6 Effective ways to stay motivated during your health journey

Achieving goals that transform your life takes time. So how do you stay on track, especially when challenges come up? Here are a few tips to help you generate the motivation you need to keep going for your goals.

1. Create a vision board.

Visualization is powerful. Having a clear picture of what achieving your goals means to you could help make those goals a reality. Your vision board can have a theme, such as “health,” and you can add as many pictures as you’d like of anything that reminds you of your goal. Whether it’s physical or visual, place the board somewhere you can see it every day so you stay connected to your goal. It will help you focus and put in the work, even when it feels hard.

2. Surround yourself with like-minded, positive people.

Ever heard the saying, “you are who you surround yourself with”? Being around positive, goal-driven people influences your mood and drive. If everyone around you is working on bettering themselves, it makes it easier for you to get motivated to do the same!

3. Hold yourself accountable—or find someone who will.

Holding yourself accountable is key when it comes to motivation. It’s hard to muster up the motivation to complete a goal when you hit roadblocks or if life gets in the way of letting you show up for yourself. If you need help staying on track, find a friend or family member who is willing to check in with you regularly and support you in staying focused on your goal. They can help you talk through the things that are holding you back. You can also experiment with a reward system. One way is to give your friend or family member $20; they get to keep it if you don’t reach your goal by a certain time.

4. Set new goals and review goals often.

Setting new goals is an important part of motivation because it keeps the momentum going. Instead of stopping once you hit your original goal, brainstorm some new ideas of what to work on next. Or set a “stretch goal” and push yourself beyond your first goals. Also, reviewing your goals frequently helps make sure they are still attainable and realistic for your current lifestyle. If your goal is to lose 8 pounds in a month, but in that same month is a holiday and your birthday, assess if that should really be the goal for that time frame. It’s hard to stay motivated if you know the goal isn’t realistic!

5. Increase your positive self-talk.

A positive inner dialogue is important if you have a challenging goal or a goal that will take time to accomplish. Your brain believes what you tell it, so if you are constantly saying “I can’t do this,” or “I am never going to get there,” you will actually start believing that about yourself. It’s hard to be motivated to change if you believe you can’t! Changing the dialogue to things like “I CAN do this,” and “I am going to get there,” will influence your mindset and your beliefs, which in turn increases motivation.

6. Remember your why.

There will be moments where it gets hard to reach a goal. Instead of losing motivation and giving up, remind yourself why you got started in the first place. If it helps, write your “why” down and post it somewhere you can see it every day to keep you motivated to keep pushing forward. “A year from now you will wish you had started today.”—Kayla Lamb

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