It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to get arm tone and as a result, flabby arms were the thorn in my side for a very long time. I was extremely frustrated and resorted to hiding behind kimono-style tops all the time.

And the most difficult part of the whole arm tone war was an unstable level of motivation. Despite all my efforts, I could not stick with a program for a very long time.

At times I would feel so unmotivated that I would simply ditch the whole effort all together. How did I pat myself on the back? With cookies galore!

One day I had a wake-up call and realized that if I couldn’t figure out a way to stick with a program for the long run, I would never be able to get sexy arms. And I also knew that this motivational “yo yoing” wasn’t sustainable.

So I searched high and low for a method that would allow me to stay motivated indefinitely. And I’m happy to say that I found said method. It was created by David Burns M.D. In my opinion it’s the best thought modification system out there. Central to his method is the elimination of cognitive (thought) distortions.

So here are 3 thought distortions you need to avoid today so that you can have motivation tomorrow:

1. All/Nothing distortions. These distortions provide the foundation for perfectionism. If you find yourself having to have the perfect day of dieting or not dieting at all, then you suffer from this distortion. Don’t try to get everything right every single time. Don’t worry about small hiccups and always keep moving forward.

2. Over-generalizing distortions. Just because you haven’t been successful today doesn’t mean you can’t be successful tomorrow. You simply haven’t found the right approach. Yet with this distortion, you assume that your past failures will keep on being your future failures. The key here is to keep on trying new things with a fresh outlook.

3. Mental-filters distortions. This one his horrible because it forces you to focus on the negative instead of the positive. If you have a solid day of healthy eating, but slightly veer off and have a small amount of junk food you only focus on the junk food. But what about all the other healthy food you ate? Always give yourself credit for the positive.

Keep the above distortions in mind and make sure you avoid them at all costs. Doing so will allow you to win the mental “arm tone” war. In the end, the person with the highest level of motivation always wins. Good luck!