How do you stay motivated week after week to keep working towards your fitness goals? It can be very hard. The mental game is often overlooked when people talk about getting in shape, working out, or achieving the look that you want; but it is a very big part.

Obviously proper nutrition and the right workout program are the fundamental basics of building your body. You can’t transform yourself if you slack in either one of these areas. But the ability to do it consistently and push your hardest is the mental game. Mastering this will ensure you will reach your goals as fast as possible, overcoming roadblocks and not having lapses that slow you down.

So what do you do to keep that fire stoked?

Day by Day
That famous quote, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,’ really applies to you and your journey in life. Each day is its own. Every meal, every workout, and each time you rest plays a part in how your body develops. It will be like this for the rest of your life.

To make sure that you are becoming the person you want to be it is a matter of evaluating each decision you make. Consideration needs to be made about, “Is this the best thing for me?” or, “Will this help me achieve my goals?” Many times when we decide to do something else, such as eating donuts for breakfast, we are giving into an impulse and rebelling against what are big picture goals are to obtain short term satisfaction.

How can we stop those hiccups from happening? It is a simple matter of reminding ourselves daily what we have done along with what we still plan on doing. That way we gain daily satisfaction for our accomplishments and don’t need to seek out short term fixes.

The Power of Affirmation
Positive thinking and a powerful mindset aren’t always something people are born with, it takes practice. Very successful people have learned this lesson and apply it daily to help focus their thoughts and energy to push themselves along the path they truly wish to travel; you can too.

Start each day with a positive affirmation session. Take 5 to 10 minutes to yourself without interruption to remind yourself what you have accomplished. Acknowledge the hard work and effort and then see the results so you know that what you are doing matters.

Next, remind yourself of the goals you currently have. Remember the steps you need to take to reach them. Then positively affirm that you will reach those goals because you have met goals before; this will be no different. For your body, picture how you want to look and the feeling you will get when you get there.

Make Good Choices
When those points in the day come, and they will come, make sure you are making the right choice for the right reason. Look at that donut in the break room honestly. Yes, it tastes good but that 3 minutes of enjoyment will result in about 20 minutes of negative anguish for eating it followed by a good 30 minutes of cardio to work off the calories and fat. How does that help your goal? Wouldn’t you rather have 3 minutes of staring at your tight stomach in the mirror?

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t live your life and enjoy it, but you should be the one to decide what is enjoyable. If staying out late with friends is really important to you and it means missing the next morning’s training session then, by all means, do it. Rationalizing the decision and making it for the right reasons is perfectly fine. Plus then you don’t feel bad about it later and beat yourself up for missing a training session. But by the same token if the way you look is really important to you then don’t sacrifice that want to stay out late night after night.

Life is all about choices. The most successful people are usually the ones that repeatedly make the decisions that lead them towards their goals instead of away from them. Think about that each time you are faced with a decision and then make the best decision for you. It will make you happier and more successful.