Courage to Get Motivated

Perhaps the greatest challenge that you’ll face in losing those inches and unwanted pounds or adding the quality muscle mass and improved cardiovascular capacity is FEAR. Specifically, I’m referring to the fear of not living up to your own expectations. I think this is why so many people never get started in the first place. The fear of not reaching our goals is so great that we never develop the courage to challenge ourselves. But when you conquer the fear of failure, you develop the habit of courage. You get an unshakable sense of self-confidence that opens up a whole new world of possibilities for you.

The starting point in overcoming this fear and getting the courage to reach your goals is to clearly identify what factors are holding us back. Have we mentally conditioned ourselves to be afraid of taking decisive action because we have failed in the past? This tends to trap us, holding us back from making another attempt. How many times have those gimmick diets or worthless miracle pills failed to deliver on their promises? Those fads and gimmicks always over promise and under deliver. Or maybe it’s a lack of having accurate information. Without a good understanding of solid fitness “truths”, we tend to be insecure about what we should expect to achieve. Don’t buy into the myths. Instead, do some research that has solid science backing it up.

Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear”. We will always be afraid of not reaching our goals, but we need to learn to accept that fear and harness it to give us the courage to succeed. First, we need to develop the courage to BEGIN. Try something new and different and get out of your “comfort zone”. Start lifting weights even though you have never done it before. You already know what’s not working, so move on to something else. Set some clear goals and objectives, develop a plan of action and get busy.

Next, develop the courage to KEEP GOING after you get started. Persistence is courage in action. When you have a plan and work it, you’ll become more patient and learn that results don’t occur overnight. Even when you hit a few stumbling blocks or hurdles, or experience a setback, you will be much more likely to stay focused. You will make some modifications and tell yourself that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. If it took you ten years to gain those unwanted pounds, you won’t take them off overnight.

Also, you will gain the courage to CONQUER WORRY. The antidote for worry is a decisive action plan towards reaching a goal. When you are busy focusing on where you are going and where you want to be, you won’t have the time to worry about “what if I don’t get there”. You know you are doing what you have to and before you know, you’ll be seeing the results and you will no longer have any reason to worry.

The mastery of fear and the development of courage are absolute necessities if you really want to reach your goals. As you march into 2020 and all of the great opportunities that a New Year can offer, become “FEARLESS”. Continue to set new challenges and have the confidence knowing that you will succeed. And success is a mark of a courageous thinker.