What's your anchor?

I'm not new to MFP. For the past year or so I've had many, many false starts. It would start out with an "I need to do this!" attitude with extreme motivation and drive. But just days later my frustration would overcome my motivation and I would convince myself that it wouldn't work for me anyways, as if I was somehow immune to diet and exercise. If I ever felt hungry, I would go into panic mode as if I would never eat again. Exercise was always a challenge. I was always too tired, not feeling well, or just plain lazy. So many excuses.

After I would quit, I'd quickly gain all I lost and them some. In this manner, my weight yo-yo'd up to 213 lbs about a month ago. Just as I had done before, I vowed to try again. And just as before, after a few days, I felt my frustration build and threaten to bring me down again. It was then that I realized what was missing every other time I tried to lose weight: an anchor.

I needed something concrete and visual to connect myself to the reason I wanted to lose weight. Without an anchor, I could only see the day-to-day. I was even weighing myself every day because I could only focus on one day at a time. I know now that this was my downfall. I immediately began to lay out my weight goals in a way that was visually clear. For me, this meant creating an editable Excel spreadsheet with visual progress charts (both past and expected future) and a timeline with my expected weight connected to important dates in my life (organized by each Sunday I weigh myself).

For example, my best friend is getting married in October. Using my spreadsheet, I can see approximately what my weight would be at her wedding if I stick with it. The spreadsheet allows me to see how it really is possible to reach my goals, rather than having some obscure ideal floating in my head. Each week, I update my actual weight, and my progress graphs change to reflect how I'm doing. I know that some weeks I may not lose 2 lbs, but I'm okay with that because I can see the long term goal.

Every time I'm feeling frustrated, worn-out, sore, or just lazy, I look at this spreadsheet and it inspires me to get up and do it. The first week, I think I stared at this thing every 10 minutes. The second week, maybe once or twice a day. Last week, I must have looked at it just once or twice. I look forward to updating it every week and seeing the pounds melt away. Once I reach my goal, I know it's not over. It's a lifestyle change. My anchor is helping me to change my habits and motivate me to keep moving forward.

So I'd really like to know what anchors you all have. I've heard of using pictures and fun things like paperclip chains and notes of encouragement. Have these worked? What's your anchor?