you catch more flies with honey...

The study below is specific to the workplace, but I see the potential for a broader spectrum.  It states that workers are more efficient when they receive praise.  Well of course!  You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.  Maybe we can apply that to our exercise routine?  Instead of beating ourselves up for the meal we ate yesterday, and the lazy hours we spent chatting with loved ones, maybe we should be complementing ourselves on getting right back to our exercise routines today.  We might find greater success... 

Paying someone a compliment makes them happier and more inspired to perform well at their job, while receiving compliments does the same for you, the Daily Mail reported Nov. 11.
“To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money,” says Norihiro Sadata, Ph.D., of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, who led the new study. All study participants saw an uptick in their performance after receiving praise compared to those who received no encouragement of any kind, the research shows.
“There seems to be scientific validity behind the message ‘praise to encourage improvement,” Sadata says.