It never fails: about four weeks after making a New Year’s resolution to start exercising, most people lose motivation to continue. We become frustrated and less focused and fall into a trap of being less active and eating an unhealthy diet. It is crucial to overcome this lack of motivation in order to achieve long-term health and fitness goals.

The first step in achieving exercise motivation is to determine what your goals are. The best type of goals are SMART goals that is, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Identify the who, what, where, when and why and go from there. For instance, a general goal is ‘to get in shape’ and a specific goal is ‘to join a health club and exercise 4 times a week’.

Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for accomplishing your goals. To determine if your goals are measurable ask yourself questions such as how much, how many, and how will I know when it is accomplished.

Attainable: When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time-frame that allows you to carry out those steps.

Realistic: Be realistic in your goal setting. This is so important in the process. Goals have to be both possible and realistic for you to be able to achieve them. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished.

Timely: A goal should be grounded within a time-frame. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. However, if you anchor it within a time-frame, "by May 1st", then you've set your mind into motion to begin accomplishing the goal.

The second step is to be creative with your exercise program. Getting on a treadmill every time you exercise probably isn’t going to keep up the necessary motivation. Try a group fitness class or hire a personal trainer to add variety to your routine. If you are still having difficulty, find a workout partner – someone who will hold you accountable for your actions.

Commitment is the last and final stage to achieving exercise motivation. Commitment ignites action. Action leads to success. Sometimes we forget why we are doing the things we are doing. Take time to write a list of reasons to remind yourself why you want to accomplish your goals. If you feel as though you are about to slip, or quit, look over your list and really ask yourself what you are made of.