1. You don’t need to wait to become the perfect version of yourself to be happy.

Oftentimes, we prioritize reaching a goal so much so that we forget about our happiness in the whole equation. The focus centers on the weight we still have to lose or the definition we want to see, and we aren’t happy with ourselves until it happens. We close ourselves off to experiencing life and relationships around us so that we can finally get from point A to B—essentially, we equate our happiness with a goal. We spend so much time measuring ourselves up, punishing ourselves and feeling guilty for not being “perfect” when, in reality, you don’t have to wait to become this “perfect” version of yourself before you start loving yourself and truly enjoying your life. You’re allowed to be happy while you continue to evolve and improve. You don’t need a number on a scale, a number of reps, a number of miles or an amount of weight you can lift to feel validated.

Personally, I believe I’ll be the “perfect” version of myself when I am able to just enjoy exactly who I am in the present moment. This is the version of myself I am striving to become. Continue working toward your goal, but in the meantime, embrace, own, accept, love and just enjoy being who you are right now. There is only one of you and we have one life to live, so allow yourself to be happy!

2. No matter how far you still have to go, you’re allowed to celebrate how far you have come.

You’ve heard it before: “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” When we focus too much on how far we have to go, we forget to realize how far we have come. We could be leaps and bounds further along in our journey than we were just a few months ago but not take the time to stop and celebrate all that we have achieved in the process.

We get this picture in our heads of exactly who we want to be, how we want to look and where we want to go. We work hard and we persevere every single day to get closer to becoming that picture in our head, but it’s not always about the end goal. There is so much to be proud of yourself for while you are on the way to where you are going. Take a moment right now. Look at yourself; look how far you have come. Remember that person who chose to start? You are that person. Be proud of that person. Celebrate that person.

Next time you get stuck thinking about how far you still have to go, challenge your perspective. Regardless of how far you are from the person you want to be and the place you want to go, you have come so far and that deserves recognition!

Don’t let the person you want to be stand in the way of celebrating the person you are now. Even though you may have more to go, your hard work is worth it, your hard work shows and your hard work has paid off!

3. You are your own kind of beautiful.

Stop comparing yourself to others. We are all guilty of this—I’ll be the first to admit that I do it too! Truth is, we were all born with different hair textures, eye colors, metabolisms and body frames, and every one of these things makes us beautifully unique. We are our own person. No one is just like you—how cool is that? You are you, and no one else can be you no matter how hard they try. We have to remember this when we find ourselves wishing we had what someone has or could do what someone else does. When we strive to be like someone else, it is a million more times difficult to be happy with who we were uniquely made to be.

If you take away anything from this blog post, I want you to know that who you are, every single part, is unbelievably beautiful. You are too pretty and too smart to act like you are not. You may look at yourself in the mirror and not think twice about the reflection you see, but what you aren’t seeing is the beauty others see in you. It’s time for you to look at yourself in a new way—we see it, now it’s your turn. Go ahead and tell yourself how beautiful you are! Do it today, and every day after that.

4. Who you are as a person is way more important than the way you look.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that no one is going to love you more for losing 20 pounds or having a six-pack. Those things are great goals, but the things that have a lasting impression are your character, values, actions, positivity, happiness, love and everything that’s inside you.

That five pounds you gained or lost weighs a lot less than the smile on your face and the passion in your heart. People around you don’t care about the number on your scale and probably don’t even think about it. So, stop torturing yourself and letting the way you look dictate your attitude. It’s more important to live a life that keeps you smiling and keeps others smiling than a life that keeps you obsessing over your weight. Remember what really matters.

5. You are strong, capable, beautiful, significant and more than enough.

You are! Stop telling yourself otherwise. Even when it feels like you aren’t, I hope there is at least a small part of you that believes you are. You may not be able to see it today, but others see it every day. Others see every ounce of greatness within you—more greatness than you will ever know. Never forget that.

If you know someone who needs to hear one of these reminders, share this post with them. If you’re more of a podcast person, you can download the podcast episode that goes along with this post and listen to it on those days when you need a pick-me-up.

Also, if you didn’t know, I have a cooking show called Morgan Makes It where I show you how cooking and eating healthy can be simple, quick and still so delicious. I release a new recipe every single Monday, which can be found on Burn Boot Camp’s YouTube channel. Go check it out if you are ready to start eating healthy and don’t know where to begin or if your diet is feeling stale and you are looking for new, fun and healthy ways to change it up!

If you liked this post, you’ll also love…

By Sean Barcellona

Self-discipline: the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it—much easier said than done, right? The ability to be disciplined is so important in life, but it is also a difficult thing to maintain day in and day out.

The good news is that we are all capable of becoming self-disciplined; it just takes a positive attitude, toughness and persistence. Here are five ways to become more self-disciplined.

1. Clearly Define Your Goals

What do you want to accomplish? What steps are you going to take to reach that goal? What do you need to do differently in order to succeed? Before you begin to work toward a goal, you need to ask yourself these types of questions.

Developing a clear path to your goals is vital to success. It will keep you focused and allow you to monitor your progress. If you fail to define success and the steps you need to take to get there, it becomes much easier to get sidetracked and lose sight of what you are working toward. Define what will make you successful and remind yourself of it every day!

2. Start Small

We live in a society of instant gratification: We want things now, and we don’t want to be kept waiting. Unfortunately, self-discipline is not something you can develop overnight. It’s a long-term process that takes daily practice and repetition.

Think of self-discipline as a mountain. When we stand at the bottom and look up, it can be pretty intimidating. Feelings of anxiety, fear and doubt can sink in and overwhelm us if we put too much focus on getting to the top.

Instead, take it step by step. When we start small, we don’t feel pressured to fix everything all at once. This week, challenge yourself to pick one thing that you struggle to stay disciplined with and work on getting better in that aspect of your life.

3. Find Your Reason Why

In order to be successful, you have to find your why! Your why is your purpose, what drives you, what inspires you, what keeps you going when you feel like giving up and what picks you back up when you get knocked down.

Ask yourself right now, why do you do what you do? Whether it’s family, health, business, inspiring others or simply proving to yourself that you are capable, when you give your dreams a deeper meaning, it will push you harder than ever.

“Ask yourself right now, why do you do what you do?”

4. Learn How to Control Your Mind

How well do you know yourself? Do you know your strengths? Weaknesses? Do you know what situations you thrive in or what makes you anxious? If not, reflect and get to know yourself. Before you can take command of your mind, you have to understand it!

If you want to become more self-disciplined, it’s not always about overcoming temptations—you have to be self-aware and put yourself in the best position to succeed. That means removing yourself from tempting situations whenever possible. If you want to stop eating out, start meal prepping before each week begins. If you want to stop checking your phone so often, turn off notifications and find a healthy activity to focus on instead. The fewer distractions we have, the more we can focus on our goals!

5. Accept Failures and Shortcomings

Failure is scary. Most people try to avoid it throughout life. But that can prevent us from trying new things, make us think we’re not good enough and make us reluctant to try again. The fact is that no one can avoid failure; it’s just a part of life. No matter how talented or famous a person is, we all experience it.

The difference between the ones who achieve their goals and the ones who don’t is persistence. The only thing that will stop you is yourself—you need to pursue your goals relentlessly. Don’t let yourself be consumed by negative thoughts when things don’t go your way. Instead of getting discouraged when you fail, accept that it happened, take what lessons you can from the experience and keep moving forward!

Sean Barcellona is a trainer at Burn Boot Camp Cornelius (North Carolina) as well. He began his journey with Burn in 2017 and helps create unique workouts for all Burn Boot Camp locations across the nation. He is passionate about hiking, exercise, and spending time with his wife, Lindy, who works at Burn Boot Camp HQ.