Create A Personal ‘Fitness Mantra’ To Stay Motivated To Work Out

On those days you second guess yourself for setting a 6am alarm to hit the gym, or skip happy hour in favour of a run, come up with and recite your own fitness personal mantra. Since it will be based on your own ideals and values, it’s a powerful reminder to keep you motivated.

Image by Moyan_Brenn.

A mantra is a sacred word, phrase, sound or a group of words in Sanskrit that is normally used in meditation and spiritual activities. It doesn’t need to make literary sense, but it’s often spiritually and personally meaningful. The rhythmic om that is uttered during yoga sessions is one example.

Ideally, your personal mantra would be created from your deepest values or what you want to achieve, and then condensed into a word that inspires self-awareness, confidence and positivity. Greatist’s article sums it up as your “one word pep talk”, but really, it can be anything. Here’s what you do:

1. Review your biggest achievements.
2. Rate each item from one to 10.
3. Select one item that makes you feel the most confident, self-assured and strong.
4. Condense it into one word.
5. Use this one word daily.

I made one for myself too. Even though I’ve been working out for ages, I need to kick myself in the rump to jump-start my workout these days. So, I’d think about how strong and independently capable I feel that I can lug my 30+ kilograms worth of luggage through the streets of Tokyo by myself; or be fit enough to walk kilometres and kilometres to discover new wonders without feeling too beat, for example. This reminds me of the video game Legend of Zelda, where a lot of it is exploring new places (with epic music playing).

Now my one-word mantra is Zelda.

Your personal mantra can be a phrase if you want it to be. You can use it at any time to be reminded of why you want to achieve something, or when you simply want to summon more positivity and motivation. The beauty of this is that you can create one for any area of your life at any time. Let us know in the comments what your personal mantra is, fitness or otherwise.

How to Come Up With a Kick-Arse Personal Mantra [Greatist]