Motivation Empowered

“If only I were motivated enough to. . .” Sound familiar? From cleaning your house more often to exercising, most of us wish we had more motivation to do something. But what exactly is this coveted motivation, really? A quick Google search produces two pretty good definitions:

1- The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.

Or better,

2- The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

Let's go a bit deeper into number two. Generally speaking, there are two types of motivation:

[if !supportLists]- [endif]Extrinsic motivation- you are motivated by an external forces. Example- wanting to lose weight to get back at an ex (because revenge is so sweet, right?!) or going to bootcamp in the mornings because your best friend wants you to go with him or her.

[if !supportLists]- [endif]Intrinsic motivation- you are motivated by something you enjoy. Like going to yoga because it makes you feel good or doing 5Ks because you like the way a finish makes you feel.

It might help to first figure out the motivators behind what you do. We tend to stick with activities we actually enjoy doing more than things we are doing for others, although, in some cases you might find that you actually start to enjoy the thing you were doing for someone else.

But even for the most intrinsically motivated person, getting after it is just hard sometimes! Busy work schedules, missing sleep, rainy afternoons and humid mornings are notorious for zapping motivation. So how do you keep it going?

Keeping motivation high is largely a mental game. I like to put the tricks of staying motivated into two different buckets: the removing barriers bucket and the successful mindset bucket. Removing barriers is just what is sounds like: remove any foreseeable barrier to doing what you need to do. Examples:

1- Set your clothes out the night before your morning workout.

2- Prep healthy snacks on the weekend so you don’t have to worry about it during the week.

3- Pack your lunch the night before so you are less inclined to grab lunch out.

4- Have the coffee pot set and a quick breakfast ready ahead of a morning workout.

5- Pack your gym bag and shoes and put it in the car so it’s ready after work.

You can’t control every aspect of your day, but figuring out what gets in your way and making a plan is something you can control.

The other area is establishing a successful mindset. Take a moment and check yourself. It’s hard to get excited about something that is very difficult to do. First ask yourself - is what you are trying to do realistic? You’re a 4 day a week gym exerciser and decide to go for an Ironman. Impossible? Absolutely not. But will you be motivated to do two-a-day workouts out the gate? Probably not. A component of this is breaking down your big, hairy goal into small obtainable goals you can celebrate each time you crush them. It’s a lot more motivating to do something you know you can accomplish than something you’re unsure about.

Along these lines, use positive self talk to cheer yourself along. Some days, for one reason or another, getting motivated to do what you need to do is H A R D. On days like that, find a mantra to help you get going. For example, “the only workout you regret is the one you didn’t do” (as you begrudgingly pull on your shoes and grab your car keys and head to the gym) or “one foot in front of the other” as you head into your last mile in the blistering morning sun. During challenging times like these, focusing on the end goal is critical. Without that, what are you even doing this for? Cycle back to that initial motivation. If you’re doing it to show your spouse who’s boss or to fit into a bikini before a cruise, it might not be enough to push you along. But if you’re doing it because you’ve been there before and you KNOW you can, or because you feel so good sticking to your meal plan day after day, it might be enough to push you along.

Final thought- sometimes staying motivated is easy. Sometimes it’s not. But it’s when our goals seem the farthest away that digging deep and finding the motivation is the most important. Through all of this, be kind to yourself. A quote I’ve come to love lately is, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” Perfect might be going to the gym for an hour an bouncing out of there with hardly a sweat after a full cardio and weight workout. But the reality on that day might be a 20 minute walk around the block and some abs in the bedroom, because you got caught in traffic and the kids had homework. Look at what you have an work it. Don’t let challenges in life demotivate you. Use them to make steady forward progress.

Because after all, any progress is better than none.

Cat is a Registered Dietitian, Personal Trainer and Certified Health Coach. Additionally, she is an accomplsihed marathoner competing in Chicago, New York and qualifying for the Boston Marathon. She is currently training for her first ultra-marathon. She loves spending time with her husband and dogs and helping people feel their best.