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You may not feel motivated to exercise because you need to

You may not feel motivated to exercise because you need to lose 100 pounds, but consider reaching your goal in increments of 5 or 10 pounds and rewarding yourself with new workout clothes or a healthy dinner every time you reach one of your mini-goals. University of California researchers found that participants who talked kindly to each other after failing a test spent more time studying before taking another test than participants who were angry or disappointed with their results. Members of the self-compassion group also reported that they were more motivated to view their problems in a positive light when they practiced self-acceptance, which is an important component of self-compassion. Simply put, motivation describes why you do what you do. It is why you control your actions, whether you take a sip from your water bottle because you are thirsty, go for a run because you paid a trainer, or set your alarm because you went to bed too late watching Netflix. So how do you cultivate that inner positivity in yourself? Here are 5 ways to create your own internal and external motivators so you can start taking action right now. ACTION STEP: Every morning before you get out of bed, take two minutes to imagine that you’ve already accomplished something. If you keep telling yourself that you’re tired of feeling fat, fluffy and tired, guess what your brain hears? It hears that you are fat, fluffy and tired, which often causes feelings of anxiety, insecurity or self-pity. In my private practice and with my students and alumni of the Primal Health Coach Institute, I talk a lot about motivation and motivation vs. When you have as many reasons to want to achieve your goal as you don’t, there is an inner conflict that fundamentally keeps you stuck. I explain what motivation is, why you’re stuck, and how you can finally get off your lazy ass and start taking action. You may not always want to get up early to exercise or make a protein-rich breakfast, but there are tactics that will get you there anyway. Or maybe you enjoy exercising every morning, but the thought of attracting the attention of strangers after losing weight is totally unmotivating.