‘People often say that motivation doesn’t last’ a very wise man once uttered ‘well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it every day.’ It always seems simple, but motivation really is key to achieving your goals yet it’s a tricky beast to conquer. Even the strongest willed find their enthusiasm wavering from time to time and it is in these moments that we lose sight of why we began in the first place.

Occasionally, it is prudent to listen to your body when the laziness kicks in. If you have been overdoing it on the sweat sessions it could be urging you to take a much-needed recoup. More often than not, though, the human body can benefit from a jolt when uninspired minds take over. We have a few tricks at our disposal to incite a boost of motivation back into our healthy living for when the mind says ‘no’, to keep that slacking to a minimum. Here are our favourite ways to stay on track for when that pesky motivator muscle has stopped functioning:

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
For those of you who like to make your efforts tangible in the form of data, this one’s for you. The Garmin Vivofit fitness band is the latest must-have wearable to keep your motivation fired up through its constant stream of information on your activities, calories and sleep straight to your wrist 24/7. The Vivofit’s goal-setting features mean you can see exactly where you’re nailing your routine, and exactly where you aren’t, thus encouraging you to get the very best from all areas of your wellbeing. At the end of the day you are forced to take stock and re-evaluate, so your achievements and goals are always right where they should be at the forefront of your mind. Garmin Vivofit will automatically adjust your daily goals as you reach your milestones to ensure you are continually progressing. Reaching the end of the day and seeing you missed your daily step goal by just a couple of hundred, or having to log that digestive you dunked into your afternoon coffee is enough to make you truly mindful of your habits and motivated to be your very best.

Instant prompts right there on your wrist combined with visuals including graphs, data via the Garmin Connect app, mean your progress is easily interpreted and you are even able to sync data with that from your other Garmin devices for a full picture of your activity. The app also hosts a network of other health-conscious folk with whom to share your stumbles and successes along your journey and connect with in fitness challenges for some healthy competition. The Garmin Vivofit fitness band is, in essence, a tiny, omnipresent personal trainer and life coach to keep you accountable even at the most un-inspired of times.

KEEP A RECORD
The Daily Greatness Journal (£34.95), or, your master-plan for creating your perfect life, is an holistic yearly diary, goal and appointment planner which offers a dynamic way of staying accountable and self-reflective as a direct route to self-mastery! The beautiful, full-colour book provides structure and guidance to help you make a habit of setting clear intentions and following through with them with encouragement from intermittent motivational quotes and exercises in self-reflection, always with your end goal in mind. The Daily Greatness Journal allows you to identify areas of imbalance in your life that may be blocking your progress and encourages you to remove them in order to make way for positivity and creativity. Broken down into weekly and quarterly check-ins with sections for planning out both short and long term goals, the journal gives you the tools you need to put yourself back in control of your own life plan. The journal’s layout is clear, linear and interactive and, once completed, will become a permanent document of your journey to being the very best version of yourself. (Also available in training and yoga editions for those who want a more fitness-focused plan but with the same attention to mindfulness and creating healthy mental habits to ensure your physical change remains sustainable.)

HAVE A HEALTHY REWARD IN MIND
It’s official. Lululemon has finally answered our prayers and delivered a capsule swimwear range (from £42) to get every hip & healthy lady excited about stripping down for summer. Despite ultimate health and emotional wellness being our overriding goal when it comes to our dedication to the healthy life, we are all human, and the aesthetics are obviously a huge bonus to sticking with the programme. Rather than reward yourself with unhealthy food treats when you reach milestones, why not pick out a piece from Lululemon’s swimwear range to motivate you to keep working on that summer body! Visualisation is an invaluable method of motivation and is often used by athletes to increase performance and concentration. In short, when we visualise an act, our brain creates an impulse telling our neurons to respond to and perform the movement – so what we imagine, we have the power to manifest. Create an image in your head of yourself totally rocking the beach and feeling fabulous in your gorgeous new Lululemon Surf to Sand bikini and refer back to it whenever you are tempted to skip a workout. It is guaranteed to have you heading straight to the gym to get your squat on! Promise yourself a carefully selected piece for each goal you smash and a spray tan to accessorise it. You will never find yourself contemplating switching that run for the sofa and a Netflix boxset ever again!

KEEP IT VARIED
Newly launched in London, ClassPass (£89 p/m), which is a runaway success in the US, aims to ‘make variety your routine’ by making the city’s abundance of group fitness classes more accessible and is a surefire way to give your motivation a swift kick in those activated glutes! The concept magically transforms London into a veritable wonderland of  sweaty opportunity for group fitness lovers and opens up the vast variety of exercise pursuits on offer, so you can find your one true love, or dabble in some flighty fitness flirting! For a fixed monthly price, you can now gain unlimited access (three classes per studio, per month) to more than 180 of London’s best studios including Hip & Healthy favourites Paola’s Body Barre, Psycle, 1Rebel and Frame. Suddenly those classes you have always fancied trying but just haven’t been able to justify paying one-off fees for are open to you. If that doesn’t give your lacking motivation a boost then we don’t know what will!

Words: Rachel Bednarski

Image: Lululemon