By Motivation is very complex, and most of us suck at maintaining it.
Even as an avid weight trainer, I still, at the best of times, find it very difficult to keep up my motivation long term.
Along my journey as a bodybuilder, I found several things that helped me tap into something that ignited an inner passion to keep on keeping on. Hey guys, I needed motivation to stick with a horrific diet, train all the time (sometimes twice per day) work full time and manage to see my daughter (about five then). It was a lot to juggle, and at times I felt utterly overwhelmed.
How do we bypass that overwhelmed state – or that inner voice telling us we’re never going to do it? The real reason is that we have to have a motive.
Another word for motive could be a goal or an intention in mind. I have found that you can’t become motivated to do something regularly throughout your life. You have to have some higher intent behind it.
Perhaps that sounds a bit confusing, but let’s delve a little deeper into this one.
Say, for instance, you want to attain a particular body shape. To do that, you will have to follow quite a lot of steps along the way. It will require a personal trainer, a change in your nutrition, and the most significant change in your lifestyle. Perhaps the one you lead right now isn’t serving your ability to meet that goal. Maybe your friends want to go drinking three times a week, and perhaps they like to binge on junk food. Everyone knows that this is the killer of all body re-shaping (and health) goals. It can be a bit disturbing when you know your friends are having a great time while you’re eating steamed broccoli, rice and chicken breast (does that burger sound a lot more appealing now?)
What I described in that paragraph doesn’t leave you any reason to keep going. You’re more likely going to run the other way!
Here is what I propose to anyone that wants to either change the way they look, eat better, exercise more, or enhance the quality of their health.
Five ways to uncover your motive for losing weight and how to commit to your plan of action
-
Ask yourself – what do you want out of this change? What is the real reason behind wanting this change? Is it a health goal, a physical one, or is it more spiritual (or mental) based? A basis triggers everyone during their lifetime to do something. Not everyone sticks to it. If you have a compelling reason, you will be motivated to carry on about 98% of the time. Without intent, you have about 0%. It does make a huge difference.
-
What is this change going to do for your life? I love to think about how I’m going to look, feel, and act in the future due to my hard work. It makes it all seem so much more worthwhile. Try it out for yourself. Sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes and imagine yourself in the future – when you’ve achieved your goal. What’s happening all around you? What do you look like? Where are you etc.? It’s a good idea to get as many of the senses involved as you can in this exercise.
-
How do you see yourself in the future when you stay consistent towards reaching your goal? Are you taking on a sporting goal? Maybe you’ve decided you want to run a marathon. This is such a great goal because you will prove to yourself that anything is possible – when you put in the effort and dedication needed. What can you see yourself achieving in the future?
-
Why does this goal matter to you? There is always a reason behind doing something. We put ourselves through uncomfortable situations and stick out those hard times because something within lights us up. This isn’t only the case for weight loss or body re-shaping goals, but for everything else, we aim for. Write down every reason why this goal matters to you.
-
Who can help you along the way towards this goal? This is my favourite. It takes a little help to achieve these big goals. Who have you got on your team supporting and cheering you on? Do you know people at the gym, or do you have a walking or training buddy? It could even be your eager dog that wants to go for a walk with you all the time. Count your blessings to have someone or many people on your team.
These are just some of the many questions I ask myself whenever I intend to change something or achieve something new. There has always got to be an underlying motive for anything, or else you will get very lazy and lose interest. It’s in our human nature to want to achieve goals and keep setting the bar higher. How can you do that moving forward? Keep reaching for the stars, as you may just lay your hands on the moon.