The hardest part of working out is taking the first step.

Literally.

1. Set Your Mind Frame

Life is hard. Life is full of everyday challenges. There are unexpected curve balls and harsh realities. When I am working out I put life into perspective. While I was attending UC Santa Barbara I took a boxing class with a studio whose objective was to train to fight. There was no free water, hand towels, or tampons in the bathrooms, just sweat, a mouth guard, and pain. My coach would throw me in the ring with head gear on and punch me with 150 lbs on me. He used to say "what are you going to do if someone attacks you, rapes you, or beats you down, you have to learn to fight back."

When I workout, I fight back. I tell myself that if I can't survive a 60 minute workout then how am I suppose to survive rejection, being put down, or everyday negative occurrences.

There are two types of people in this world: victims and survivors. I am a survivor and my workouts remind me daily.

2. Plan

The only way to have a successful workout regimen is to naturally integrate it into your existing schedule. I schedule my workouts when I have a limited time slot and somewhere else to be. This sense of rush gives me adrenaline and forces me to "get it done" without having the time to make excuses.

I am not a night person, thus I avoid scheduling any workouts post lunch. When I schedule my workouts they are on my way to work with a quick shower in between, or 45 minutes during my lunch hour which allows me 15 mins for travel time on either end.

Using the "roll and go" method, having a gym bag packed, I force myself to have no excuses only execution.

3. Breakdown the Workout in Segments

I take every workout one minute at a time. If you only had to exert energy for 60 seconds wouldn't you work as hard as you can for those seconds?

They key is to not overwhelm yourself. I ran a half marathon having never trained for a distance run by simply sunning a series of one miles 13 times and sprinting the last .2 as if I only had .2 miles to run.

Life is about a series of small steps that create a goal and personal success, just like a work out.