“I just can’t get motivated.” “I want to start but can’t get going.” I hear things like this a lot from my clients and I agree that it can be very hard to get motivated to do what you need to do to reach your goals.

Many people think that motivation strikes like lightening. But that’s not the case. Motivation doesn’t just appear out of the ether…most of the time, anyway. Most often, action must precede motivation. In other words, we need to so something to get motivation going. And, once we do, it can snowball from there.

Exercise illustrates this point very well. Have you ever noticed that getting to the gym is the hardest part? And once you’re there, you just get to work and typically feel good? Exercise might seem like the last thing you want to do, but by taking that action of getting yourself to the gym, you’ve got the motivation flowing to start and finish your workout.

So what can you do to get the motivation flowing for your wellness goals?

Start small and just do something. If your goal is working out, commit to pushing yourself just to warm up. And, after that, if you feel like you can keep going, go for it. If not, that’s OK! Try again another time. if your goal is cooking balanced meals at home, start searching for yummy recipes online. If you want to be more active or walk more, start by just putting your sneakers on. Give yourself the nudge to take a step to start.

There will be days when that motivation just doesn’t show up and that’s OK. But just waiting for it to show up on its own decreasing the chances of it happening.