Having a hard time staying motivated with your health & wellness goals? Here are 8 tips to help you stay on track.

Step 1: Visualize what you want

Picture yourself attaining the goal you want to achieve.

Step 2: Use all of your senses when visualizing

As you visualize, start to pay attention to the sounds associated with your picture. Also, notice how you feel in that picture. This feeling should be both emotional and physical. How does your body feel fitting back into those skinny jeans? How does that make you feel, emotionally? The more details you have in your picture, the more you are sending a message to your brain that this is really happening. Before you know it, it really happens.

Step 3: Write down your goals

Writing down your goals is a great way to stay focused on what you want. You can place your goals where you see them daily. Some people also just like to write their goals then put them away. That’s fun, because when you go back weeks, month, or even years later and read your goals you are amazed at what you have accomplished.

Step 4: Believe in your goals

Choose goals that you truly believe in your heart that you will attain. Understand, as humans, we tend to send ourselves “doubting messages” when we think of goals we want. Acknowledge what that is, just doubt, and mentally set it aside. Think about what you want. Believe in yourself and in your goal. Strive for it one step at a time.

Step 5: Challenge yourself

Choose goals that you know in your heart you can attain. With that, make sure you are challenging yourself. It’s that stretching moment in our lives that keep us motivated. It tough to be challenged, yet it feels great! Just to know you’re always stretching to go a little further is motivating in itself. It keeps you from getting bored and stagnant.

Step 6: Get support from friends and family

Tell those that love and care for you about your goals. Simply talking about it will motivate you (as well as inspire them). They can hold you accountable, encourage you, and celebrate with you.

Step 7: Strive for continued progress

As you accomplish each goal, replace it with a new goal that will push you to another level. This goes back to keeping yourself challenged, and avoiding boredom. When we find ourselves at a stagnant place in our lives, we tend to start to go backwards. Always give yourself something for which to strive

Step 8: Reward yourself for accomplishments

To stay motivated, give yourself a reward for what you have accomplished. This moment of celebration is so important. It’s called positive reinforcement, and it feels so good that you want to set another goal and celebrate it again. Rewards can be anywhere from a pat on the back to a week-long vacation.

Reaching your goals does not have to mean hours in the gym. You can express your workout routine and still maximize your results. Below are ways you can get the most out of the time you do dedicate to fitness.

1. Combine Your Upper and Lower Body Exercises -
Cut your strength routine in half by incorporating exercises for several body parts. For example, while performing a lunge, add a set of bicep curls to the movement.

2. Choose Compound Exercises -
Exercises that work several muscle groups simultaneously are more time efficient than isolation exercises, which focus on one major muscle group. Examples of compound exercises include the leg press, squat, chest fly, walking lunge and seated row.

3. Circuit Train -
With minimal equipment, you can set up stations alternating cardio activities with strength training activities. This will keep your heart rate up so that you can get both the aerobic and anaerobic (strength) benefits. A sample circuit might include: jump rope, bicep curls, jumping jacks, push-ups, jogging in place, squats, mini-trampoline exercises and dips. Repeating the circuit up to three times is guaranteed to boost your metabolism in under 30 minutes.

4. Interval Train -
Using active rest and work ratios will allow you to workout at the upper and lower levels of your heart rate zone and optimize calories expended. You can start with brisk walking for 2 minutes and jogging for 30 seconds. Then progress to 2 minutes of brisk walking and 1 minute of jogging. Eventually progress to two minutes of each and ultimately to spending less time walking and more time jogging. If you are already a runner, alternate your running with spints where you accelerate with a burst of energy and then taper back to a run.

5. Increase Your Intensity -
By picking up the pace, you can cover more miles and ultimately burn more calories in less time. You may need to work up to higher intensities gradually, but you will become more efficient in the process and be able to cut back on the duration of your exercise sessions. Ditto for you strength training workout. If you keep each set intense, you can get the most benefit and eliminate the need for several warm up sets.

6. Incorporate Mind & Body Exercises - You can get a lot of mileage out of choosing a discipline like yoga or pilates. Not only will you get the physical benefits of a well-toned body, but you will also enjoy the flexibility, relaxation and stress-relieving enhancements as well.

7. Make Fitness a Lifestyle Change -
By eliminating some of life’s modern conveniences and getting more physical, you can expend up to an additional 800 calories a week. That can add up to 11 pounds lost at the end of a year. So, start taking the stairs — even if you work on the 10th floor! It will get easier. Park your car in the last spot and join the kids on the playground. You never know when the opportunity will arise to get your heart rate up.