Make Your Move: 8 Foolproof Motivation Tricks

Rule 3: Swim for a buoy; ignore the shore.

If your long-range target makes you concede defeat before you even lace up, reframe your aim. "People think they have to get from A to Z with the strength they have now, but you really need to take only one step," McGonigal says. "That new person you become, who is already closer to her goal, can do the next step." Kate Corey, 25, psyched herself out of exercising for years. "I was one of the chubby kids who was bullied by classmates," she says. That led to self-consciousness that literally stopped her in her tracks. "Any time I tried to run, I had an anxiety attack." Nonetheless, Corey joined a YMCA after college. "Initially I was too nervous to sprint with the rest of my boot camp class, so I jumped rope," she says. A year and a half later she ran her first race. "I realized that if I truly want to succeed, I need to stop being so judgmental about myself and just do what I can in the moment," she says.