Maintaining motivation. Please have your say.

[Adam I'mnotmoody]

Maybe the biggest test of any aspiring martial artist is to maintain a constant motivation.
I say this regarding these times, with so many distractions and a whole world worth of worries at your finger tips including your own localised friend and family issues.
You may have children, old habits, a troubled past or even a lack of faith or respect for yourself.
There are a thousand reasons why one should not bother, chill out or create a whatsthepointism.

This thread is here for people to share how they motivate themselves, the techniques they use and the best ways to push through the brick wall that is most often of their own construction.

Please share as your advice could make a better person of someone.

[Adam I'mnotmoody]

So i'll start,
One of my favourite and most effective techniques is "The 5 second rule". It rarely fails, and i encourage you to try it. It goes as follows.
The 5 Second Rule is simple. If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it. ... If you do not take action on your instinct to change, you will stay stagnant. You will not change.

[Ljgale]

Something i put a post about previously in the forum is the 5 minute diary - first thing in the morning write 1 thing you are going to do today to improve each of the following areas of your life: family, work and your passion (martial arts training for me) and at the end write how you achieved it or what you will change to achieve it tomorrow.

Doing something for each area is important to bring balance to your life.

At the end of the year review and see how far you have come.

[BenWillJones]