The best thing about setting goals is achieving them, or even getting on the right road to achieve them. No matter how big or small, it’s extremely important that we set ourselves goals in our lives – from the small day-to-day achievements to the bigger life-changing moments.

When it comes to exercise, setting personal goals is the key to succeeding and maintaining your fitness for life. For many, starting a new exercise regime can be a little daunting at first, and without understanding why they are doing it or what they want to achieve from it, it soon falls by the wayside. January sees a huge increase in the numbers of gym membership, but by March, many people who given up going and end up paying their monthly membership for the rest of the year. Not only is this is a terrible waste of your money, it’s a waste of your good intentions and potential to get fit and healthy. But by setting yourself some attainable goals beforehand, and giving yourself something to work towards – things could have been different. Here are some tips that can help you to discover what it is that motivates you so that you’re on the road to scoring all your personal goals!

What motivates you?
The first step in achieving exercise motivation is to ask yourself what goals you want from yourself. Do you want to lose 10 pounds? 20 pounds? Or do you just want to tone your body? The next question to ask yourself is what are you going to gain from these goals? If you like the answers you’re getting from these questions, then you are half way to exercise motivation!

Are you better at exercising alone or in a group?
Sometimes, having a friend or a group to encourage you to keep going makes all the difference to your participation. When you get home from work and you have to choose between lying on the coach watching Coronation Street or putting on your trainers and going for a 30 minute walk, it could be that knock on the door from your walking partner that helps you choose the latter.

When setting goals for exercise motivation, try not to set them too high.
Don’t set a goal to lose 3 stone, unless you can afford to lose 3 stone! Don’t set a goal to run 5 miles a day if you have never run a mile before. Be realistic in your goal setting. This is so important in this process. The goals have to be both possible and realistic for you to be able to achieve them.

After the goals are set, write down what steps you are going to have to take to reach them.
For example, if you want to tone up and lose weight, maybe you could also make changes to your diet and lifestyle. Do you need to give up that second cappuccino in the mornings? What about the packet of crisps at 11am? Can you walk to work or lunch, instead of driving? Once you come up with a plan to change the way you do things, it will be easier to lose weight.

Reward yourself at every step.
If you are aiming for one final goal – maybe to fit into your size 12 dress to that wedding next July or to the run a marathon next year – set yourself some ‘mini’ goals along the way. Treat yourself to a relaxing facial or haircut when you lose the first five pounds or aim to go out to dinner to celebrate the first time you run five miles.

Be creative with your exercise routine.
Getting on a treadmill in a lonely room isn’t going to keep you motivated for very long. Maybe you need to put a television in the room with the treadmill. Treat yourself to a new upbeat dance CD to listen to while you exercise and maybe find a new route outdoors for your walk or run.

Commitment
Is the last and final stage to achieving exercise motivation. Maybe you have lost ten pounds and are starting to eat a healthier diet, so now you have to commit to doing it. Make time every day and don’t let temptations get in the way. It is all in the will power! Being consistent with your exercise routine is priority. It will soon become habitual to exercise and you won’t have to push yourself as hard. It takes our bodies three weeks to establish a new habit so once you’ve gotten over this hard perios, things should get a little easier.

Remember that every little bit counts.
Even if you’re not especially in the mood for swimming/ walking/ going to the gym, tell yourself that 10-15 minutes is better than nothing atall. And once you get going, you’ll probably do a little more than that anyway!

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