Motivation
Motivation is possibly the biggest
determining factor when it comes to creating your ideal body and life of EASE.
Your level of motivation can make or break your plans. That is why it is so important
to be clear on the underlying values and feelings that your goals will give you
before you embark on achieving them. If they are very clear and you feel 100%
committed to their achievement then nothing will get in the way of your
success. But there may be times when you feel a little flat and it is at these
times that you will need the support of both internal and external motivation
to keep going.
MotivatioN can be:
External: Rewards,
prizes and recognition.
Internal: Challenge
and accomplishment.
Motivation is very important, especially when you
maybe about to embark on something that has the potential to change your life,
such as a training program at the gym, a new career, or having a family etc. When
learning any new skill, or adopting any new behaviour, there are four stages
that you will need motivation for, they are:
1) The Discomfort Stage
2)The Results Stage
3)
The Pleasure Stage
4)
The Maintenance Stage
I will use exercise as an example to demonstrate each
of these stages of motivation.
The Discomfort Stage
When you first
start doing exercise, it seems like hard work. Your body tires quickly, you
feel short of breath easily, your muscles are often sore the next day and of
course it will be difficult to find the time to workout.
The good news is that this stage doesn’t last
forever. In most cases, between four and six weeks are required before the next
stage is reached. The length of time depends on your initial fitness level,
your program and your ability to train regularly.
During this stage, motivation often needs to come
from outside; a personal trainer, a life coach or a structured program can be
particularly helpful.
The Results Stage
During this stage, the time and effort that
you have put into your exercise program begins to pay off; much of the
discomfort of doing exercise is over and you even find yourself feeling good
after each session. More importantly, you will feel the rewards of your effort
– you will feel fitter, begin to see changes in your body shape and you may
discover that you have more energy.
Motivation becomes much easier, as there are now
positive benefits to balance the short term pain or inconvenience of exercise. Some
external motivation is still helpful though as it is easy at this stage to skip
a session and lose momentum.
The Pleasure Stage
As the name
suggests, during this stage your exercise program becomes a pleasurable
experience. The physical rewards are still realised, but the main motivators are
now psychological – a person in this stage wants
to exercise.
When you reach the pleasure stage, you don’t like to
miss a session, in fact studies have shown that regular, long-term exercisers
show withdrawal symptoms if they miss a session.
Needless to say, when you have reached this stage,
motivation is not a problem. Reward yourself for your efforts.
The Maintenance
Stage
Although you are well into your training
routine and things are going great, it is important at this stage to maintain
long term motivation. If you continue to perform the same program for too long
you may become bored or your physical results may plateau. It is important to
add variety to your workouts and mix up your training sessions, try a group
class one day, a boxing session the next to provide you with added stimulus and
to spark further results and motivation.
The Ten Keys to Self-Motivation
The following are ten key points to help keep you
motivated to achieve all of your new goals.
1. Establish clear
goals. Know ‘why’ you are activating your life and the steps that you will be
taking by setting specific and realistic goals. If there are times when you are
finding it hard to keep going, your goals will help to keep you on the right
path.
2. Plan ahead. At the
beginning of each week, or each day, decide what strategies you are going to
perform, for how long and at what time. Make sure that you have whatever
equipment or support you need. That way, when it is time to take action, you
will not have to think about it – you can just turn up and get on with it.
3. Incorporate fun
and variety. Developing a variety of fun and interesting strategies
in your program will help you to stay interested and reduce boredom. Fun and
variety also reduce the chances of you dropping out and help you to ensure that
you have a holistic and well-balanced program.
4. Reward yourself. Give
yourself a reward from day one, just for having embarked on your program. The
reward could be anything from simply congratulating yourself, to giving
yourself a special treat – just make sure that you don’t reward yourself with
things that are detrimental to your progress.
5. Perform your
goals with a friend or partner. This way you can motivate each other.
6. Enlist support
from your family and close friends. Or utilise the
Activate Your Weight Loss support resources such as books, life coaches ,
workshops and website.
7. Ensure personal
accountability. Develop a system whereby you are accountable for
the achievement of your goals. This could be a weekly session with your life
coach or a weekly check in with a close friend. Accountability works best when there
is a deadline and when there is something that you stand to lose if you do not
achieve your goals or perform set tasks. This may be as simple as losing respect
from the person you are accountable to, or having to pay a ‘fine’ of some form.
8. Always focus on
the goals you want to achieve and the feelings you want to feel throughout your
Program. Your subconscious mind works like a heat-seeking missile; it will
always hit what it is aiming for. If you experience adversity or setbacks
during your goal achievement journey, stay positive and continue to focus on
what it is you want to achieve and the feelings you want to feel.
9. Plan for obstacles,
set backs and adversity. By failing to plan, you plan to fail.
Identify any potential obstacles that you may encounter and design a strategy
to overcome them so that they will not affect your progress toward your goals.
10. Record your
progress in a diary or training manual. By aiming for
constant daily improvements you will soon achieve the goals you have set. Recording
your progress allows you to see your improvements from week to week, which increases
your confidence, motivation and determination to adhere to the program.
You have been given a gift. It is called
life. And with this gift you have been given all of the talents, all of the
knowledge and all of the power to create whatever it is you want to create on
this Earth. Regardless of what shape or form this gift comes in for you, you
owe it to yourself to go out there and become the best person you can possibly
be, doing whatever it is that you want to do and use your gift to see what an
amazing life you can create for yourself. You serve no one, especially not
yourself, by choosing to be average!
Andrew McCombe
