Fitness for All: Staying Motivated in the Winter Months

When the weather outside is frightful, it's easy to get lazy and to lack the motivation to even get out of bed some days.  So how do you stay motivated when everything is keeping you down?   Try some of these tips:

Winter exercises

• Set goals and document them. By keeping a list, you will see this daily and you will feel more inclined to want to check things off this list.
• Set clear dates of when you need to complete things by, whether they are long term or short-term goals. By giving yourself a deadline, you will work harder to keep them.
• Reward yourself for meeting your deadlines and reaching your goals.  Whether you allow yourself to buy something nice or a day of pampering at the spa, you will work harder to do things when you know there is a reward at the end.
• Listen to motivational tapes and/or read motivational books to help gain some inspiration to keep going.
• Learn to breathe correctly.  You will feel more relaxed and when you are more relaxed you will also be more apt to stay motivated than when you are stressed.
• Keep a positive attitude.  Even though it is easy to be depressed when the long, cold winter months drag on, try to remain positive and you will notice that motivation comes along with being happy.
• Remind yourself that progress is what is important and not perfection.  This is especially important when you are looking at your long-term goals, as they may seem like the most unreachable.  Remember all of the short-term goals that you have met, and you will be more successful.
• Build a support system of friends and family members that are typically motivated.  By keeping like-minded people close to you, you will become motivated by just being in their presence.