Getting and Staying Motivated to Live a Healthier, Happier Life

Living a healthier, happier life is often easier said than done. Thus, this post is intended to help you get motivated and stay motivated. One of my favorite quotes is by Ryan P. Allis and it states, "A positive action left undone loses the magic benefit of time: compounding. Do it now." Below is the six step process that I follow and recommend to people looking to live a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life.

1. Set Healthy, Motivating Goals- Setting healthy, motivating goals begins by creating a vision of how you view your overall health. For example, my vision for my health is as follows, "Stay fit, eat healthy, and have fun doing it. Mix up your workouts in order to keep your body guessing and improve your overall fitness." Once you have established your vision, you must create goals and milestones that will enable you to "live" your vision. These goals should be difficult, yet attainable in order to avoid becoming discouraged. The final step to setting healthy, motivating goals is to write them down. This simple action will set you apart from most people and will give you a greater likelihood of achieving your goals. Especially if you post them on your refrigerator, next to the TV remote, or other potential "areas of weakness." When creating your vision and setting your goals it is important to remember that everyone's body is created differently, so I would recommend that you consult with your physician prior to making any drastic changes to your diet or workout routine.
2.  Share Your Vision and Goals- Now that you have created your vision and goals it is important to share them with as many people as possible. There is no greater motivator than having people ask about your progress. Plus, you may unintentionally motivate someone else to take action as well.
3. Start Living Your Vision- This step is rather self explanatory. Take action! The hardest part is getting started. The following quote by Confucius sums this up by stating, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Take the first step! 
4. Record Your Progress- Many people have good intentions and they begin to follow through with their initial goals, but their failure to record their progress prevents them from eventually achieving their goals and living their vision. Fortunately, technology has made it easier and cooler to record your progress. Active.com has a free training log that is similar to a traditional log, except that it is on the internet. Meanwhile, dailymile.com is more like a combination of twitter, facebook, and your traditional training log. I just recently started using the dailymile, and I am very impressed. Not only can you record your progress, but you can build a network of supporters to help motivate and hold you accountable.
5. Review Your Progress- I recommend that you treat your training log much like a bank statement, meaning that you should review it on a regular basis in order to know whether or not you are on track to achieve your goals. This will allow you to see what is and is not working and make adjustments to your workouts and daily habits according to your progress.
6. Reward Your Progress- Reward yourself for reaching various milestones along the path to living your vision. I'm not saying that you should go to Hawaii after every breakthrough or achievement, but you should set aside time to reflect and reward yourself for a job well done. Be creative with your rewards!

This six step process should help to provide some guidelines for getting and staying motivated to live a healthier, happier life. It is important for you to know that there is no easy route to getting and staying healthy, but it should be fun. View your journey with optimism and hope, attempting to seize every opportunity that presents itself. Good luck and enjoy the journey!