Setbacks and obstacles are the inevitable products of a goal or mission: all of us have experienced things that block the way to what we want to achieve, that get between us and our successes. So how do you deal with obstacles? How do you create motivation for yourself? Is it more than just that warm and fuzzy feeling that you see on those posters with kittens and cute slogans?

Some of the articles on this site address some of the “scientific” aspects of bodily wellness and how to get there. But there's also a lot of thought put into an individual’s “motivation” - their essential inner drive, their mysterious, intangible will that gets them where they want to go, that allows them to renovate their bodies and craft themselves, with determination, into the physical forms that they choose.

With or without lofty language, some basic ideas about fitness can help those who encounter stumbling blocks on the path to success.

Keep things in perspective

One of the most basic strategies for countering obstacles is something that we've repeated time and time again: look at the situation long-term. That means that when you are in the throes of anaerobic muscle pain, you need to know that this pain will pass (also, it can be a good idea to massage your muscles to relieve that pain in the short-term). It means that the day after your second or third fitness workout, you can tell yourself that while you're stumbling around, carrying all of those sore muscles from place to place, you can rely on greater muscle ability in the weeks and months to come.

Invest in the process

This phrase is not a mandate to sink yourself into debt to pursue fitness. What it means is that finding tangible help for a fitness routine can help you with motivation through positive associations and connections to schedules, routines, and equipment. Some of the basic fitness tools that you can keep on hand for continual use are actually pretty inexpensive; tools like jump ropes, mini fitness balls, and core exercisers are cheap ways to make your fitness process a little more concrete, and a little more visual. Having these tools on hand can get you a little more “invested” in the process.

Be steady: combine breaks with comebacks

A big factor in what lots of people perceive as their own “failure” in the field of fitness is the idea of the break: a respite, however well-meaning, can always lead to a bigger fracture in the schedule and goals that someone has set for themselves. Is the solution to get rid of breaks entirely? Not necessarily. The key is that every break should come with a “comeback”, a point of renewed motivation, conviction and commitment to the goals that were originally set out.

The bottom line is that an individual finds their motivation from within themselves. What works for one person probably will not work for someone else. Although personal trainers have found lots of “tricks of the trade” that will have greater rates of success for the “average” client, it's never a good idea to forget that when it comes right down to it, each of us has to find our own inspiration for fitness goals.