Last week I talked about how you sometimes have to bail out of a planned training session. Well let’s turn the situation around and talk about motivating you to get your butt back on the mat.

I once read an article in a running magazine in which the author was talking about building motivation. She said that, like everybody else, she had days where her motivation was low and she didn’t feel like running. Her ‘trick’ was to give herself permission not to run, but only AFTER she put on her running clothes and laced up her running shoes. On most days the act of putting on her gear built enough momentum that going for a run didn’t seem like such a chore after all.

I’ve often used the same technique – giving myself permission not to train if I still don’t feel like it once I’ve gotten on the mat. At least 95% of the time I find that I DO have the energy to train at least a little bit, and little bit of training is a heck of a lot better than no training at all.

So the next time you feel like cocooning in front of the TV rather than training, try going to class and putting on your gi (or board shorts or speedos). If you still don’t feel like training, that’s OK, at least you gave it a shot. But I’ll bet that most of the time you’ll find that putting your gear on was the hardest step, and that training will seem like the easy next step!