When you first get into the groove of working out and eating healthy, you feel like motivation comes easy. You’ve made a promise to yourself that you’re going to take care of yourself, no matter how busy your work week is or anything going on in your personal life. Your days are packed with your job and thinking about your family and driving your kids to activities, but you know that training is important.

However, motivation can change and wane over time, and before you know it, you start skipping workouts.

Read to find out about five common factors that affect motivation, along with a step to overcome each factor. You’ll get back into the studio in no time, feeling ready to meet all of your fitness goals.

Factor #1: Feeling Tired

One factor that might affect your motivation is feeling tired. You have a list of reasons for why today’s 5:30 p.m. workout class isn’t going to happen: you were up half an hour later than usual last night, you want to go home and watch TV, you just don’t feel like it.

When you feel too tired to work out, you can overcome this by reminding yourself why you’re doing this. How do you feel after completing a workout? You feel happy (thanks to endorphins), proud, and you’re always in a better mood.

Remember that you’re going to feel better after.

You don’t need to push yourself 100 percent on these days that you’re really tired, but you should still train. This way, you stay dedicated to your workouts and your goals.

Factor #2: Feeling Sorry For Yourself/You Want To Do Something More “Fun”

The second factor affecting motivation is that you feel sorry for yourself and like you’re always busy at your job and then training. You want more time to yourself, and you want to do something more “fun” like going to happy hour.

When you feel unmotivated and would rather do anything other than train, you can decide that your workout is self-care. Remember that you’re taking care of yourself and that this is something wonderful for your mind and body.

You can also schedule both your workouts and your social plans into a paper agenda, which will serve as a great reminder that you’re making both your physical health and your social life a priority. You won’t feel like you’re missing out.

FOMO (fear of missing out) is something that many people think about. Although it’s true that you will have to make some sacrifices to keep up your healthy lifestyle, having healthy social relationships is also important. You may be physically healthy if you make it to the studio 3-5 times a week, but what about seeing the people that you care about? Hanging out with your friends will bring you happiness, so don’t forget to treat your social life seriously.

Factor #3: Feeling Insecure/Worry You Can’t Achieve Enough

When we look at this factor -- feeling insecure and worrying that you can’t achieve enough during training -- we have to look at self-determination. When you have self-determination, you’re mentally healthy and strong as you feel like you’re capable of running your life the way that you want to. Instead of feeling like life is something that simply happens to you, which can be frustrating, you know that you run the show.

When you feel insecure and worry that you can’t achieve enough in the studio, you have a lack of self-determination. When this is why you feel unmotivated, you can set a goal each week. Check in with yourself each Monday and decide what you want to achieve during training in the next week, and then ask yourself the following Monday whether you did it. This could mean lifting heavier weights, deciding to have a more positive attitude about a tough workout, or maintaining intensity for longer than you ever have before.

This will definitely change how you feel.

Factor #4: Feeling Guilt For Taking The Time To Workout/Feeling You Don’t Have Any Time

Do you feel guilty that you’re going to the studio when you have a family and responsibilities? Do you feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do anything that you want, including fitting that exercise in?

In order to stop feeling guilty, talk to your family about your goals and why you love training. Once they understand how much being active and healthy means to you, they will reassure you that this is a good thing for you.

The truth is that you do have time to work out. People often say if you have time to watch TV, you can fit in a training session, and that is definitely true.

When you feel like there’s no time to work out, you can do this: schedule 3-5 workouts each week. You don’t have to train five days every week if you go through busy periods, but as long as you stay consistent, you will see that even getting three workouts in a week is an outstanding achievement.

Factor #5: Feeling Like You’re Not Seeing Results

A fifth factor affecting motivation would be feeling like you’re not seeing results. Maybe you’ve been working out for six months to a year now, and you don’t feel like you’re gaining as much muscle as you hoped, or your clothing size has stayed the same. When this is how you feel, you can decide to start viewing your workouts as a way of de-stressing and feeling good about yourself instead of focusing on physical results.

What’s a great way to do this? Work with a coach. You can redirect your goals and have some accountability and someone to cheer you on. Set a goal that is about feeling stronger or getting faster, or working on cardio endurance.

You can also take a self-assessment to see what’s missing. It could be proper nutrition, managing your stress, or self-confidence. Once you do these things, you can track your progress every time that you get into the studio, and you’ll notice a difference.

If you want to Become Unstoppable, book a session with our coaches today and find the location that works for you. You can also follow us on Instagram for daily motivation.