Moving in the right direction

How do we know if we are making progress towards our goals? Most of the time we get so focused on reaching the end result we forget to enjoy the journey. So how does one stay motivated to continue? Waking up early to go to the gym before our day starts. You eat your tuna fish with crackers and hard boiled eggs for lunch one more time. Or the hardest one of all taking your kids out for ice cream and you get a bottle of water instead.
I've come up with 5 ideas to help stay motivated when you want to throw in the towel when you think your stalled and not making any progress.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
You have earned every ounce of what you have at this moment in your life. In every area of your life. There's no one to blame or to praise but you. It comes down to the choices you make or don't make. It's not your trainers fault your girlfriends or spouses fault.
If your stalled take a step back and look at the situation, ask yourself. Am I doing all I can? Honestly evaluate what you have been doing. Did you slack off during your workouts spend too much time chatting with your workout partner or flirting with the gym hottie. Then ask yourself what is one thing I can change right now that will get me back on target to my goal. Then do that one thing.
PAY THE PRICE
You can not have an extraordinary physique without putting fourth an extraordinary effort. If you want a cover model body you must be willing to pay the price. The blood sweat and tears of an average effort will not be enough. If you decide the price is too high you have to decide that and then revaluate your goals. Know that you made a choice to lower your standards. You get what you pay for.
ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Remember your fitness goals are a journey you didn’t get out of shape over night and you wont get your 6-pack overnight either. It's going to take time to get there but every good choice you make will bring you one step closer to your goals. Take the little wins you got up and went to the gym instead of rolling over and hitting the snooze button one more time. You stick to your nutrition plan when you could have easily rationalized the donut on your way to the office as your cheat meal. Pushing for one more rep. Not stopping on your run because your lungs are burning and your legs are on fire and all you can manage is a jog that if its any slower you'd travel back in time. All this adds up. Rome was not built in a day and neither will your physique. Trust in the process.
KEEP A LOG
Document your workouts before you leave the gym . The number of sets and reps you did as well as the weight you used. Write down how you felt when you started your workout and what you felt like when it's done. Review your log from the week before so you are clear on what needs to happen during this workout. Now is not the time to be guessing as to what you need to do to make improvements. Know before you go. Reviewing your old logs is also a good way to check your progress and to keep you motivated when your feeling stuck and to make sure you're headed in the right direction.
REST
Make sure you take enough time to recover. It's when we are resting that our bodies repair and grow new muscle tissue. There's 24 hours in a day the hour spent working out is vital but so is planning our recovery 85-90% of your gains will come not from your workouts but from your diet and recovery plan. Devote at least 8 hours to sleep every day. Plan your workouts so you are not overworking body parts. Plan a rest week every 12-16 weeks. This is still an active week It's not a time to sit on the couch and watch chick flicks and down junk food. Do bodyweight exercises and low to medium intensity cardio during this week. You'll be surprised when you get back to your workouts how much stronger you feel and excited you are to be back to the gym.