The most important part of determining if you succeed at anything you do in life is if you can stay motivated. If you have no motivation to do something, you probably will not do it. You can use positive or negitive reasons to stay motivated, but it is an essential factor in whether you are successful. The strongest motivators are, anger, fear, necessity, death, pride, love, fun, money, and survival.
The hardest part of exercising is not the physical part, it's knowing how to stay motivated. To stay motivated, you need to focus on the benefits of doing it, or the consequences of not doing it. Make a list of the benefits you will gain from doing the workout, and the consequences of not working out. Put the list where you can see it frequently so it stays on your mind. There can be many benefits you may not think of right away. Things like having to get new clothes as you lose weight, better self esteem, people will notice and comment on how good you look.
Set a big goal. Something like running a 5k race. Set a time for it. Find a race at your final goal time. Register and send in the money. Now make a series of goals to get you there. If you give yourself 2 months, set small goals for ½ mile, 1 mile, 1.5 miles, etc. up to the date. Now you know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it. Subscribe to a magazine, or sign up for online newsletters or tip emails from workout websites. Something to keep it on your mind and you will stay motivated.
If your just starting out, read How to start running, to get you going. After you get farther into the training, it gets easier. You will want to workout, and even look forward to it. Your motivation will sustain itself. You see and feel the results, and other people see the results, the compliments and the feeling you get when you look in the mirror will help you stay motivated, believe in yourself that you can succeed and you will.
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