Comment by vidarh

I hate cardio with a vengeance, and the most effective way I've found of getting past that was to make use of meditation techniques: Fix my mind on my breathing, and keep it there. Not allow myself to pay attention to anything else. First time I did that, I ran twice as long as what I'd one previously. It works great for activities you can do "automatically", whether the reason you want to stop normally is because they're physically demanding, or boring (like cleaning the house).

Another approach is to set a goal, but keep moving the goal posts.

"Tricking yourself" that way can be surprisingly easy - I first consciously tried that (though I'm sure we've all done it without thinking about it) after thinking about how easily we trick ourselves into continuing pleasurable activities that way, or procrastinating ("only 10 more minutes, then I'll start working"); it works quite well for me as a means to continuing exercise or work too.

What'd be incredibly intimidating as a goal at the outset suddenly seems a lot more achievable if you set a more modest goal to start with.