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.

You see, my levels of motivation were in a constant flux. No matter what I did, I could not maintain a lasting amount of motivation.

Sometimes the disappointment would be so great that I would jump ship all-together. And a jar of cookies would become my consolation.

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 began doing lots of research. And I’m happy to say that the research was well worth it because I found the answer to my problem: the one and only David Burns M.D. He created a system for optimizing thought processes. Said system required the avoidance of 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 filtering distortions. Make sure to always give yourself credit for the smallest of achievements. With this distortion you hardly focus on the positive and prefer to focus on the negative. If you have a test, for instance, and get 99 questions right and 1 wrong, you focus on the one you got wrong!

If you do not avoid the above cognitive distortions, arm tone will keep on eluding you. You have to achieve constant and lasting motivation in order to stick with an arm toning program.

More importantly, however, is to develop the habit of rapid action. After all, this information will be useless unless you act on it quickly.

Author Katherine Crawford MS, a Harvard exercise expert and recent flabby arms victim, is an expert on exercises for flabby arms for women. Discover how to get sexy and toned arms right now by visiting her website on arm flab.