DAILY MOTIVATION: OH, YOU’RE NOT IN THE MOOD?...

When I feel low and unmotivated, I call myself out:

Pauline, do you really need to feel like it first?

You have the privilege of being able to train. Your body may not let you do everything you want without limitations—but you get to train. That is more than many people can do.

I know you don’t feel like counting your blessings today.

So don’t.

But stay real.

I know you would rather crawl under the sheets with a big pint of ice cream and chocolate and forget about the day.

But you are not escaping reality.

Tomorrow still comes. And tomorrow, you will feel worse because today you started building momentum in the wrong direction.

If you want to get lean and strong—or stay lean and strong—choosing junk food and a sedentary lifestyle is moving directly against what you say you want.

What kind of mixed message are you giving yourself?

Would you tell someone else that this is how to reach their goal?

Every time you take the easy way out, you strengthen that choice. You become the sum of your choices.

That is how you got here.

That doesn’t mean staying here won’t require upkeep and discipline.

So I ask myself:

If I wrote a book about how I lived my life, what would I want that book to say about me?

Would I want to read about someone who kept waiting for perfect conditions before she acted?

Do you really want to be that person?

Nobody would want to read that book.

Not even you.

Motivation fluctuates like a bag in the wind. Sometimes the wind carries it directly toward the goal. Sometimes it blows in the opposite direction.

I am not that bag.

I don’t want the weather, the season or today’s mood deciding who I become.

The choice is between waiting to be in the mood and making myself get in the mood.

I know exactly how to change my energy.

I put the music on. I create some anger and frustration. I shake myself awake and generate some real fire.

When you watch my pre-workout energizer routine, it is basically my own little tantrum warrior dance.

You might laugh because you think it looks embarrassing.

Who cares?

The goal matters more than looking cool.

My goal is to train like I’m insane—with fire, focus and everything I have.

So I use whatever helps me create that energy without sabotaging myself later.

No pre-workout supplement, caffeine hit or momentary high can create lasting drive. The boost always wears off.

I cannot build lasting commitment on temporary highs.

I have to accept that training means showing up, making it happen—and sometimes making myself h

appen.

The toughest workout is not the body.

It is the mind.

That is why I say:

I COACH THE MIND THAT BUILDS THE BODY.

Now let’s train.