Finding motivation to stay on the healthy path can be tough, but CrossFit star Christmas Abbott [1], author of the new book The Badass Life: 30 Amazing Days to a Lifetime of Great Habits — Body, Mind, and Spirit [2], has a tip that she uses to stay motivated every day, reminding her when she wakes up and again before she goes to bed.
Christmas told us in an email interview, "Create a MANTRA! And write it down on your mirror so you can see it every day and say it out loud. You can't just know your mantra; you have to speak it, breathe it, live it. It will help reinforce your efforts and help keep you on track."
Aside from a mantra to keep her inspired, Christmas says, "Another great tool I use is writing down my goals (small and GREAT) on the bathroom mirror underneath my mantra. This reminds me every day that I have work to do and a goal to achieve. When I reach a goal on the list, I don't erase it. I cross a line through it and put the date next to it. That helps me see that I did accomplish something on my list and that the others are possible. It creates a meaningful, daily motivation!"
So get out the Post-it's and Sharpies, lipstick, or window markers and write down a mantra that's meaningful to you. Also jot down one to five goals so every time you look in the mirror; you'll have that littler reminder to keep working hard and never give up!
Here are some mantra ideas:
- The days that break you are the days that make you.
- When you think about quitting, remember why you started.
- Stronger than my excuses.
- Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I'll always get up after I fall. And whether I run, walk, or have to crawl, I'll set my goals high and achieve them all.
- You can do this. You are worth it. You deserve it.
- It's a slow process. Don't make it slower by quitting.
- Grow through what you go through.
- Take your dreams seriously.
- Quitting is not an option.
- One pound at a time.
- If you want something you've never had, you need to do something you've never done.
- Stay positive, work hard, make it happen.
- I am my motivation.
- The harder I work, the better I get.
- I believe in the person I want to become.
- Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit.
- I want to see what happens when I don't give up.
- It comes down to one simple thing: how bad do you want it?