We’ve got goals to achieve. We’ve got mountains to climb. Even the most disciplined athlete can use mental markers reminding them what they are sweating for.
The grind to get where we want in our fitness can sometimes be more in our head than our muscles. Whether you run, bike, swim or do pilates we are doing it with an end in mind. We want measurable results.
10 Quotes To Help You Get Results
Here are some inner mantras to unleash resilience and fortitude to get there.
1. No dress rehearsal, this is our life. -Gord Downie
Dress rehearsal means there’s time. The true performance isn’t until tomorrow. There’s no paying audience. Scrambled lines or breaking character isn’t a huge deal.
But if we live like we believe this, the joke is on us. The only person we are lying to is ourselves. We are in character at every moment, but which one?
Are we the hero or heroine that conquers what we are faced with? Or we are the villain, and help to create the chaos in our lives?
Only you can decide which role you will take.
Are you the kind of person who with one minute left slows down thinking it’s over? Or speeds up thinking it’s almost over, how much more can I do?
This is your life, and only you can decide.
2. Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching -C.S. Lewis
Without an audience to applaud, it’s easy to let things slide. If you demolished a bag of M & M’s on the way home from work, who would know?
No gym owner is going to call you asking you why you aren’t coming and plead with you to take a class for your own good. They’ll happily take your monthly membership fee without a fuss.
Integrity is the moral muscle to follow through on what you told yourself you must do. If it wasn’t going to be hard to accomplish, there would be no reason to make a commitment.
But just like our physical muscles, we can develop our integrity. Moment by moment we can keep the promises we’ve made to ourselves. Just focus on the goals for today. Reaching the summit of Mount Everest isn’t climbed mile by mile, but step by step.
What’s your summit? Be inspired by that feeling of reaching it, put it in front of you, especially in between you and those M &M’s.
3. The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails. -William Arthur Ward
There is going to be wind. In fact, I promise you there will be powerful, cold winds attempting to pull you away from your goals. The pessimist will whine there is no sense in trying, conditions are too rough.
“I don’t know how”, “I don’t have the equipment”, “there’s not enough time”, their excuses are endless. And the results they have in their life show it
The optimist does the same thing, but with different reasoning. The optimist waits for the wind to diminish, the waters to smooth. Then they’ll set sail. The weather will be favorable tomorrow. They become a professional procrastinator. The result is a life on the shore.
Our lives are churning oceans of circumstances both good and bad. Tides come in and tides go out. Opportunities for growth are in the churning, not when the waters are still.
The realist has a deep understanding that ideal conditions don’t exist. They don’t rely on external forces to get out of their way, but instead adjust to sail accordingly. They summon their inner strength and are exhilarated by the waves coming at them.
One wave crashed and breaks against the bow, then another. Wave by wave they tell themselves “I can do this!” until they’ve reached their destination.
How do you need to adjust your sail to achieve your goals?
Did you just find out your babysitter needs you to pick your child up early and your quick trip to the gym after work is canceled? What can you do instead? Take the stairs? Workout during lunch hour? Go for a run with the stroller? A quick but rigorous body workout at home?
It might not be exactly what you planned. But a little creative sail adjusting will help you become who you want to be. You are wise enough to know this life isn’t perfect. Let that wave crash against the bow, smile, and relish in the fact you sailed right over it.
4. It always seems impossible, until it’s done -Nelson Mandela
There’s a reason our jaws drop and we jump up to celebrate when an athlete obtains a world record. We watch the replay wide eyed over and over again. Because we think it couldn’t be done.
It was impossible to do better than what we thought was the absolute best. But the new record holder just proved us wrong.
For years, the four minute mile was considered physically impossible. Many athletes had tried and failed. On May 6,1954 Roger Bannister proved it could be done. The athletic world was in awe.
But he didn’t even hold the title of being the only man that could run that fast for long. John Landry ran it just as fast only two months later. Now the four minute mile is the gold standard for male professional middle distance runners. One man did what seemed impossible, making it possible for countless others.
What limits have you consciously or unconsciously created in your own mind? You could never do as many push-ups as your coworker.
What? Why not? Maybe not today, but with some diligence and determination you could.
What is it that you see as impossible but in truth is entirely possible? How did that unwelcome limiting belief start playing in your head to begin with? Tell those impossible type thoughts to take a long walk off a short pier. Make a plan to do what those limiting thoughts said you couldn’t. Ask your coworker how he got there. What seems impossible today will eventually become your warm up.
5. Comparison is the thief of joy -Theodore Roosevelt
The fastest way to smother the fire of motivation, is to compare yourself to others. It’s great to look at others to see what you could attain. To be inspired by what they’ve done.
However, it needs to end there. That is their journey, not yours.
A beginner’s 10 push-ups are no less inspiring than the pro’s 100. They are on completely different roads. Their personal bests are miles apart.
Or are they?
In numbers, yes. In effort, no. Best is still best. It might not be a world record, but it could be a record for the beginner. There was a point in each of our lives when we couldn’t even walk, not that we remember.
Watching our sibling and parents move around so swiftly compared to our crawling only fueled us to learn how. Don’t despise your small beginnings. Record what you did today and keep pushing forward. Your goal is not forever beyond your reach. It’s closer than you think.
6. The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you’ve come. -Mick Kremling
Regrets steal our energy and significantly slow our progress forward. We can’t change the past. We all wish we had taken better care of ourselves when we were younger.
Each of us have a bad habit we wish we’d never had started. We had no idea it was going to veer us off track to where we are now.
What if we had just said yes to this one thing and no to the other? Regrets are ubiquitous to being alive. But, regret can turn into a form of excuses if we aren’t careful.
Forgive yourself and march forward. Lesson learned. The best thing you can do is not sign up for that mistake again. You are wiser and stronger now. Today you can make a better choice.
We can’t undo the past. We can only act right now. Record what you did to progress every day. In a year you’ll have a record of a life well lived, choices well made. You’ll have buried those regrets with consistent forward growth.
7. If you’re persistent, you will get it. If you’re consistent you will keep it. -Harvey Mackay
A very specific goal can spark a fire that generates major momentum. The results can be astounding.
How motivated is the newly engaged bride to work out and eat right? Extremely.
She loses 40lbs to fit into the dress she’s dreamed of since a little girl twirling on her front lawn with her friends. A year later she couldn’t even hope to zip that dress up with two corsets sucking everything in.
If only she would have maintained even a portion of the persistence it took to fit beautifully in that dream dress. She’d probably still fit in it today.
It’s not a bad thing to have a clear cut incentive. In fact, go for it. Dangle that carrot in front of you until it’s yours! But also make some goals for the long haul.
Decide to not be fit for now, but fit for always. Fitness isn’t just about looking great on the beach. It’s also about giving our bodies the care and respect they deserve.
We can avoid countless health issues by doing so. Consistently treat it well. Aim to be able to enjoy having a healthy, capable body every day, not just for one day. You’ll always be grateful you did.
8. No grit, no pearl -unknown
Contrary to popular belief, a pearl doesn’t come from a grain of sand irritating the oyster. It’s usually a parasite irritation the oyster. It covers the offender in a substance called nacre, the reflective iridescent coating we admire.
True pearls are highly esteemed and expensive. They are rare, and take years to develop.
So what’s your parasite? A parasite exploits its host of energy and nutrients. What’s irritating or exploiting you? Aging? Recovery from an accident? Or someone simply scoffing you could never reach your goal?
Use it.
Every trip to the gym, every day you eat clean, you smooth layer after layer of nacre over that irritant. Consistently cover it with more layers. Until all you see is that beautiful, priceless iridescence. Everyone will see your progress. Only you will know the price paid for each layer to get to there.
9. Work hard in silence, let success be your noise. -Frank Ocean
We can’t help but love compliments. Who doesn’t love that type of encouragement? Encouragement can help us keep going. But don’t let it be your only source of inspiration.
We all know that person who’s posted way more gym selfies than actual days spent at the gym. The only person they’re really lying to is themselves. Posting a selfie might have built up their ego, but it builds nothing towards their physique.
Less talk, more action. Get those compliments naturally from people seeing your results, not from fishing for them on social media.
10. I believe in the person I want to become -Lana Del Rey
When you boil down motivation to push forward, it’s truly only you vs you. Who you were in the past against who you want to be in the future. Envision yourself as the person you want to become.
What does the future you do that you admire? This projecting into the future type exercise can help you hone in on habits you need to start as well as reveal sabotaging ones you need to stop.
Take some time to write down not only the body you want but the other characteristics you will have developed once you reach those physically goals. You’re going to have inner strength you never knew you had. Stamina that surprised you. You had to get more organized so that you had time to workout.
The most attractive people consistently grow physically and mentally. Who do you know that inspires you not just with their fitness, but how they live their entire lives? Ask them how they did it. Not to be like them, but to get your mind turning on how to become the best you.
So which of these fitness motivational quotes spoke most strongly to you? Take it. Use it as fuel. Ignite your inner warrior to push not just through barriers, but past them. Let the world be in awe of what you’ve accomplished.
Dorothy Ann is a freelance writer, devoted to discovering how to be the healthiest she can possibly be. She’s passionate about helping others do the same. You can find her at hunt4healthy.me