I used to work at a health club. We had around twenty six hundred members sign-up last January. They were very excited to start their exercise programs. You should have seen their hopeful faces.

By March, 95 percent of them stopped coming. Their motivation had waned. The same thing happened the year before and will happen again the year after.

Let's focus for a moment on the 5 percent that remained committed to their goals. What separates them from the quitters? The answer might surprise you.

Everyone joins the gym on an emotional high, itching to get started. They never really sat down and thought about the changes that are coming in their life. Simply joining a gym does not guarantee results.

Before you try to get in shape, you need to sit down and have a serious conversation with yourself. You need to ask yourself a few things.

First you have to ask yourself -- "What is my goal?" or "What is my desired outcome?" Make it perfectly clear in your head what it is you want to achieve.

Do you want six-pack abs? Do you want to lose 3 inches off your waist? Do you want to lower you cholesterol?

OK, that was the easy part. Now ask yourself -- "Why do I want to do this?" Dig deep here; this is between you and you.

Do you want to fit back into your skinny jeans? Do you want to wear tight clothes? Do you just want to get rid of back pain?

There can be multiple answers. The more the merrier. Write all this stuff down and post it someplace where you will see it every day.

That part was a little tougher, but here comes the really tough part.

Ask yourself -- "What is the cost of reaching my goals?"

How MUST your life change to make achieving your goal possible? What will you have to give up? What are you absolutely NOT willing to do?

Now ask yourself -- "Is it worth it?" There is no right or wrong here. For some people it is and for others it isn't.

If you are not ready today, you may have to wait a little until you are. That's okay.

So, now you know the price and you can decide to pay it or not. It's sort of like shopping.

Just understand that this is not a one-time payment. If you choose to pay the price you will have to pay it day after day, week after week, month after month.

So, is it worth it?