Sustaining the motivation to take care of your physical interior and exterior can become an increasingly difficult achievement as we begin to approach summer break, and our focus is pulled farther away from the present.

I am guilty of this; I have had such a difficult time focusing on my classes and where I am at school when I know that four months of beach days, sleeping in, summer internships, adventures, and more incredible memories are waiting right around the corner.

My mind often wanders away from where it should be directed towards, and I find that I have to remind myself to keep my short term goals of high academic achievement and maintaining self-care at the forefront of my thoughts. As our lives become so busy and our minds become so congested with a rush to make up for poor grades throughout the term, and other concerns or exciting thoughts, self-care is often the first thing to go.

Let me remind you that your body is nothing less than a temple, and you are responsible for maintaining its health and happiness. You deserve the world, and your body deserves to be loved and treated with respect. Do this as a favor to yourself.

You deserve to embrace a sense of confidence that comes from achieving your fitness goals before the countless beach days that are right around the corner, or the pride you will feel when you are able to run for just a little longer than the week before, or a few more squats since your last attempt. Physical strength encourages emotional strength and confidence, which are both crucial to your mental health.

As college students, we seem to constantly feel overwhelmed by all of our responsibilities and deadlines that no one tells us about, but we somehow are expected to figure out, that we forget to take a brief time throughout the day to check in with ourselves.

Working out forces you to direct your attention to the present, allowing you to table the stress you may be feeling until you feel more refreshed and prepared to seize the day and check off tasks on your list of priorities. Spend some time on the treadmill and zone out while listening to music that makes you feel empowered, and the time will go by quickly.

Remind yourself of the personal reasons as to why you as an individual are motivated to exercise, and what goals you sought to reach once you started. With determination and perseverance, no goal is out of reach; remind yourself of the pride and excitement you will feel when you recognize even the slightest step forward towards the achievement.

Even a small difference can make you feel so much better about yourself and will instill a powerful drive within you to keep pushing yourself physically and mentally.

Believe me, I understand that dedicating the time throughout the day to treat yourself to what your body craves and deserves can seemingly be the last thing you feel like doing on top of all of your other responsibilities, but you will feel so proud of yourself for putting forth that effort, and more importantly, prioritizing your health first.