Tidbit Tuesday - Motivation
Hello,
Welcome to another installment of Tidbit Tuesday! Today we are going to discuss MOTIVATION, and what it takes to actually achieve our goals!
Motivation, as we know it, is very fleeting. We find that we will randomly get inspired to do something. Whether that is getting motivated to do a workout, get some chores done around the house, meal prep for the week, or just getting ourselves out of the house sometimes. But that motivation can leave us quickly, and then we are right back where we started, leaving us trying to find the motivation to start again. But, where you start is far less important than where you are willing to go!
Motivation is what gets you started. Almost everything after that is just doing what needs to be done in the moment… until you eventually get where you want to be.
Motivation may return at some point—but it’s never guaranteed.
One of the main differences between those who succeeded and those who don’t is the word "yet".
“I’m not strong enough. Yet.”
“I don’t know how to do this. Yet.”
“I can’t handle this. Yet.”
7 ways to keep moving forward when you don't feel motivated:
1) Have a deep reason.
• This is the fail-safe that keeps you going when you've got nothing else left in the tank.
2) Find meaning being uncomfortable.
• In order to keep working towards something big, this purpose needs to be a frequent, daily presence in your mind.
3) Prioritize systems over willpower.
• Systems prioritize what to do and when to do them. Remove the "willpower" you think you need to get stuff done.
• I removed the possibility of failure from the path. It didn’t matter if I felt like getting out of bed. I had to.
4) Separate your feelings from your identity.
• We often assume that our feelings should drive our behavior.
• Our moment-to-moment feelings don’t have to determine who we are or what we choose to do. Simply knowing this can make it easier to carry on when we don’t feel like it.
5) Use behavior to change negative feelings.
• "Quit tomorrow."
• Our choices don't just reveal our preferences. They shape them.
• Self-herding - the forming of a new behavioral habit by subconsciously referring to what you did in the past under similar circumstances.
By not quitting in our low moments, we built a habit of finding a way to keep going whenever things get really bad. Over time, the urge to quit faded because we repeatedly reinforced that bad days still meant that we’d be okay.
6) Use low moments to your advantage.
• Our perception of stressors is derived from experience.
• The more experiences we accumulate, the broader our ability to deal with new stressors.
• No matter how many bad things you went through in the past, you were still alive when they were over.
• Even failure provides opportunity.
7) View life as a series of learnable skills and practice them!
• See any process as a skill that can be developed.
• The starting point of any particular skill doesn't matter nearly as much as your willingness to improve, little by little.
• Stop waiting for a green light to get started.
• Realize that, even if it’s hard, taking action gets you closer to the goal that keeps you up at night.
• Understand that doing the right thing in the moment is totally within your control.
With this approach, no matter what happens, you can move forward and make progress on any given day. And that progress, even if small, feels good and can be enough to keep you going… until the next day.
This is how you achieve great things.
Yes, it might be a long, slow, hard journey. But when we look back on our lives, what we remember most will be the things that were worth struggling for—and the way it felt to earn our happiness.
How do you get motivated? Let us know!
Happy Working!
Your friend in Health & Fitness,
Coach Sean
