You need to be your own source of motivation
It comes from inside of you
Jillian Michaels
If you're anything like me, throughout your lifetime you've been into ALL the fitness crazes and trends: running, cycling, weight training, step aerobics, dance workouts, CrossFit, P90x, Taebo with Billy Blanks, working out with Jillian Michaels, etc. (Please excuse me while I catch my breath. I'm exhausted just from the list alone!!) Anyway, as you also know--life happens. With it comes the many troublesome ways of getting too busy or too distracted to realize that you have neglected yourself for far too long. Before you know it, you've somehow fallen off track, and you're not as healthy or as fit as you used to be. None of that matters now. What does matter is how you go forward from here. When I decided to start my fitness journey (again!), I had to come to the conclusion that it was not to reclaim my younger self. Life brings about growth and changes, and I would never be exactly the person I used to be, and I should celebrate that. Not that I don't like who I am now, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to be better, fitter, healthier, or stronger, both physically and mentally. However, being nervous about how difficult this journey to a better version of myself was going to be, I'd often get discouraged. Unfortunately, I began to doubt myself, thinking that it wouldn't work out the way I'd hoped. There were plenty of times when I thought about quitting. (I'm not just talking about fitness either.) Of course that's normal human behavior. Finally, I had to just say to myself, "you can't stop now. If you want things to be different, you have to work for this. You have goals to reach sista-girl. Are you really going to give up now?" Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. However, I had to shake off those negative thoughts and push forward. By the way, there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a pep talk from time to time. Although it might be wise to have them before you leave the house and go out in public.
If you're not happy with the way things are right now, you're never going to be happy unless you do something about it. Pushing yourself, or motivating yourself to never give up doesn't just apply to achieving better health and reaching fitness goals. This can be a universal theme for whatever you're trying to accomplish in your life. You owe it to yourself to be the best version of YOU that you can be. You can't give up no matter what the circumstances may be. Even when things become difficult and challenging, you must not throw in the towel. Even if you're applying for that dream job, or promotion, and there are other candidates trying for the same position, you can't give up before you've even tried. If you have gone back to school to complete your degree, to get another degree, or your first degree ever, and you're struggling to juggle your life around school, don't give up. If you're facing a career change after all these years and you want to try and write that first novel before your head explodes, do it. If you don't remember anything else I've said, please remember this: Don't give up on yourself. With faith, hard work, and determination, things have a way working out. But--it's up to you and only YOU.