweet-spot – the point where the challenge excites but doesn’t daunt you.
• Miss a day now and again – but don’t make it two. You’re only human. But don’t make that an excuse. Unless you’re ill, a day’s backsliding is fine. But only the one.