Welcome back to all my loyal readers and a warm welcome if you’re new to Carol’s Corner. Grab a chair, put up your feet , and enjoy your stay. In today’s pic, I’m wearing a new blouse I got on sale yesterday at Christopher Banks ; $39 blouse for 16. Loving it with one of my favorite skirts, one that I surely could’t have worn a year ago. My hubby’s getting used to the fact that I need a new picture every day for my blog. He’s my resident photographer. Remember ladies, you can see a huge change in a years time. Embrace the journey you started, and don’t look back until you achieve your dreams; and then , only to remind yourself , of how far you’ve come. So that brings us to part three of out four part series, on how to break out of a slump, Now let’s see what step nine is. Number 9; Realize There’s An Ebb & Flow. Motivation is not a constant. It isn’t always there when you want or need it. Motivation comes and goes, and comes and goes again, just like the tides . You need to realize that it might go away , but not permanently. It WILL come back. You just need to tough it out and wait for it to return. In the meantime read over what you wrote about your goal, keep it in your sight,so your brain becomes immersed in it. Ask for help wherever you can find it, and follow any of the tips you are going to find here. Just stick with it and one day , you’ll wake up and realize that your motivation has magically reappeared. Number 10: what I just mentioned in the last sentence,Stick With It. What ever you do , DON’T GIVE UP. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation, today, tomorrow, or next week , don’t give in to that little voice that says in your head ” I can’t do this”. Again, your motivation will return in time, just wait for it. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a bump in the road. But you can’t give up over a little bump. Stick with it for the long term. Ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and eventually you’ll get there. That brings us to number 11: Start small, really small. If you’re having trouble getting started, maybe you’re thinking too big. If it’s exercise maybe you’re trying to do too much. Slow it down . Try doing a little less . Give yourself a rest day. Don’t overwhelm yourself. That’s usually when trouble rears it’s ugly head. Commit to a small amount , maybe two to three minutes a day. Stick with the smaller amount for a least a week. Don’t give in to the urge to increase it before the week is up. Do it at the same time each day when that is possible. Then weekly increase you time, till you are where you want to be. Another example of small baby steps ; you want to wake up earlier every day? Don’t think about waking up at 5 am. Think about waking up 10 minutes earlier every day for a week. Then another week double that, and before you know it, you’re getting up as early as you wanted to , Remember , small baby steps. That brings us to our last tip in part three of our discussion :breaking out of a slump. Tip number 12: Build On Small Successes. if you start out small you can’t fail. You can’t fail if you start with something ridiculously easy, can you ? When you aren’t feeling overwhelmed , you will BE and FEEL successful. You’ll feel good about yourself. Take that successful feeling & build on it with more baby steps and before you know it , you will be right where you want to be . Your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress & a lot of success. That brings us to the end of part three in our series. Tune in tomorrow here at Carol’s Corner, to find out what the final four tips are in “‘how to break out of a slump”. I hope you’re finding this series helpful in your own journey towards better health and fitness. Remember any questions, feedback or suggestions please leave me comments. Any and all are greatly appreciated. Till next time , God Bless