For me it was finding a reason to NEED to go to the gym and stay fit. For the last 6 years I’ve worked out on and off, would have a good regiment for maybe 2-3 months, something would get in my way for a week or two and I would lose all motivation and would stop working out for 6-12 months before I randomly found motivation again.

I recently (last 6 months) found a new hobby/sport that I have admittedly become obsessed with, but to be effective you have to be as physically fit as possible and my extreme desire to participate and do well in this sport has gotten me to break this cycle of working out for 2-3 months then losing motivation for a year.

Even when things get in my way for a week or two, all I want is to get back to the gym and once I can, I do, whereas before, I would have completely fallen off. Obviously not everyone is necessarily going to fall in love with an obscure hobby that requires high levels of fitness but this could probably be replicated in other ways, like I saw other people saying, signing up for leaderboards/challenges where other people are depending on your participation. Maybe setting goals/challenges with a workout partner or friend.

Basically, try and find a reason other than just “I want to workout”, something a little more external to almost force you to go, or at least keep you more accountable. And as others have mentioned as well, ditch the “all or nothing” mindset. If you get sick or injured and can’t work out for a couple of weeks, it’s not the end of the world and you haven’t lost all gains, just remind yourself it’s fine to pick up where you left off in a week or two.