As much a part of the human condition as falling in love, habits, like our favorite aunt, exist only to smother us in comfort, giving us reprieve and safe haven from worry and concern.

First, we need to recognize that willpower is not the power to say, “I won’t.” It’s the ability to say, “I won’t… for the next ten minutes.” Although that alteration appears minor, there is considerable control applied by appending the standard definition, since I might not believe I can resist “for a long time,” but could accept the fact that a few minutes is doable.

It’s easy to let your excuses discourage you from improving your body. It doesn’t have to be like that! Sometimes you just need a little push in the right direction, and what better way to do that than to debunk your lame excuses?

We might not like the choice. We might not be immediately aware of the choice.But we are never stuck with only one option.

Take a look around you and you will see that many people are turning obese. But you do not have to be one of them. As long as you set your mind to that necessary change, you can save yourself. So how do you motivate yourself to change your ways? Apart from exercising, you can also use the steps listed here in other tasks that you might be having problems doing.

Running through rivers, carrying ten pound bags of sand through tires, climbing a rope and going up six different hills for nearly a hundred yards at an 80% incline is enough to make you test your endurance and mindset.

Motivation in any form can keep you energized and move your goals in the direction of weight loss. The key point here is to be really consistent in your work out regime. When we start going to the gym, we are usually very excited and motivated, but slowly the motivation part fades away and it becomes like a heavy routine task. It is a challenge to keep yourself motivated and you should keep few key points in mind.

Attaining excellence lets us evolve to new levels. Chasing perfection however, leads us to a frustrated place of stagnation. Excellence is much more forgiving, and allows us to learn from those areas in which we currently lack. It inspires us to reach further.

This podcast discusses the difference between excellent and perfect. It’s based on an interview with Paul Kingsman on March 13.

Whether we actively make a decision, or we say to ourselves, “Let’s see how this goes for a little while longer,” we are still making a decision.

Rarely – if at all – does anyone WANT to change. The results of the change are what actually motivate us. Keep your focus on those.

It’s almost always frustrating when we compare where we are to where we want to go. It’s better to compare where you are to where you started. That way, you’ll see the progress.

Richard Bandler is one of the two co-creators of the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) talks about new years resolutions