Motivation

The hardest part of living an athlete lifestyle is motivation. That is because you have to keep on the right path day after day, month after month and year after year. It's OK to stray off the path occasionally to eat a decadent dinner, be lazy for a few days and rest or just take short trips to pursue other interests. But the motivation gets you back on the path to your healthy active lifestyle after your side trips. It sounds easy and actually it can be, but it does require some thought and planning on your part.

Motivation can and does come in many forms. Your friends are a wonderful source, but you have to choose friends wisely. You want and need to be around people that make you a better person and not hang with people who drag you down into their own pity parties. Someone who is positive and happy will be a good influence on you and keep you believing that tomorrow really can be better.

There is a limitless amount of motivation on the Internet for most anything and everything, especially athletics. I often just read some of the quotations that my positive Facebook and WISH friends have found and posted, to get my own head straight before going out to do my miles or going to work. If your in the right frame of mind everything goes better, the day just seems to flow.

Motivation must also come from within. You have to have dreams and goals that you want to achieve and a path that you can map with land marks along the way. They can be a certain body weight, times for going a specific distance or just finishing an event like a marathon. They can also be lowering your blood pressure, stress level, cholesterol and resting heart rate without drugs.

Many times during the day we have to make choices, the good choices are easier if your not looking for the easy way or the comfortable way. But each time we make the healthy choice we have made ourselves tougher and mentally stronger.

Thanks for reading.